Friends, good evening. Please do turn in your copy of God's Word to 2 Peter. 2 Peter chapter 3. We come this evening to the end of our brief study in 2 Peter. Brief, but we trust and pray profitable as well for our good and God's glory. So 2 Peter chapter 3. Please turn there in your scriptures or it is printed just over the page there in the bulletin if that's helpful for you as well. Allow me to read it for us and then we will ask the Lord's help in prayer. The Apostle Peter writes, 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 commandment 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 a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise, as some count slowness, but 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. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God? Because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn. But according to his promise, we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish and at peace, and count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction as they do the other Scriptures. You, therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability, 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. Let's ask for the Lord's help as we turn to His word. Heavenly Father, we join with the psalmist in asking this prayer. Make us understand the way of your precepts. and we will meditate on your wondrous works. That is our prayer this evening, Heavenly Father, that we would understand the way of your precepts, of your law, of your word, that we would see you before us, and that having heard it, we would meditate on your wondrous works, that we would rejoice in all that you've done, and that you would bless your word to us. So open our eyes, unblock our ears, stir our hearts by the power of your Spirit to hear you speak to us this evening. And we ask this in the name of our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus. Amen. This evening, friends, All I want us to do is one thing. All I want us to do this evening, friends, is to get out our diaries. That's all we're going to do this evening. We're going to get out our diaries, and we're going to focus on one day that is written into all of our diaries, into all of our lives. Now, I should say this at the start, please don't get out your iCal or Google Calendar, whatever it is you use on your cell phone, or if you use a physical written diary, no shame in that, all right? It's good to pen and paper, you can't beat it, right? Please don't get out your physical diary either. We can't mark this day in the diary like that, like we normally would, but this evening we're coming to a date for the diary nonetheless. Indeed, as I just said, this date is in the diary, and we didn't even have to put it there. This day is coming, whether we would choose it or not. We're gonna get out our diaries and look at a future day. So what day is it that we're talking about this evening? Well, if you have 2 Peter 3 before you, in verse 10, Peter says this, it is the day of the Lord. That's the day we're gonna talk about this evening, the day of the Lord. And it is written into the diary of the universe, if I can put it like that. It's written into the calendar of the earth, of every man, woman, and child. This day is coming, the Lord is coming. Friends, think about it this way. At the start of creation, at the beginning of everything, What we're gonna discover this evening, and what we already know, indeed, as Peter writes here, he's stirring up by way of a reminder. Did you see that at the start? This is just a reminder. But what we're gonna see here is it's a little bit like this. At the start of everything, when God created the heavens and the earth, it's as though he strapped on a clock. It's as if he put a wristwatch on the wrist of the universe, and it's counting down to the day of the Lord. Sometimes our boys like to take our phones when we're not looking and scroll up and put a little countdown timer on it to go off 10 minutes later, two hours later, sometime overnight, and our phones start flashing like this. Well, it's as if God has set a timer, a clock, a day into the calendar of the universe on which he will return. And of course, that reminds us that history, the story of this world, has direction. It's pointed somewhere. We're traveling somewhere, going somewhere. And that day, as we've just read, is the day of the Lord. Yes, some of us will have died, or as the scripture sometimes puts it, some of us will have fallen asleep in the Lord before then. But even still, this day is coming. And so this evening, all we're gonna do, if you like, is sit with our cosmic or eschatological diaries out and consider what this day of the Lord means for us. Now, of course, if we're talking about diaries or time or calendars, of course that means waiting, doesn't it? How long is it until I need to leave for work? What's the latest I can jump in the car so I don't hit the traffic? How long do I have to wait to my birthday? How many sleeps till we're back at school? Why are we stuck at the bridge again? How long do we have to wait for it? I think I poked fun at the bridge too many times. I actually haven't been stuck there that often, but I just know that it happens, all right? But future time means waiting time, waiting for the day of the Lord, waiting for the Lord Jesus to return. Three times here, Peter, remember the apostle Peter, close to death, he reminds these Christians, these Christians who are going well, we saw that a few weeks ago in chapter one, verse 12, these Christians are going well, and three times he reminds them, they are waiting. Just again, put your eyes down. Verse 12, waiting and hastening. Verse 13, according to the promise, we are waiting. And verse 14, therefore, beloved, since you are waiting, waiting, these are waiting people, Christians are waiting people. And Peter wants to remind them, how then are we to live? How then are we to live? Knowing that that date is in all of our diaries, that day of days, the day of the Lord. So this evening, as we sit, if you like, with our cosmic or