I invite you to open your Bibles with me this morning to 2 Peter 3. We have been engaged in a study of the biblical teaching on heaven. We've considered the now heaven in which Christians live, having been crucified with Christ, raised up with him, seated in the heavenly places. For us to live is Christ. Indeed, Christ is in his people, the hope of glory. And we pondered the next heaven, that is, where we go if we are Christians, when we die, when we gasp our last and we're ushered into the very presence of Christ. And then to consider the new heaven, That is the heaven which will begin with the resurrection of the dead at the coming of Jesus Christ. And we've been looking at 2 Peter 3 and considering the promise of Jesus' coming. And we've looked at the marvelous features of God's promise. And this morning, we're going to be looking at two other aspects of this promise that should engage our attention. I'm gonna read 2 Peter 3, and then we'll commence our study together. This is now, beloved, the second letter I am writing to you, in which I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder. that you should remember the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles. Know this first of all, that in the last days, mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, where's the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation. For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God, the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and by water, through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water. But the present heavens and earth, by his word, are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance. 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, 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, on account of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning and the elements will melt with intense heat. But according to his promise, we are looking for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by him in peace, spotless and blameless, and regard the patience of our Lord to be salvation. 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 some things are hard to understand. which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. You, therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard, lest, being carried away by the air of unprincipled men, you fall from your own steadfastness. 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. Well, we've considered in a previous message the marvelous features of God's promise, that is, the promise of the return of Christ, We've seen the scriptural origin of the promise, the major features of it. We've seen its summary feature, that is, new heavens and the new earth in which righteousness dwells. We looked at the cataclysmic event required for the fulfillment of God's promise of the new heavens and the new earth. We looked at the present longing for the realization of God's promises. And now we come this morning to consider two more aspects or approaches to God's promise. We've seen its marvelous features this morning. We're going to look at the mocking response to God's promise, and then we're going to consider the mercy that's evident in God's promise. Today, then, first of all, notice the mocking response to God's promise. Look at verse four. and saying, where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation. And so these are mockers, these are scoffers. The Bible teaches that scoffers are the worst kind of sinners. Therefore, we are to avoid them like the plague that they are. We're not to imbibe their mocking attitude toward the promises of God. Psalm 1 in verse 1. How blessed is the man who does not walk according to the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers. Indeed, in the New Testament, Jude warns us of them. Jude, verses 17 through 19. But you, beloved, ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, that they were saying to you, In the last time there shall be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts, These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly minded, devoid of the Spirit. We're going to look at their character qualities here in just a few minutes. But we see here that scoffers dismiss and even ridicule inconvenient biblical truths that hold them accountable to God. But brethren, let mockers be warned. If you happen to be here who mocks the promise of the return of Christ, mocks the promise of the coming judgment day, that mocks the biblical doctrine of heaven and hell, be warned from this passage. Listen carefully. You see, such people, they sneer and they jeer when they should actually fear. because their number will be up one day, lest they repent of their sins. They think themselves to be very smart when they are the worst kind of fools, because they believe not the word of God." Peter describes the mockers message and their mischief and their mission in chapter 2 of 2 Peter. They deny crucial gospel truths while they affirm and promote dangerous heresies, leading many people astray. He then reveals God's scathing evaluation of them and pronounces the Lord's terrible judgment upon them. But for our purposes this morning, we're going to limit our study to their mocking denial of the promise of Jesus coming and of God's righteous judgment to follow. So let us consider Peter's warning and description. We're gonna consider seven points under our consideration of the mocking response to God's promise. Notice first of all, the commanded