If you have your Bibles, open up to the New Testament book of 2 Peter. This morning we'll be looking at 2 Peter chapter 3, verses 1 through 10. 2 Peter chapter 3, I think we'll get to verse 13. 2 Peter chapter 3, we'll be looking at verses 1 through 10. So if you have your Bibles, if you follow along with me, this is God's Word written for you and for me today. This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them, I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder. That you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandments of the Lord and Savior through your apostles. Knowing this, first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires, they will say, where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation. For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God. And that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise of some count slowness, but is patient towards you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 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. Heavenly Father, we ask that You would give us insight into Your Word, that You would give us Your Spirit, that You would show us Christ, and mold us more into his image. I pray these things in Jesus name. Amen. Well, this past week, if you turned on the evening news or if you turned on the Internet or computers and read what was going on in the world, what did you read about? What did you hear about? What did you see? Another terrorist attack. More death. More bloodshed, more heartache, more pain, more suffering. Perhaps you have a friend or family member who received a unfortunate diagnosis. Perhaps you heard of another marriage that was in trouble and another family that was threatening to dissolve. When we look around us in this world, what is it that we see? We see sin, we see injustice, we see heartache, we see death. And perhaps you asked yourself this question this past week, or perhaps you've asked yourself this question before. Where is the Lord? Where is the Lord Jesus Christ? When is He coming back? What is He waiting on? Is he coming back? Was he wrong in his predictions of his glorious second coming? Where is the Lord Jesus Christ? Well, this question is not a new one to us today, but in fact, this is a question the church has wrestled with generation after generation. In fact, the early church was wrestling with this very same question. The Apostle Paul deals with this question at least in two places, 1 Thessalonians and 1 Corinthians. And of course, the Apostle Peter deals with it head on here in our passage in 2 Peter 3. But first, just a few words by way of context to remind us what's going on, to remind us where we've come. If you recall, the Apostle Peter is writing upon the occasion of false teachers seeking to tear God's people away from him. False teachers coming into the church, spreading false truth, seeking to do damage to the church. And we can summarize these false teachings by way of four planks, if you will. There are four specific things these false teachings were saying, and they follow in a logical order. They are connected. First, they were saying, the Lord's not coming back. Therefore, there will be no final judgment. Therefore, the apostolic testimony, the apostolic witness was wrong. Therefore, we can live however we want. Four bullet points to their bad theology, we might say. No second coming. Therefore, no judgment. Therefore, the apostles were wrong. Therefore, we can live however we want. And thus, in 2 Peter, point by point by point, Peter answers and responds to each of these false teachings, and he does so in reverse order. As we'll see today, 2 Peter 3, Paul addresses this idea of the return of Christ. Last week, in chapter 2, Paul dealt with the idea of a final judgment. If you look back at chapter 2, verses 4, 5, and 6, God did not spare the angels. God did not spare the ancient world. God did not spare the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. God is a God who judge, and final judgment is coming. Chapter 1, verses 16 through 21, Paul dealt with the reliability of the apostolic witness. Peter says, we were an eyewitness. We were there. And Peter says, and if you don't believe that, we have even something more certain, a more sure prophetic word. And of course, he was pointing us to the very word of God. And then right out of the gate, chapter 1, verses 5-11, Peter dealt with this idea of holiness, and he calls us to live lives unto holiness. So bullet point by bullet point by bullet point, Peter addresses every single one of these false teachings, all four of these false teachings that they were spreading. So as we turn to chapter 3 today, front and center is the question of the return of our Lord. You might call this the foundation error. For all the other errors, simply build on this one. This is the foundation plank, so to speak, of the false teacher's false agenda. And the question on the table that we're going to consider today is this. How does Paul justify the so-called delay of the Lord? How does Paul respond to this question, where is Jesus? When is Jesus coming back? Or Peter, excuse me. And he does so in verses 5 and following, and we'll look at that in just a moment. But before we get