eschatological calendar open, knowing that the day of the Lord is coming, that the question then that Peter wants to address is how then shall we live? How then shall we wait for that day? Dates work that way, don't they? You've got a birthday coming up, we need to get a cake, get presents. Thanksgiving is just around the corner. Let's prepare. We need to order the food. Decide who we're inviting this year. Decide who we're not inviting this year. Let's prepare. I've got a break presentation at work. I need to get it written now. Our professors at seminary are on us all the time. First day of class, your papers are coming. Get ready now. It's like that. It's coming. All dates work like that. So knowing that this date is in the diary, remember, it's like on your phone, sometimes your calendars have a pop-up reminder, don't they? You look at your phone and say, oh yeah, dentist tomorrow, doctors. Whatever it is, it's like Peter here puts this pop-up reminder and says, this day is coming. Here's how you need to wait. Here's how you need to prepare. So Peter gives them three things to remember. Remember what we said at the start there, chapter three, one and two. You can see this is a reminder. Three things to be doing to remember while they wait on the day of the Lord. And these are the three points that we'll walk through this evening. While we wait on this day written into the diary of everything, While we wait, as God's people, we are to firstly expect scoffers, expect scoffers. Secondly, give thanks for the Lord's mercy. And thirdly, grow in godliness. Those are our three points, and we'll come back to those as we go. So while we wait for this day, while we wait, firstly, Peter says we need to expect scoffers, and that's really verse one to seven, but let me just hone into three and four, verses three and four here. Expect scoffers. What does Peter say? Knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come. These days, as we wait on that day, are days of scoffers. Scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. He says in verse four, they'll 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. So friends, between this day and that day, Christians are to live expecting scoffers. And how do we know that scoffers will come? Well, because the Bible tells us that they will. That's where Peter plants their feet. What does he say in verse two? You need to remember what's written in the Holy Prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through the apostles. He's saying, remember, scoffers will come, because we've told it in God's word. It's written in God's word. He's planting their feet there and saying, no, be assured, it's written that this should happen. So scoffers, mockers are gonna come, and what are they gonna say? They're gonna say, today seems the same as yesterday. How can there be any kind of judgment? How is it that God can come? Scoffers will say, where is your God? I can't see him. Judgment for wrong, that the world will burn up? You've got to be kidding me. The sun rose yesterday, the sun rose today, the sun will rise tomorrow. And Peter says, no, when people come and say these things, when you hear these things given, we aren't to be surprised. We are not to be surprised, for we are told in God's word that this will happen, that these last days, as we wait on that day, are days when scoffers will come. It reminds me of Pilgrim's Progress. I just started rereading Pilgrim's Progress. And then very early on, this is as far as I've got, Christian, he meets Pliable. And as they're heading, as he looks to rid himself of his burden and head to the eternal city, as he heads there, they fall into slough of despond. And when they fall down there, Christian meets Mr. Worldly Wisdom. Mr. Worldly Wisdom from the town of Carnal Policy. I mean, Bunyan, just amazing, just amazing. But he meets Mr. Worldly Wisdom. And I thought, I'd love just to read you the whole thing. We just don't have time to. I'd love to read you the whole thing about their interaction. But what does Mr. Worldly Wisdom come and do? He scoffs at him. He mocks him. Where are you heading? What are you trying to do? No, he says to him, turn right back around. This is a little quote of Mr. Worldly Wisdom, and this is what he says to Christian about evangelists who sent him on his way. He says, curse evangelist, curse the man who sent you this way. There's not a more dangerous, not a more troublesome way in the world than this one. You have fallen, Christian, into crazy thoughts. into crazy thoughts. Christian is scoffed at, mocked. Don't listen to evangelists. No, turn around, go home. You don't need that burden taken from your back. Now, thankfully, later on, Christian meets evangelists again, and he sets them off on the right road. Friends, when you meet scoffers, when you meet scoffers, people saying, why are you involved in church? Why spend your time reading the Bible? Why are you teaching these things to your children? Do you really believe Jesus is coming again? Don't be surprised. Don't be surprised. The Scriptures tell us this will happen. Now, friends, we can be saddened, right? We can be heartbroken for these people. Of course we can, but do not be surprised as people come along and say these things. Let it break our heart, but let it not shake the sure place of Christ under our feet. Then Peter goes on to tell them, well, why are these people saying these things anyway? Why have scoffers come? In verse 5, he tells us they deliberately overlooked the fact that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed from water and through water by the word of God. And verse 7, that that same world, the heavens and the earth that now existed, were stored up for fire. And sorry, verse 6, that by these means the world existed. It was deluged with water and it was perished. What does Peter say? He says this, he says they're ignoring facts, they're suppressing the truth, that the world was formed by God's word, formed by water through God's word. And verse six, that all these things perished. What's he talking about here in 