awareness of their mocking. We are commanded to be aware of their mocking. Peter says, know this first of all, perk up your ears, listen carefully, you need to know this. You see, because Peter is a faithful shepherd, he warned his readers about these mockers and their dangerous teaching. He does not want them to imbibe it and to follow them into their error. You see, awareness of error is almost as important as knowledge of the truth by which we identify error. And for this reason, he stirred up their sincere minds by way of reminder. He says, I'm going to teach you this again and again as long as I'm in this earthly body. You see, he warned them before. He's warning them again. God's people need to be reminded of basic biblical teachings again and again. We usually get derailed at the ABCs of the Christian faith. Carelessness about and forgetfulness of essential truths is dangerous. It may lead to apostasy, and it has of many professing Christians that have gone off into soul damning error. Peter underscores the necessity of studying the prophets, the apostles, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and even the end times. He says in verse two, that you should remember the word spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles. You see, Jesus' apostles were saying the very same things that he was. And like Peter's original readers, we must know the truth well enough that we may spot error. And we must not assume, I'm afraid as many do, especially young Christians, that all Bible teachers and preachers are faithful instructors and exhorters of the truth as it is in Jesus, and that is simply not so. The world is filled with false teachers who seek to lead Christ's sheep into error and away from the Savior. They tragically reap a great harvest among the untaught, the ill-taught, and the unsuspecting." Notice, secondly, the precise timing of their mocking. Peter says that it will be in the last days. Now, when are the last days? Well, from the vantage of the Old Testament, the last days would begin with Messiah's first advent. The prophets look forward to Jesus coming to refine Israel and beyond that, to the gospel's penetration into the Gentile world. The advancement of Christ's kingdom would precede his second coming in glory to judge the world and to inaugurate the age to come. Now the apostles, as ambassadors of the promised Messiah, they gained a more refined view of the last days. Jesus said he would go to glory and the Holy Spirit would continue to teach them things. Well, they viewed this gospel era, the time between Jesus' ascension and his return, as the last days. Jesus even speaks of the last days. And these days would conclude with our Lord's return. Brethren, this is the time in which we live, the end of this age before the inauguration of the age to come when the Lord Jesus Christ comes back in blazing glory. Peter, with the rest of the apostles, acknowledges that the last days began with the first advent. Progressive revelation in the Old Testament points to Jesus as God's final word to man. They spoke, Jesus will come and he'll have the final word. So the writer to the Hebrews believed. Hebrews 1 and verse 1, God, after He spoke long ages ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways in these last days, has spoken to us in His Son. He has spoken in Son's speech, literally. Paul, with Peter warned of false teachers, that would enter in, they would corrupt the church with demonic doctrine that would lead many professing Christians to abandon apostolic truth. 1 Timothy 4, verses 1 and 2. But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times, some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons. You see, anything that professes to be the gospel, that comes not from Christ and his apostles, comes from the pit. It's demonic doctrine. by means of the hypocrisy of liars, seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron. They don't even know the truth anymore, and they teach lies as if it is the truth. Jude teaches that such false teachers were even then misleading some within the church with their soul-corrupting, Christ-denying doctrine. Jude verse four, for certain persons have crept in unnoticed. Notice they're surreptitious. They don't advertise who they are. They come in, they creep in. Those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons, who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. Peter, with Jude, warned the church, saying, these false teachers, they are liars. These are mockers, they are here, they're here now. You see, like poisonous parasites, they fasten themselves onto and they fatten themselves upon the unsuspecting. So they have done down to our own day. We have TV networks and denominations dedicated to propagating soul-corrupting lies in the name of promoting truth. Peter says, beware. Notice thirdly, the arrogant skepticism in their mocking. Mockers will come with their mocking saying, where's the promise of his coming? Well, mockers are proud people. They're know-it-alls. They think they've got a corner on the market of truth, promoting their lies as truth. You see, with an air of superiority, they degrade the truth and they demean those who believe it, calling them backward and unsophisticated. They just don't know things that we know today. In particular, these proud mockers hold up the promise of Christ's return to ridicule. He's not coming back. They reject Jesus' coming in judgment. They deny His Lordship, as Peter says in 2 