Be Ready for Destruction

Rory Mosley

012 Be Ready for Destruction

2 Peter 3:11-18

October 31, 2010

As you know we are now on the final chapter of the book of 2 Peter,

And this final chapter can easily be summed up in two words.

“Be Ready”

This final chapter zones in on the fact that

One day Jesus Christ will return to judge the living and the dead.

Matthew 16:27 "For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and WILL THEN REPAY EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS.”

Revelation 22:12 "Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done.”

The return of Christ is a theological fact, it is an absolute certainty.

And with that fact come two other certainties.

1) Deception will precede His coming

2) Destruction will accompany His coming

We know DECEPTION will precede His coming.

Take for example what Paul told the Thessalonians who had been told

That they had somehow missed the return of Christ.

2 Thessalonians 2:1-4 “Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.”

Paul reminded the Thessalonians that Christ isn’t returning

Until the ultimate deceiver arrives, who of course is the anti-christ.

And certainly Peter has reminded us of that throughout this letter.

Peter knew a deception was coming.

And he challenged us to be ready for that deception

By literally burying our noses in the bible.

Scripture promises the return of Christ, so don’t let anyone deceive you.

But deception is only one of the issues surrounding His coming.

The other is the DESTRUCTION that will accompany Christ’s return

Peter said, (3:10) “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.”

This has always been true.

When the Old Testament prophets spoke of the return of Christ,

They spoke of the destruction:

Isaiah 10:33-34 “Behold, the Lord, the GOD of hosts, will lop off the boughs with a terrible crash; Those also who are tall in stature will be cut down And those who are lofty will be abased. He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an iron axe, And Lebanon will fall by the Mighty One.”

Isaiah 66:15-16 “For behold, the LORD will come in fire And His chariots like the whirlwind, To render His anger with fury, And His rebuke with flames of fire. For the LORD will execute judgment by fire And by His sword on all flesh, And those slain by the LORD will be many.”

Also in the New Testament.

Jude 14-15 “It was also about these men that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, "Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him."

Even Jesus referenced it.

Matthew 24:27-28 "For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. "Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.”

Even Jesus referenced His coming as a day of death

In which no one will be happier than the scavenger birds

Who will prey on the dead bodies.

The fact is that judgment accompanies the return of Christ.

He is not only coming to deliver His people,

He is also coming to destroy His enemies.

AND SO WE MUST BE READY

And of course by being ready,

We do not mean to brace yourselves,

But rather to find the way not to partake in it.

Matthew 5:25-26 "Make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way, so that your opponent may not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. "Truly I say to you, you will not come out of there until you have paid up the last cent.”

And so we are talking about being ready in the sense of making sure

That we are not those on whom His anger will fall.

Matthew 24:45-51 "Who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom his master put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time? "Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. "Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. "But if that evil slave says in his heart, 'My master is not coming for a long time,' and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards; the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

And I think that warning from our Lord is clear enough.

Be ready for the coming destruction.

And of course in our final text in this great letter, Peter tells us how.

Four ways to be ready

#1 EVALUATE YOUR LIFE

2 Peter 3:11-12

Peter just told us in verse 10 that Christ would come “like a thief”

And when He comes “the earth and its works will be burned up”.

In other words there is a severe and certain judgment,

And it is a judgment that will come when you least expect it.

That means there will be no time to ready yourself in the moment.

Once you spot Christ in the clouds,

It will be too late to make the necessary changes.

(Installing an alarm won’t work when the thief

Is halfway out your window with your television)

You must be prepared ahead of time,

And part of the process of preparation is evaluation.

Where do I stand?

What am I doing?

Am I prepared?

“Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat!”

I know this phrase reads sort of like a question.

In fact the NIV even puts a question mark here.

But in reality, Peter is not asking a question,

The Greek reveals that he is making a strong declaration.

It’s sort of like the fast food chain – What-a-Burger!

Not What, a burger?

Instead of asking a question Peter is actually making a statement.

He is saying, “Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, [how astonishingly godly and holy you ought to be], looking for and hastening the coming day of God,”

You see Peter isn’t leaving this up for debate.

Peter isn’t even interested in your opinion.

Peter is saying, that if God is going to destroy this wicked world,

Then without a doubt you ought to be holy and godly.

And that is obvious isn’t it?

If God is holy and will subsequently destroy those who are not,

Then I would say holiness is the name of the game.