there, in verses 1 through 4, Peter sets the stage, and he introduces the question. And look at what he says. In verses 1 and 2, he reminds the people of God. And He calls them to remember. Look at what it says, verse 2. End of verse 1, by way of reminder, verse 2, that you should remember. Remember what? The predictions of the holy prophets and the commandments of the Lord and Savior through your apostles. He calls them to remember. To remember the Word of God. Now it doesn't specifically say what passages Peter has in mind. I think given the context, we can infer that it was likely various prophetic passages dealing with the return of our Lord. All throughout the apostles, the prophets rather, the prophets talk about the coming day of the Lord. And Peter is saying, have you forgotten that? Remember what the prophets taught you. Remember what Christ has taught you through His apostles. And just one brief parenthesis, one brief parenthesis, a little side note on our understanding of the canon. I want you to note how Peter, this is a little side note, I want you to note how Peter equates the prophets of the Old Testament and the apostles of the New Testament. This is an important verse when we are dealing with our understanding of the canon. We don't have time to get into that today, but just to point out to you, look at how Peter equates the authority of the Old Testament prophets and the New Testament apostles. In other words, the New Testament apostles speak with the same unquestioned authority with which the Old Testament prophets spoke. Peter has no problem equating, you believe the Old Testament prophets, in like manner you ought to believe the New Testament, the New Covenant apostles. And Peter just says that in passing. He doesn't feel the need to explain it. This is understood. You ought to understand this. The prophets of the Old Covenant equated with, in terms of their authority, the apostles of the New. Just a little side note by way of our understanding of the canon. And so what is Peter doing? Peter is simply calling them to remember their Bibles. And I think it's a fair implication that they had forgotten them. They had forgotten their Bibles. And so what is able to happen? Verse 3, these false teachers are able to gain a foothold. Look at what it says, verse 3. Knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days. We're living in those last days. That's now, that's you and me. Scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing. following their own sinful desires. They had forgotten the Word of God. Therefore, the false teachers were able to gain a foothold and were threatening the health of the church. Dear friends, how often do we, just like those to whom Peter was writing, how often do we forget the promises that God has given us? How often do we forget those glorious truths that God has given us in His Word? Now, when we talk about forgetting or remembering, when we say, you know, we forget this or that in terms of scriptural usage, it's not mere intellectual, it's not a mere mental thing. It's not as if the verse just kind of falls out of your brain. To forget something means that we fail and neglect to apply it to our lives. We neglect to apply God's Word to our lives and to the various situations in which we find ourselves. And to remember God's Word is to remember to apply His truth to whatever situation we find ourselves in. Deuteronomy 8, verse 18, Israel is right on the precipice of entering into the promised land and Moses calls them to remember the Lord, your God. Psalm 103, 2, we are challenged to not forget all of the benefits that belong to us in Christ. One other of numerous examples we could have picked. Judges chapter 8, verses 33 and 34. Good Judge Gideon. Gideon dies and it says, No sooner has Gideon died than the people of God forget their Lord. How prone are we to forget God in his word and what he has promised us and told us in his truth. Peter is simply calling us to remember God's word. Well, how do we do that? By spending time in God's word. But beginning our days and ending our days in God's word by coming to church and having God's word taught and having God's word preached. But also by speaking God's word one to another. during the week, speaking a word in season to those who are weary, reminding one another of what God says. Remember what the Lord tells us in Hebrews 13, that he will never leave us nor forsake us. Doing things like that so that we will not forget the word of God that we are very prone to do, dear friends. Well, how does Peter respond to the question on the table? Look at verse 4. Verse 4 sets the stage. Verse 4 is this foundational false teaching. They will say, these scoffers, these false teachers, they will say, where is the promise of His coming? And they're not asking it as if they're genuinely curious. It's being asked in somewhat of a mocking way. Where is He? Where is the promise of His coming? And then they give their rationale. Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation. Where is He? Everything's going on the same. The wheels of history, the wheels of time are churning as they always have. Tomorrow is going to be just like today, which was just like yesterday. People are born. People are die. Life is hard. Where is he? That's the question on the table. Well, how does Peter respond? Well, Peter responds. by turning to the Lord, by pointing them back to God. And there's four specific things that Peter will say in terms of a response. And the first one is this. He reminds them of the sovereignty of God in verses 5-7. He reminds them of the sovereignty of God, and specifically, he reminds them of God's past, powerful, sovereign acts in history. Peter takes them back to Genesis. I thought it was a good thing to do. It's hard to go wrong when we go back to Genesis. Specifically back to Genesis 1-3. There's something in the Bible, and you're going to find it in Genesis 1-3. So Peter goes back to Genesis 1. Back to creation. Look at what he says in verse 5. For they deliberately overlooked this fact. that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the Word of God." He takes them back to creation, back to Genesis 1.1. The language of heavens and earth is an echo of Genesis 1.1. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Psalm 33.6, by the Word of the Lord, the heavens were made. Hebrews 11, verse 3, the universe was created by the Word of God. They deliberately overlooked God's initial, powerful, sovereign, creative Word. That there was nothing, and God said, let there be light, and boom, there was light. So the initial premise of the false teachers is wrong at the outset. The universe had a definite beginning in time and space. There was a time before which the universe did not exist. And God said, let there be light, and there was light. So Peter takes them back to creation, back to that first, initial, powerful, sovereign Word of God. Then what does he do? Verse 6. He reminds them that by that same powerful Word, God judged that creation. Look at what he says in verse 6. And that by means of these, namely the water and the Word, and by means of these, the world that then existed, or literally the world that then was, was deluged with water and perished. That very creation was judged. was destroyed by that very same Word. And here, of course, Peter has in view the flood episode of Genesis 6-9. By means of these, by means of the water and the Word, the powerful Word of God, through the agency of water, the flood, Genesis 6-9, God judged His creation that had been swollen with sin, Genesis 6, 5. Every thought was only evil continually. And God judged his creation by means of Noah's flood. Why is Peter doing this? What's Peter's point in all of this? What's Peter's point in this biblical history lesson? Well, he tells us in verse 7. But by the same word, the heavens and earth that now exist, or that now are, are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly." Peter is saying, judgment is coming. The Lord is coming. Judgment is coming. That just as God, just as the Lord judged His creation once at the flood, so will He do so again. But this time, not with a flood of water, but rather with a flood of fire. Listen to how the Apostle Paul puts it in 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. Turn over for just a moment to 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. And here we see the same fire imagery. 2 Thessalonians 1 verses 6 through 8. Since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. God has already in the past judged his creation. And today. The wrath and the judgment of God is building up, as it were, like water against a dam, and when he returns, it will be poured out. I want us to note before we move on to Peter's second point, just by way of application, I want us to note briefly what is presupposed in Peter's argument. Peter is presupposing what we might call a Christian view of history. That is, Peter is working from a framework that history began at a specific point in time, and that history is going somewhere, and that history will end at a specific point in time. That is simply a biblical view of history. It had a beginning, and it is unfolding according to God's sovereign purposes, and there will be a definite climactic end in time and in space. That view of history undergirds all that Peter is saying. And so that sets us apart from, for example, an Eastern mystic view of history where history is cyclical, where history simply repeats itself. No, we reject that. That also separates us from those who say that history is just a kind of random matter, motion, time and chance that is unfolding randomly according to some kind of evolutionary process. Again, Peter says no indirectly. Peter is working from a definitive Christian view of history. It begins at a point in time, it is unfolding sovereignly according to God's purposes, and it will end at a specific point in time when the Lord Jesus comes back to set all things right. So just by way of application, note the framework from which Peter is working. And the first place Peter takes him in his response is to the sovereignty of God, that God has sovereignly acted in history in the past and he will do so again. The second place Peter takes them is to the very nature of God. To the very nature of God in his substance, in his essence, because we might say this, well, that's well and good, but it still seems like it's taking a long time. Perhaps some of us