Series: Our Great Hope - Message #2

The Implications of the Second Coming for our lives
Last Sunday I spoke about the Second Coming of Christ as a life-changing truth, a promise that Jesus made to us, and a clear truth that the whole of the Bible declares to us. Many of you thanked me for bringing that sermon and just as many asked a question-

“So, Pastor, what does this mean to me about the way I live? What should I do now?”

I kept turning that question over in my mind, praying and thinking.

If the promise of Jesus’ return is life-changing, what kinds of choices will we make in the light of the promise?

TEXT - 2 Peter 3:3-18 Pew Bible 1896

READ 3:3-10

1. People who accept the promise of the Second Coming of the Lord will need to be FULL of FAITH!

Peter warned that some will lose the vision and become scoffers. You’ve heard them and so have I. They say things like - “Isn’t it obvious that, after all this time, this doctrine is just a delusion? Hey, admit it. They got

it wrong, misunderstood what Jesus actually promised, or were deceived by their own desires.

It’s not going to happen.”

And what happens to those who lose sight of the promise or turn their back on it?

Peter says, “they follow their own evil desires.” The Second Coming needs to be set like a bright light on the horizon of our lives. Often we need to look up from what we’re doing and reorient our lives to it, thanking God for the promise, and praying that the promise will inspire us to greater faith.

"What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen.

It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see." (Hebrews 11:1, NLT)

As we deal with the stuff of everyday life, you know, the big things like - keeping our cars running, our homes in good repair, our bosses happy, our marriages intact, and our kids in line - it is so easy to lose sight of eternal things. It is important to maintain the stuff that surrounds us, to pay our bills, and meet our obligations, but of greater importance is remembering that you and I are ‘just a passin’ through’ this old world. This is only the prologue, not the story!

Peter says that those who become scoffers forget the big picture, the fact that there is a Creator that stands outside of time and of space who has a plan and purpose. Long ago He started the story, bringing the world as we know it out of the chaos of the vast waters to which Genesis alludes. And sometime - perhaps today - maybe not for a thousand years - Peter says, God will finish His-story, writing “The End” with a fire that will consume the Creation, fiery destruction of Final Judgement.

And, somewhere in that Divine script, there is a moment when Jesus Christ, the 2^nd Person of the Trinity, will, once again, pull open the curtain of Eternity and step back into this earth to announce the arrival of the Kingdom of God in the fullness that the prophets glimpsed by faith.

Peter offers an explanation for the delay of the Promise. “With God, one day is as good as a thousand years, a thousand years as a day. God isn’t late with his promise as some measure lateness. He is restraining himself on account of you, holding back the End because he doesn’t want anyone lost. He’s giving everyone space and time to change.” The Message The delay is evidence of mercy - not forgetfulness or fraud!

Now, take a look at v. 11a “What kind of people ought you to be?”

READ 3:11b-18

“Holy and Godly”

Do you think of holiness as a beautiful trait?

What kind of images does the word create in your mind?

For many in this room, the first thoughts associated with holiness have to do with prohibitions, with serious people, most likely older. Come on, am I right?

If you were raised in the Roman Catholic church, you probably associate holiness with ‘churchy’ things and people, like priests and nuns, incense, and hushed whispers in a chilly church building.

If you were raised, like me, in a Pentecostal church, you associate ‘holiness’ with a set of rules that were seriously enforced. “Holy” people never smoked (at least in public), never drank alcoholic beverages of any kind, didn’t listen to popular music on the radio, did not go to the movies, went to church three times a week, didn’t ever swear- not even a heck was acceptable. If you were a girl there were some additional rules about the length of your skirt, when it was acceptable to wear pants instead of a skirt, and how much make-up you should wear. Really holy families didn’t have a TV in their house either!

Don’t misunderstand me this morning. I’m not making fun of those ways. In fact, I think I gained far more from them than I lost - BUT... they are not what holiness is. They were surely an attempt at helping people to be holy, but they often went wide of the mark. For I knew quite a few people in the church who kept all those rules and still had some very ordinary problems with sins like greed, racism, gossip, and envy. That’s why the Bible says, “These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, humility, and severe bodily discipline. But they have no effect when it comes to conquering a person’s evil thoughts and desires.” Col. 2:23

God’s people who are anticipating the Return of the Lord live a genuinely HOLY life, not one focused around a few rules, but one entirely focused on knowing, loving, and serving Christ Jesus! That is holiness! To be holy means “to belong to God - entirely; to be separated to His purposes.” It isn’t just for people who make their living doing church work, or for old people, or for serious people. Holiness is the calling of ALL of God’s people and extends to EVERY PART of our lives.

Holy people evaluate their work, their family life, their finances, their entertainment, their sexuality, their dreams and hopes – everything – by God’s will and Gods’ purposes. And holiness makes them beautiful people, full of light and life, not ugly, critical, or mean people!

∙ The holy person will do the best job possible at work for she realizes that ultimately she is working for Christ and not her boss!

∙ The holy person will be an amazingly loving spouse for his love for his wife will be a way of expressing his love for Christ!

∙ A holy teenager will honor his parents for it is way that he honors God.

∙ A holy person will be generous for when he shares his resources with those who are in need, he sees his actions as a way of giving to His Lord.

Are you grasping the point?

Peter tells us that holy people build the Kingdom of God which will ‘speed its coming!’

The Second Coming of the Lord should not fill our hearts with dread!

Some speak of it in that way, but truthfully, it should fill us with anticipation. Read v. 13

Ill.- Recently my Dad said, “Next time I’m visiting you, I’d like to take a tour of GSCA and see what’s happening there. It was his vision that led this church to purchase that property and expand the school’s reach to our community. Because we have taken care of that vision, enlarged it, and done really good things with the school, I was eager for his next visit. A week or so before Christmas, he did come to visit and I took him on a tour. That he was pleased with what he saw made me as happy as little kid!