Peter 2 and verse 1. They sneer at prophecies that mark them out for destruction. They taunt those who dare to believe that Jesus would ever judge such liberated Christians as they are. He's not coming. And certainly he's not judging. Notice fourthly, the loose living motivating their mocking. Following after their own lusts. This tells us a lot about what motivates them, what they're all about. You see, these mockers are not only proud, they're also sensual, they're carnal. They argue that grace gives them gospel liberty to live as they please. We've been saved by Jesus. Therefore, we're free and free to pursue whatever we want. And so they follow their own lusts rather than following our holy Lord. And they even brag that they follow a liberated Jesus. He's freed us from the law. And they sneer at holiness, and they ridicule us backward, those that are not liberated, like themselves. They proudly regard themselves as free, failing to see that they are the real slaves. By what a man is enslaved, by that by which he is overcome. Not surprisingly, these false teachers deny inconvenient and uncomfortable truths. They have to, if they're going to try to keep an audience and try to keep their conscience. So they deny the doctrines of the general resurrection, of the coming judgment, of eternal torment in hell. How many so-called evangelical preachers even today are denying an eternal conscious hell? They reject these doctrines, why? Because they damn them. Since Jesus, if He exists at all, He's not coming back, we have nothing to fear. We're living our best life now. Life is meant to be lived to the full. Let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die and then it's all over. Or we can live like this and still have the promise of heaven. Sensual preachers always command a ready audience. Carnal people seek out carnal preachers like themselves, those who will confirm them in their sin, who will never call them to account, never preach repentance, never point them to a righteous savior who will punish sin. Again, they preach freedom from God's law, liberty to live as they please, and that without consequences. We live in the day. that Paul describes in 2 Timothy 4, verses 3 and 4. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine. They just won't put up with faithful biblical teaching any longer. But wanting to have their ears tickled, Tickled so that they hear things that make them feel good about themselves, that never challenge them, that never point them to a holy savior, that never point them to a law that condemns them. Wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate, they will heap to themselves teachers in accordance with their own desires. Preachers, notice he doesn't say preachers, he says teachers. They're not proclaiming, they're telling them stories in accordance with their own desires. We want to be confirmed in our sin, they won't come right out and say that, but we don't ever want to be challenged. It's like a church north of here, went by, their reader board says, all grace, no guilt. Well, unless you feel guilt, you have no need for grace. They will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires and will turn their ears away from the truth and will turn aside to myths, man's stories. Mockers promise their hearers freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption, Peter says in chapter two and verse 19. But they and their followers will perish because they do not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. You see, dear people, Jesus came not to save his people in their sin, but from their sin. Notice fifthly, Uniformitarian, I'm sorry, I have to use a $2 word here, I'll explain it. The uniformitarian thinking underlying their mocking. For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning. Nothing's changed. Things are today as they were then. Jesus hasn't come then, he won't come again. I mean, he's not gonna come back. He never kept his promise. It's just empty. Things continue on as they always have. It's uniformitarianism. Maybe you've heard the term before. It's the assumption that the same natural laws and processes that operate in our present day scientific observations have always operated in the universe in the past and apply everywhere in the universe. It's always the same. In other words, all the forces of nature we see today operate the same as they always have without any significant change. Well, Peter's gonna go on to say, that certainly ain't true. When we apply this theory to the study of history of mankind and to the promise of Christ's return in particular, we would conclude that since Christ hasn't come back again, yet he never will. That's their doctrine. His mockers say, all the prophecies of Christ's return and judgment are just so many words intended to frighten women and children. Generations have come and generations have gone and he has not come back. This is chicken little thinking. Why should we believe that he ever will? Let's face the facts. He's not coming. Get that silly notion out of your head. You have nothing to fear. Carry on with your life just as you wish without a worry at all. Ah, but there's a fatal flaw in their thinking. Just because Jesus hasn't yet returned doesn't mean that he never will. Look back to the past. Many before Jesus' first advent might have been tempted to think that Messiah would not ever arrive. But he did come in the fulfillment of the ancient prophecies, proving these doubters to be wrong. And he will