have had that very same thought. And look at what Peter says in verse eight. But do not overlook this one fact, beloved. That with the Lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. Here, Peter is reminding us of the very nature of God, that God by nature is eternal. Westminster Shorter Catechism. I think it's four, maybe it's three. What is God? God is a spirit, infinite, eternal and unchangeable. He is being, wisdom, power and on and on. God is a spirit, infinite, eternal and unchangeable. And so what does that mean? That means that we need to be careful. This is important. We need to be careful not to impose human categories on God. not to impose, for example, human earthly time constraints on the Lord. Dear friends, God is above time. He is outside of time. He created time. So ultimately, as one of my professors put it, what exactly do we mean when we say God is taking a long time? He is above time. He created time. I mean, we all know what we mean, you know, speaking from a human standpoint, but ultimately God is above time. He created time. There is a deep mystery here. I mean, your brains are probably thinking, whoa, where is He going with this? There is something mysterious, and rightly so, when we think about the nature and the character of the Godhead. But He is eternal. He is above time. He does not relate to time like we do. One of my old professors would often use the illustration of how children and adults relate to time. Think of your children. Think of our covenant children. December 27th rolls around. What do they say? Is Christmas ever going to get here? Seems like it's taking forever. It was just two days ago. When is Christmas going to get here? Time rolls slowly to our children. But think of as an adult, it seems as if time flies by. How often do we say, where did the years go? It seemed like just yesterday this or that was happening. Now time doesn't change, but the way we relate to time does on an infinitely higher scale. That's just a minuscule example. On an infinitely, qualitatively different scale, God relates to time in a much different way than we do. For he created time, and we live in time. And so Peter says, with God, one day is as a thousand years. He doesn't say one day is a thousand years. He says one day is like. That word's actually there in the original language. One day is like a thousand years. And here, Peter's simply going back to the Old Testament. Peter's not saying anything new. Peter's just going back to the Old Testament, to Psalm 90. Look at what the psalmist says briefly in Psalm 90. Verses two through four, this is Moses's wonderful psalm, Psalm 92 through four, before the mountains were brought forth or ever you had formed the earth and the world from everlasting to everlasting. You are God. You return man to dust and say return, O children of man, for a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past or as a watch in the night. God is God and we are not. His ways are above our ways. His thoughts are above our thoughts. So the second place Peter goes or the second response Peter has is he takes him to the very nature of God, who God is in his essence, and he is eternal. Above time, we might say. But thirdly, we still might say, I'm with you, but it still seems like it's taking a long time. from Peter again. Peter knows how we are prone to respond, and Peter answers that as well. And Peter points us to the patient mercy of God. Look at verse 9. The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient towards you. Not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. So we say, what is what is our Lord waiting for? He's waiting for all of his sheep to hear his voice and to follow him. And he will not come back one second earlier. He's waiting for every one of His sheep, many of whom yet to be born, some being born at this very instant, undoubtedly, all throughout the world. He's waiting for His sheep to hear His voice and to follow Him. And so whereas the false teachers look at the absence of God, so to speak, and see that as a sign of his lack of interest or a sign of his of his non-existence. Now, Peter says we see that as a sign of his mercy. As a sign of his patience. that many would hear the Gospel call and would follow Him. That every single one of those that was given to the Son by the Father for whom Christ died would hear that Gospel call and would respond in faith and repentance. Our Lord Jesus is waiting for every single conversation over a cup of coffee, for example. Or someone, one of His sheep, hears the gospel and they respond. He's waiting for every last sermon to be preached where one of His sheep will hear that voice and will follow Him. He's waiting for every single missionary to be sent out in his perfect purposes to spread the good news across this globe and for every one of his last sheep throughout this globe to hear his voice, to be brought into the fold. And only then and not before then will our Lord Jesus return. So his delay, if we could put it that way, in parentheses, is simply because of his mercy. Because of his patience. That he is letting his purposes be worked out and letting the gospel spread around this globe and all of his people hear his voice and follow him. Fourthly and