That is what Paul had in mind when he wrote:

Romans 13:11-14 “Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.”

And Peter even takes it a step further here.

Not only should you be walking in godliness and holiness,

But also notice the sense of ANTICIPATION.

(12) “looking to and hastening the coming of the day of God”

In the early church one of the most popular greetings was

“Maranatha”

1 Corinthians 16:22 “If anyone does not love the Lord, he is to be accursed. Maranatha.”

It was a phrase that simply meant “Lord Come!”

It is how John closed the book of the Revelation.

Revelation 22:20-21 “He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming quickly." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.”

And it is the expected mindset of all of Christ’s followers.

It is the heart of a man who cannot wait for Christ to rule.

It is the heart of a man who longs for this sinful world to fade away.

It is the heart of a man who longs to be with his Lord.

It is the heart of a man who longs for a city of righteousness.

In fact, Paul identified fellow believers as those with this passion.

2 Timothy 4:8 “in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.”

A true believer should not only be ready for His coming,

But should also long for it.

This is in stark contrast to the wicked who resist the reign of Christ.

Remember those in Psalm 2?

Psalms 2:1-3 “Why are the nations in an uproar And the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, "Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!"

Remember the man who hid his talents and resisted the coming of the king?

Luke 19:27 "But these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slay them in my presence."

Those who reject the coming of Christ

Are those who resist His absolute reign over their lives,

And that certainly is not the mindset of a believer.

A true believer is not only one who is ready for His return

By measure of his holiness and godliness,

But also one who longs for that return.

And we all ought to be evaluating our lives according to that standard.

Are you ready for the coming destruction?

Are you eager for the coming King?

Evaluate Your Life

#2 ENVISION HIS KINGDOM

2 Peter 3:13

Now there are actually a couple of reasons

Why people are not eager for the return of Christ.

One is obviously because they are wicked,

And they reject the notion of Christ ruling and reigning over them.

But that is not the only ones.

There are some who “dread” the return of Christ,

Not because they hate Christ, but because they are

Ignorant of the facts surrounding His coming.

To put it plainly, they can’t imagine anything being better than this world. They love their stuff, they love their life,

And there are too many things they still have left to do.

Now certainly that type of person could be lost.

(Saving this life, and clinging to this world are not attributes of salvation)

But it could also simply represent a person who does not yet realize

How much better Christ’s kingdom will be than this one.

Peter calls it “a new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.”

And there again people are confused.

WHAT’S SO GREAT ABOUT A EARTH WHERE RIGHTEOUSNESS DWELLS?

All you have to do is think about a place

That has never been tarnished by the curse of sin.

(No sickness, no disease, no crying, no pain)

In fact we recently studied about this in our study of Isaiah,

For those who missed it, let me review it for you.

TURN TO: ISAIAH 65:17-25

(17-19) – NO DESPAIR

We rejoice in God, He rejoices in us

(20) – NO DISMAY

Today we are shocked by “unnatural” tragedies, but those won’t occur when Christ

is king.

(21-23) – NO DISAPPOINTMENT

No longer will Adam produce food by the sweat of his brow, we will get what we

expect and work for.

(24) – NO DELAY

No more waiting on God, or waiting on deliverance, our joy and satisfaction will be

instant.

(25) – NO DANGER

All threats will be gone, all fears will be nonsense, it will a wonderful place.

HOW COULD YOU NOT LONG FOR A PLACE LIKE THAT?

Some don’t, partly because they have never stopped to think about it.

Well that is what Peter says here, think about how good that will be.

Colossians 3:2 “Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.”

And you see friend this is one of the ways

You prepare yourself for the coming of Christ.

Obviously dwelling on it will make you long for it,

But dwelling on it will also help you prepare for it.

Evaluate Your Life Envision His Kingdom

#3 EXERCISE DILIGENCE

2 Peter 3:14-16

Now, while the first two points where heavy insinuations

Here comes an outright command.

“Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless,”

You may remember that Peter is all about diligence.

2 Peter 1:5 “Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge…”

Peter is big on diligence, and that still hasn’t changed.

“be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless,”

The idea is clear.

Since He is coming, be at peace with Him.

HOW?

Be “spotless and blameless”

You say, “Well that is kind of a tall order.”

That is why Peter told you that you needed diligence.

But listen, just because something is difficult,

Doesn’t change the fact that that is what is expected.

