June 15, 2008
Sun Oak Baptist Church
Introduction
In 2nd Peter 3:10 Peter sets before us something that would have immediately and profoundly grabbed the attention of every one of his readers: the day of the Lord – and everything Peter says in verses 10-14 pivots around this one singular event.
In this context Peter uses the word “therefore” 3 times in these verses to drive home certain points that, upon examination are critical components, definitive statements, regarding living out the Christian life.
Verse 11: the Day is coming…therefore consider the kind or manner of persons you ought to be in holy conduct and godliness.
Verse 14: the Day is coming…therefore looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless.
Verse 17: the Day is coming….therefore since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked – led away by the heresy of the scoffers.
In order to put verses 10-14 into some usable perspective remember what Peter has in view in chapter 3. False teachers are mocking the doctrine of the Second Coming of Christ with a question and a statement: “For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things have continued as they were from the beginning of creation” and one of their arguments, one of the reasons why they said He wasn’t coming was that a world-wide upheaval in nature was not believable in view of how steady and constant nature has been for thousands of years.
And Peter’s response to that allegation is to paint a picture of the end of the world and of time that is simple, straight-forward, and one-sided: fire will destroy the sky, the earth and everything on it (v. 10), and a new heavens and a new earth will stand in their place (v. 13). The picture is simple: Peter doesn’t get into how “the day of the Lord” relates to the return of Christ; he doesn’t get into a discussion on the timing of the rapture; the length or substance of the Tribulation; he doesn’t refer to the millennium; he doesn’t get into the way Christians get into the new heavens and new earth or any of that – because all of that would have confused the issue – it would have muddied the waters.
So we’re going to follow Peter’s lead: we won’t be looking at charts and graphs dissecting and lining out the doctrine of “the day of the Lord” and looking at where it fits into the prophetic scheme. Our approach to the day of the Lord will be like Peter’s – it will be simple and straight-forward.
He’s already given us 4 reasons not to accept or believe the scoffers’ denial of the return of Christ – and he saves the consummate argument for last.
I. The Definition of the Day.
A. How do we define the “day of the Lord?”
The day of the Lord is the extraordinary, miraculous interventions of God in human history for the purpose of judgment which will culminate in His final judgment of the wicked on earth and the destruction of the present universe as we know it.
B. Now rest assured we could go on and on from this starting point and get into how this fits into the prophetic scheme – but Peter doesn’t do that and I believe it’s for good reason. It was enough just to mention the day – he would have immediately had everyone’s attention and they would have known that he was zeroing right in on God’s final judgment of the wicked and His final destruction of the universe in response to the scoffers saying it would never come.
II. Peter’s Description of the Day.
We can see Peter’s description and how his readers would have understood his description in 2 ways.
A. By viewing it from an Old Testament perspective. See 3:10 and 12.
1. There was no New Testament; all we had and all we knew was the OT; and we know that in the OT “day of the Lord” refers to a future time when God would vindicate His holy name, bring judgment on unbelievers, and gather His chosen people into a new kingdom of righteousness and peace. See Joel 2:30- 31 and Zeph. 1:14-18.
2. For at least 800 years Jewish people knew what will take place on the day of the Lord. They knew that one day God’s wrath is going to boil over into a fiery destruction of the ungodly and the earth – and the Gospels show us it was an event they were intimately interested in.
B. By comparing the coming of the day of the Lord with the coming of a “thief in the night.”
1. This is significant because Jesus was the first one to compare the coming of the day of the Lord with the coming of a thief. See Matt. 24:42-43 and 1st Thess. 5:2-4. Does this sound familiar? Isn’t the world always trying to sell us peace? Isn’t that the constant theme of many of our politicians? The day is coming beloved – it is coming.
2. By this comparison Peter directly links the day of the Lord to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ – the very doctrine the scoffers were attacking. It also warns us that this day will be sudden and unexpected and destructive – just like what happens when a thief breaks into someone’s home.
C. By the language and words he uses to describe it. Look at verse 10.
1. Define heavens; great noise; and elements.
2. The day of the Lord will be a horrific event. The noise from the disintegrating atoms of the universe will be deafening – unlike anything mortals have ever heard before. The intense heat that will be involved will be so powerful that the earth and its works will literally be burned up.
D. By reminding us that the day of the Lord signals the end of salvation.
1. This “promise” right out of Is. 65:17. And this promise implies that the cause for destroying the old world was man’s unrighteousness and that those who swerved from the righteousness that comes by faith will not be included in the new world.
2. 2 promises: the world will be destroyed on account of sin and a day is coming when salvation will no longer be available – as in Noah’s day the door will be shut – as in the Parable of the Ten Virgins – the bridegroom will come and the door will be shut. Sin dwells in this earth – in the new earth righteousness dwells. Are we ready?
III. The Implications and Application of the Day.
A. Lesson #1: the coming day of the Lord should serve as a warning to us about our priorities. See 3:11.
B. Lesson #2: the coming day of the Lord should serve to motivate us to live righteously. See 3:13-14.
Conclusion
Sodom and Gomorrah are the types that foreshadow the doom of those that live ungodly in these last day, and he who can walk this reeling world unmoved by all the tokens of its fiery doom, must either have a rock of refuge where his soul may rest secure, or else must have fallen into a strange carelessness, and a sad forgetfulness of God. May that not be our testimony.