come a second time in fulfillment of his and his apostles' promise. You see, theological uniformitarianism, that he hasn't come and he won't, just like geological uniformitarianism, that things have always been the same in the geological world, it comes from the same source. It's a lie from the pit of hell. Satan is its author. Notice sixthly, then, the willful ignorance expressed in their mocking, verses five and six. For when they maintain, and I don't like the New American Standard rendering, if you have a King James, for when they willfully forget, or an ESV, deliberately overlook this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God, the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water, through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded by water. You say Jesus isn't coming back, and there's not going to be the purging of this present universe, the bringing in of the new heavens and the new earth in which righteousness dwells? Look back at what's happened in the past. You see, pride not only makes us carnal, it also makes us conveniently forgetful. It is sometimes said that ignorance is bliss, and that may be true of some things, but ignorance of essential gospel truths and of key facts of Bible history, that's not a good thing at all. Jesus said, you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. And the old adage is true, none are so blind as those who refuse to see. These mockers, they refuse to see. We cannot reject gospel light without also embracing darkness. You see, if we reject the light, darkness will fill the vacuum. Willing ignorance of essential gospel truths will damn us eternally. Jesus warns, if therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness. A seared conscience calls light darkness and darkness light. It flips morality on its head. And such was the case of the false teachers and those who followed them in Peter's day. And so it is in our own day. We either follow the light of Christ to heaven or of darkness into hell. If Jesus is not our savior, he will be our judge. Notice how Peter describes the willful ignorance of those who mock the promise of Jesus' second coming. First of all, they deliberately overlooked the word of God that spoke the universe into existence. Today, some who call themselves Christians together with unbelievers deny the biblical teaching that God created the universe and this earth in six literal 24-hour days by his divine fiat. And they deny it because it disagrees with so-called science. Better to believe God was there when all things were created than those that deny those facts, which the fingerprints of God around us are evident everywhere. Second, they deliberately overlooked the fact that God used water in creation, causing dry land to arise out of water. Thirdly, and most significant to Peter's argument, they deliberately overlooked the fact that the very water God used in creation of the old world, He used in its destruction. The same water that, as it were, gave life to the old world was the means of its death. You see, the power of water, like the power of the word, may give life or take life, may create or it may destroy. Noah preached of the coming flood for 120 years as he built the ark, the only means of man's deliverance. You see, brethren, there was room enough on the ark for all who would have repented of their sin. Yet the world sneered and jeered and called Noah all kinds of names. Then the rain came and the fountains of the great deep were broken up. They didn't listen. Now it's too late. Water descended from above and gushed up from below, drowning the old world in fulfillment of Noah's gospel." You see, brethren, God will not be mocked, not in Noah's day, or in the coming day of the Lord, or in our own day. Notice, seventhly and lastly, the fatal consequence anticipated by their mocking, verse 7. but the present heavens and earth, by his word, are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men." Noah preached to his own generation of the need to flee from the wrath to come, So he continues to preach in our own. And Peter adds his voice to Noah's and to our saviors. He preaches of a coming flood of fire that will engulf the universe. Brethren, forgetfulness may be fatal. Failure to prepare can be deadly. In fact, those who perish at Jesus' second coming are doubly responsible for being unprepared because they refuse to hear Noah and Peter. And most of all, they refuse to hear their only Savior, Jesus. Luke chapter 17, verses 26 and 27. And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it will also be in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark and the flood came and destroyed them all." So that's the mocking response. to God's promise. Notice more briefly the mercy displayed in God's promise. Look at verses 8 and 9. But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance. Oh, dear people, God's mercy is his lenience. It is his long-suffering toward those who deserve his swift justice. And God has been merciful and patient with many of us. Now, as we consider the mercy displayed in God's promise, we're gonna notice two points. First of all, God's mercy displays his surprising patience. We see this in verse eight. And why is God's merciful patience surprising? Well, it's surprising for two reasons in particular. First of all, God's patience is measured not by time, but by eternity. God has no beginning. He has no end. He is eternal. He dwells outside of time, even though He works inside of