So, it can be with us and the promise of Christ’s return. If we are living truly holy lives, we will eagerly anticipate His return, anxious to let Him take a look at what we’ve done with the life He gave us, with the gifts of the Spirit He trusted to us, and blessed by His commendation.

“What kind of people ought you to be?”

READ 3:14

There are three more words besides “holy,” which Peter tells us should be descriptive of our lives as we look forward to Christ’s return.

The first is “spotless.”

That’s overwhelming to consider - at first glance. Spotless? That implies perfection. And, in fact, in context that is exactly the meaning that Peter intends. Believers who have a strong sense of the Lord’s imminent return, will not live a dirty, cluttered life, full of vice and sin. It is possible to grow entirely too comfortable in our sins, you know.

It’s like a person who lives in an untidy home. After a while the clutter, the dust bunnies under the bed, the piles of unfinished laundry in the basement, and the junk piled in the garage are invisible to them. The clutter just becomes a part of the landscape of life. Only when Grandma, who keeps a spotless house, calls to say that she’s coming to visit, does the true state of the house become obvious. Everybody starts working feverishly to get it in order, to clean up the mess!

When Jesus returns, the Bible says frequently that His appearance will be sudden; Peter says, “like a thief in the night.” He won’t telephone the Vatican with a 30 day warning! But that should not be of concern to us, because God says, “Live spotless lives, always ready for Jesus’ arrival!” God desires that we clean up our act. Our speech is not to be full of filthy references. Our hearts are not to be full of hatred, greed, rage, or lust. Don’t be discouraged! Of course, we are not perfect, nor can we ever be this side of Heaven. That’s why we have a Savior, but we cannot casually excuse our sins, either.

The Spirit has been poured into our lives to make us whole, to give us the power to clean up our act. Where there is sin, we are not to sweep it under the rug, or hide it in the closet. Instead, the Bible tells us to ‘confess it and God will forgive us and cleanse us.”

The second word is like the first, “blameless.”

How can we be blameless, free of any reason for accusation?

Because we have a Savior who powerfully intervenes on our behalf! As we practice the disciplines of the Spirit, such things as regular worship, meditation, Scripture intake, fasting, service, and the like - we open up our lives to the flow of God’s life. We become more and more like Jesus - blameless, changed from the inside out.

Sometimes I do not realize how different God has made my life until I spend some time with a person who does not know Him, at all! As I hear them spewing out profanity, expressing their despair, angry at the world and their kids, hoping for nothing more than a good day to fish ... I realize the tremendous blessings I have in Christ, and give thanks for His grace!

Are you blameless, friend? If not, turn to Jesus this morning, and tell Him that you need to be forgiven, changed, and empowered to live a life that is increasingly marked by a love for the Lord.

The third word is actually a phrase - “at peace with Him.”

Peace is not merely the absence of conflict! It is a state of wholeness and serenity.

Ever been in a situation where things appeared to be peaceful, but under the surface, you could sense a simmering tension? It’s not a great place to be! I’ve visited in homes where I quickly sensed that though no one was shouting and nothing was flying through the air, there were some real issues between the husband and wife. I’ve wanted to say, “OK, who’s going to tell me what’s really going on here?”

And then too, I’ve visited with families where there is a great deal of coming and going, noisy kids, and all - but there is also a sense of peace, a real sense that the people there love each other and are at peace!

It is that to which we aspire as we look for Christ’s coming. No issues with Him, no unspoken resentment, no faithlessness, but instead, a deep and abiding peace that comes from loving Him deeply. I love Jesus’ words of instruction that He gave to the disciples - "I’ve told you all this so that trusting me, you will be unshakable and assured, deeply at peace. In this godless world you will continue to experience difficulties. But take heart! I’ve conquered the world.” (John 16:33, The Message)

Are you living ‘at peace with God’ even though you’re living in a world that is often full of turmoil and pain?

How should those who expect the Lord’s return be living? “What kind of people ought you to be?”

READ 3:17c-18a

Two last words are given us-

“Guarded” and “growing.”

The Bible warns Believers numerous times about the importance of staying on guard.

Phrases like:

“Watch out!” “Beware!” “Resist the devil who is on the prowl!” are found in Jesus’ teaching and the apostle’s letters. Why must we be guarded? There are enemies who will, given the chance, pull us into sin and error. For most of us, the greater danger is drift! We just get careless and we drift, a little each day, away from God until we run aground and wonder where He went!

If we want to greet the Lord with joy at His return, we must be vigilant, defending ourselves from those things that would carry us from our love for Him.

I like the final word today - “Be growing in grace and knowledge!”

Yesterday’s wonderful experience with God cannot sustain us today.

I am now into my 5^th decade of life, a Believer for 40 years. I am glad for every lesson and experience that God has privileged me to have in that stretch, but I’m not finished yet!

I look forward to what God has for me in the next two or three decades, should He allow me to live that long, or delay His coming.

I want to know Him as an old man, a sage in the Kingdom. Maybe that sounds goofy or corny to you, but I know that there still much to know about Him and about life, so I am committed to growing, to learning, to discovering more about Jesus.

___________________

“What kind of people ought you to be?”

- Full of Faith, patiently waiting the coming of the Lord

- Holy and godly

- Spotless

- Blameless

- At peace with God

- Guarded against drift and deception

- Growing in grace

Let me leave you with these words from Jesus –

" “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world." (Matthew 25:31-34, NIV)

Amen