Did we not just learn this morning?

Matthew 5:48 "Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

And again, this makes perfect sense.

Suppose you knew that at the end of this month

You were going to get to eat dinner at the White House.

Would you not think about the evening ahead of time?

Would you not find the appropriate wardrobe?

Would you not ready yourself just a little for the likely conversation?

How much more diligence is expected

In regard to our heavenly king and His kingdom?

Evaluate yourself, but don’t stop there.

Envision what that place is like, but don’t stop there.

Go ahead and begin to prepare yourself for that place.

“be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless”

And again, just in case your special dinner is delayed a little while:

(15) “regard the patience of our Lord as salvation”

If you are so excited about that banquet that you can’t hardly stand it,

Just know that if it is postponed it is because there was someone else

Who needs a little more time to get ready.

There are a few more people

Who need to finish putting on their wedding clothes.

But don’t lose your enthusiasm, the banquet is coming,

Just make sure you are ready to attend.

And then Peter says:

“just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.”

While that is admittedly wordy,

I am so grateful those statements are in our Bible.

DO YOU REALIZE WHAT JUST OCCURRED?

Peter just referenced Paul’s writing as authoritative Scripture!

It gives tremendous validity to our New Testament

As having been inspired by God.

And Peter references Paul to add strength to his claims.

You see Peter has been writing about the coming of the Lord

And the need to get ready for it,

But it is not like he is the only one on this bandwagon.

“just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things”

Paul also wrote about the coming of Christ.

Read 1 or 2 Thessalonians some time.

Read Colossians 3

Read Philippians 3

Read 1 Corinthians 15

Paul talked about all sorts of things.

From the resurrection, to the rapture, to the return, to the reign of Christ.

In fact Paul spoke of so many facets of Christ’s return

That Peter said, “in which are some things hard to understand,”

In other words Paul had such divine insight to eternal things

That some of those things are simply hard to grasp with our human minds

Because they are hard to understand “the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.”

And there Peter’s point is clear.

Now that you know what is coming and what is expected.

Be diligent to be ready for it,

And don’t let some mocker tell you otherwise.

If God’s heaven dwells in righteousness…

If God expects righteousness when He returns…

If all the Old Testament prophets & New Testament apostles agree on it…

Then by all means do everything you can to be righteous.

Evaluate Your Life Envision His Kingdom Exercise Diligence

#4 ESCAPE SEDUCTION

2 Peter 3:17-18

We have already noted several times in this study

That deception by means of seduction is a certain reality.

From false prophets

(2:2) “Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned.”

From mockers

(3:3) “Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts.”

Peter even just said that “the untaught and unstable”

Will “distort” the truths about the return of Christ and the judgment.

And so we know that we will be tempted

To quit believing the facts about judgment

So that we can more easily live a life of sin without fear.

There are only two ways to have peace about the coming judgment.

1) Be forgiven through Jesus Christ

2) Convince yourself the judgment isn’t real.

AND THE SECOND IS WHAT THE DECEIVERS PUSH

“Live in sin, the judgment isn’t real anyway”

And that is specifically what Peter says we must avoid

If we are to be ready when Christ comes.

“You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness,”

And I hope we understand the magnitude of this warning.

Satan is convincing and his bait is tempting, and quite honestly,

If you are not ready, he can easily catch you unaware and trip you up.

Even Jesus said:

Matthew 7:15 "Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.”

Watch out, beware, “be on your guard”

YOU KNOW I AM HARD ON PREACHERS.

I am very skeptical to let any of them come and preach.

And when I listen to one, I scrutinize every word.

And it is because we live in a day of such easy deception.

(With the recent fad of “Non-Denominational” Churches, anyone can start a church and call himself a preacher with little or no accountability whatsoever)

You had better “be on your guard”

Paul told the Thessalonians:

1 Thessalonians 5:19-22 “Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophetic utterances. But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil.”

And that is what Peter says here.

· We know Christ is coming.

· We know He expects righteousness.

The last thing we need is to listen to someone who minimizes its importance.

So “be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness,”

And of course the way to be on your guard

Is to be constantly grounded in the truth.

(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.”

We guard ourselves by studying His word.

And of course with that Peter

Has now come full circle on this whole chapter.

He opened the chapter by telling us to be ready for deception by remembering the words spoken by the prophets and apostles.