finally, Peter reminds them of God's faithfulness. That yes, he has not returned yet, and we don't know when he's going to come, but he will come. That's where Peter ends. He will come back. Verse 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. Next week we're going to talk about the character of His coming, the new heavens and the new earth, what we are called to do, before he actually returns. But the point here in verse 10 is the certainty of his return. In fact, in the original language, this verse begins with the Lord will come. English can't quite capture the emphasis, but the emphasis in verse 10 is the certainty of his return. The Lord will come, says Peter, and he will do so like a thief in the night. He will do so somewhat unexpectedly. So where does Peter go in his response? He goes first to the sovereignty of God. He has acted mightily in the past, he has judged in the past, he will do so again. He goes to the character of God, that He is eternal, that He created time, He is above time, He is outside of time. One day is as a thousand years with our Lord. And he goes to the mercy of God, that He is patient, letting His purposes unfold and all of His people hear His voice and follow Him. And he goes lastly to the faithfulness of God, that he will come back. We don't know when, but we know that he will with certainty. He will come back for his bride and he will usher in, we'll talk about this next week, the new heavens in the new earth. So as we close this morning, let me leave you with three very brief points, three very brief things to take with you. The first is this. This passage reminds us that we need to be careful about imposing human categories on God. In other words, our reasoning should not be, we think like this on earth, therefore God must think like that in heaven. Rather, we begin with God and how He reveals Himself to us in His Word. Our reasoning should not be from man to God, it should be from God to man. How does He reveal Himself to us? What is His love like? What is His holiness like? What are His purposes like? And we begin with God and what He has revealed Himself to us in His Word. Secondly, there is an implicit Call to us as the church to spread the good news of the gospel. God, in His wisdom, works through means to accomplish His ends. And in His patient mercy, He is bringing in all of His sheep, and He is using the local church to do that. He uses the local church to spread the gospel, to sow the seed, to send out missionaries, to invite our neighbors to church, to invite our friends to church. He uses you and me, weak and small as we are, to carry out His purposes. So implicit in His patience and in His mercy is His utilizing of you and me in His church to carry out His ends. So there's an implicit command to us to sow the seed of the Gospel. To be bold in our witnessing, to be bold in our evangelism, to be bold in our inviting others to come and hear and to see the love of Christ and to hear of the love of Christ in His Word. And then thirdly and finally, we are to look forward with a patient certainty. We're to be patient because our Lord is patient. As we look forward and as we pray for his return, we do so with patience, but we also do so with a certainty. That marks all that we do, knowing that he will come back and he will set all things right. So on the one hand, we need to avoid some kind of obsession with timetables and with fitting geopolitical events into the events of the last days. We need to avoid an obsession. On the other hand, we need to avoid an indifference, as if we don't think about it at all. We need to walk that narrow path. We need to walk that balance of a patient certainty that He is coming. We don't know when, but He is coming. And that gives you and me, dear friends, brothers and sisters, a certain hope, a hope that this world does not have. He will come and he is coming to set all things right, to render judgment against those who have opposed him. But to call all those who love him and to belong to him, to himself and to say, well done, good and faithful servant, enter into my glory. That gives us hope. A hope, a certain hope that the world cannot give. So dear friends, as we begin a new week, let us be those who look forward and upward to Christ with a patient certainty of his certain return. Praise God for his word. Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for this wonderful passage. Father, you have not revealed to us the timing of your return. You have told us that it will be like a thief in the night. But you have told us. That you will come. That you will return. To set all things right. To usher in a new heavens and a new earth. Father, until that day, may we be those who. Seek first your kingdom and righteousness. May we be those who live each and every day in close communion with you. May we be those used of you to sow the seeds of the gospel in the lives of our friends, our neighbors, our family members who do not know you. That you would draw them to yourself. Father, we need your grace. We need your spirit because we are a weak and small and sinful people. Help us to look upward and forward to you with a patient certainty of your return. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.