time. You see, time is God's creation. And that is why He is able to regard a thousand years as the same as one day. God's patience, therefore, is not measured by man's perception, but by God's character. God's patience, unlike man's who readily doubts God, his patience is long. It lasted 120 years. In Noah's day, then the flood came, but God's long suffering is not eternal. It will end when Jesus comes. Notice, secondly, about this surprising patience. God's patience exceeds man's expectation. Imagine guilty sinners. Maybe you might have been included in this when you were not a Christian. Imagine guilty sinners complaining that God has broken his promise because Jesus hasn't come. When Jesus coming would spell their everlasting destruction. We don't want him to come back. If they knew what was waiting for them, they need to repent. Sinners complain when God is giving them time to repent. Oh, the madness of sin. Mocking God who takes no pleasure in their death. God patiently extends the rope of mercy to guilty sinners, but do they take hold of it? No, most of them hang themselves with it. Romans 2, verses four through six. Or do you think lightly of the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God who will render to every man according to his deeds. Those are frightening words, are they not? Especially if you're on the other side of grace and you haven't embraced Jesus Christ yet. You need to come to him and be saved. So God's mercy displays his surprising patience, but also God's mercy displays his saving purpose, verse nine. God is not slow about his promises, some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance. You see what mockers ridicule as God's slowness, penitent sinners regard as God's salvation. Verse 15, and regard the patience of our Lord to be salvation. If God wasn't patient with me, I never would have been saved. If you're not a Christian, don't test his patience. Come to Jesus and be saved. Bless God for his mercy, which will not permit a single repentant sinner to perish. We saw this in the reading this morning from Luke 23. Both of those thieves crucified on either side of Christ at first were mocking him. But Luke focuses upon the one to whom God granted repentance. We deserve to be here. This man's done nothing. Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And Jesus says, today you shall be with me in paradise. He repented and he was saved. The mocking man went down and the repentant man went up. The Lord is slow to anger and abundant in loving kindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression. You see of all who come to him seeking his abundant compassion, seeking pardon for their sin. So who benefits from God's saving purpose? Notice, first of all, God's saving purpose regards a particular people. Verse nine. But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved. The Lord is patient toward you. Peter teaches that God's saving patience is not directed toward everyone, but toward his beloved, his elect people. He is not willing for any of them to perish, but for every last one of them to come to repentance, and he won't return until they all repent. Indeed, Christ will not return until all those who are given him by the Father are saved from their sins. These Jesus will raise from the dead in the resurrection of the righteous when he returns, John chapter six and verse 39. And this is the will of him who sent me, that of all that he has given me, I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. You see, Jesus will not return from heaven. until the last elect sinner chosen from before the foundation of the world is brought safely to him in repentance and faith. And then he will come back to this world in blazing glory." Notice secondly, God's saving purpose regards a particular people and it also redeems a penitent people. We've already assumed this. We are saved only when we turn to Jesus to forgive us of our sins. Dear ones, this is saving repentance. It produces radical, observable changes in our life. The Westminster Shorter Catechism question gives expression to this truth in its answer. It says in the question, what is repentance unto life? Answer, repentance unto life is a saving grace whereby a sinner out of a true sense of his sin and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ does with grief and hatred of his sin turn from it to God with full purpose of and endeavor after new obedience. We saw the budding of this in the believing thief upon the cross. And it will be true of every one of us if we're true Christians. We will, out of the knowledge of our sin and the hatred of it, turn to God through faith in Jesus Christ. Brethren, our Lord preached repentance. His gospel calls us to a changed life through faith in Him. In fact, we do not truly believe in Jesus unless we also repent of our sins. Mark summarizes Jesus' first sermon, Mark 1 in verse 15, saying, the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel. So repentance is our duty, but it is also the gift of God's grace. We cannot repent, even as we cannot believe, unless God enables us to turn from our sin to Christ. Peter observed this gracious phenomenon himself when he went and he preached to Cornelius. Here this Jew, Peter, goes to this Gentile's house at the command of God. He had to be told three times, Peter, go there. Now he's being called on the carpet for preaching. To a Gentile, Acts 11 in verse 8, regarding Cornelius and his salvation, Peter says, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life. He granted us repentance and he grants them repentance. And we must understand that Peter's readers were mostly converted Gentiles. They'd undergone that great change. No longer did they mock God's salvation and ridicule the need for repentance. In fact, so evident was their turning to God that they themselves were rejected and ridiculed by their non-Christian friends and neighbors. Yet they spoke to them of the reason for the hope that was within them, and they warned them of the judgment to come when Jesus returns, lest they be swept away in the coming conflagration." 1 Peter 4, verses three through five. For the time already passed is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles. You got that out of your system when you repented. you having pursued a course of sensuality, lust, drunkenness, carousals, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. And in all this, They, that is their old cronies, they are surprised that you do not run with them into the same excess of dissipation. You used to chum with them, you hobnob with them at the bar, you chase skirts, you did all kinds of sensual things and you felt nothing about it. Now you've changed and they see your change. They don't like what they see and so they talk evil of you. They are surprised that you do not run with them, I would say, any longer into the same excess of dissipation, and they malign you. But they shall give an account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead." In other words, get right with God before judgment day. The new world Jesus will inaugurate when he returns after he calls wicked sinners from the grave and resurrects and glorifies the righteous dead and living saints and judges the world in righteousness. He will purge this present universe with a baptism of fire. And it's not a Presbyterian baptism. It's a Baptist baptism. It will be submerged in fire. not sprinkled, submerged. The resulting new world will be a righteous world. The wicked will not enter there. They will be consigned to the lake of fire. How dreadful will that day be! but how glorious for those whose lives have been characterized by holy conduct and godliness. And that leaves me the question for you, what will Jesus' return mean for you? What will it mean for you? What will it mean for me? 2 Peter 1, verses 10, 11. Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about his calling and choosing you. For as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble. For in this way, the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be abundantly supplied to you. Just a couple of words of concluding application, and we'll be done. First of all, let us marvel at the madness of mocking God and his promise of Jesus' return. It's madness. It was madness for those in Noah's time to mock Noah, and they were carried away by the flood. It's madness to mock Jesus' return. When he does come, people are gonna be crying for the mountains and the rocks to fall upon them to hide them from the face of the lamb. Jesus' return is a blessed hope of Christians while it is a terrifying prospect for unrepentant sinners. To mock Jesus' promised return rather than to repent, to receive Jesus and to prepare for that coming day, it's suicidal madness. None shall escape. Finally, behold God's promised patience toward those He has come, or He has chosen to come to repentance. How God has been patient with us. Many of us might have been mockers. Us, Jesus, He can't save, He's not coming back. That's fine for you, it's not fine for me. I've got my own life to live. But we know from the thief on the cross that God has chosen even some mockers to come to repentance, and he has chosen many of those to whom Peter wrote who were mockers, they came to repentance, and maybe you are one of them even now. This word come, come to repentance, it means to make room, to make room. You see, God's promise is this, make room for repentance and you will find that Jesus has made room for you at the cross and he's preparing a room for you right now in heaven. Why will you die in your sin? Jesus says, all that the father gives me shall come to me. And the one who comes to me, I will certainly not cast out. The mocker crucified next to Christ came to Christ and he said, today you shall be with me in paradise. Maybe you've been mocking and God has put his finger upon your heart and shown you that there's a wrath that's coming. flee from the wrath to come, flee to Jesus, enter the ark of safety, which is Jesus Christ, or you'll be swept away in the fiery flood to come. Let's pray. Lord Father, these are very sobering words. meant to engage our attention. We are to listen carefully to these things. We're not to just let them go in one ear and out the other. We're not to treat them as if they're just common things to consider and then to pass by and consider something else. Oh, these are very true and frightening words because they are true. For any that are outside of Christ, But for those of us who are being saved, oh Lord, how glorious is your grace and the keeping of your promise. You've granted us repentance. You've granted us faith in Christ. The Lord Jesus died for our sins. He paid for our mocking. And now we have the promise of his coming and of the resurrection of the righteous and of the coming new heavens and the new earth. Oh Lord, might everyone in this room have that blessed hope. Indeed, might they have it before they leave this day. For we pray it in Jesus' name. Amen.