3.6? He's talking about Noah. Do you remember chapter two, verse five? If you have a Bible in front of you, he's already spoken about Noah. He spoke about Noah, a herald of righteousness with seven others, and he brought the flood upon the world and upon the ungodly. In Noah's day, the world was destroyed by water, and these scoffers are ignoring God's word and ignoring about what it says about the past. They're ignoring the Bible, which says, if God judged the world before with water, and verse seven, he's coming to judge the world again, but this time, verse seven, with fire. I mean, it's striking, isn't it? These verses are very, very striking. I don't know how it is here in the US, but in the UK, You could go to any secular kind of bookshops to take Barnes and Noble, something like that. We don't have Barnes and Noble's, but our equivalent, Waterston's, something like that. You go to Waterston's, you go to the kid's section, secular bookshop, you can still find little kids' books on Noah. You can find them there. Picture of the ark and the rainbow and the animals. Now, we have some of those books at home, right? Okay, so don't hear me wrongly. But, What happened in Noah's day? God flooded the earth. Everything was wiped away, apart from Noah, his wife, their sons, daughters-in-law, and two of every kind of animal. Judgment came on the earth. If you read through Genesis 6, 7, and 8, and 9 again, it is actually terrifying. God's judgment on the unrighteous, here is God flooding the earth, judgment. He wiped out the world apart from those who were safe in the ark. He flooded it. He washed the ungodly from the earth. God has judged the world with water and he's coming again. Next time we see those books of Noah, and as I say, I have some of those, so I get all that. But remember, it is a story with a very, very sharp edge. For now we know, remember, scoffers, mockers, slanderers will come. Jesus, he's not coming back, but do not let that, do not let that remove your stability. That's what Peter says in 317, go to the end there, 317. You know these things beforehand, so do not get carried away with lawless people and lose your own stability. Interestingly, interestingly, what does Evangelist do when he meets Christian after Christian meets Mr. Worldly Wisdom? Evangelist points him to God's book. He says, look what God has said in this book. So our confidence is in the scriptures and what God has said will come. So we are to expect scoffing. Secondly, secondly, we are to give thanks for God's mercy, and that's eight to 10. Eight to 10, as we wait in these days of waiting, while we wait, we are to give thanks for God's mercy. Do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord, one day is a thousand years, and a thousand years is one day. The Lord is not slow, as some count slowest. No, he's patient, not wishing any to perish. We wait, knowing the Lord is merciful. These are days of waiting. They may seem slow to us, but they're not slow to God. One day like a thousand years, a thousand years like a day. Now, we've all been there, haven't we? We're in the car with kids in the back. We're driving for three, four, five, ten hours. You get to the end of the drive and your children say, are we there yet? And you just want to say to them, turn around, you can still see the house. We're at the bottom of the drive. The post box, the letter box is just here. Time is a funny thing, isn't it? Time is a funny thing. Grasping time is like trying to hold water, is it not? You scoop it up and it just flows through your fingers. It just runs through. But God is not slow. He is patient. He's patient. It's funny, we had this morning, Pastor Steve and I hadn't talked about our sermons, but we had Augustine this morning, and we're getting Augustine again this evening. Augustine wrote this in his confessions about God and time. Augustine wrote this, thy years, O Lord, neither come nor go, whereas ours both come and go. Thy departing years are not thrust out by coming years, for thy years do not pass away. Thy years are one day, and thy day is not daily, but today. Time works differently for God. The cosmic watch, the cosmic calendar, the cosmic countdown timer, he's attached to the rest of the universe, works differently to all our measures of time. All has not been burnt up. Final judgment has not fallen because the Lord is patient. He's patient. He longs for people to come to Him in repentance. Now friends, is this not something for us to rejoice and give thanks for this evening? For those in our families, those in our lives, in our workplaces, those in our town here who do not yet know the Lord? This is a day to rejoice and give thanks. the day of salvation is here, people can still turn to the Lord and be saved. But although it is something to rejoice in, we do understand that it's hard. We do understand that waiting is hard. Because Christians face tough days. In the meantime, we've just thought about that. Scoffers come, haven't we? Last week, we thought about false teachers coming and going after vulnerable people. And in the day that Peter writes, Rome is tightening her iron fist around the necks of Christians. And so the cry of, come Lord Jesus, will be getting louder and louder. Lord, we long for you to come, end the suffering, end the hardship. And Peter writes them and says, wait, wait, the Lord is merciful. He wants others to come and know him. And so friends, let us give thanks today that this day and every day until the day of the Lord, that God gives a day where people can repent. Let us use that to spur us in our evangelism, in the sending of missionaries, that today is a day of mercy for the ungodly. And so our message is to those who do not know the Lord Jesus, repent, believe, kiss the sun, the King is coming. And yet, although today is a day of mercy, in verse 10, he says what? But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will pass away with a roar and be burned up and all that is done will be exposed. Today is a day of mercy, but in verse 10, he's saying this, do not despise his mercy. Do not despise that mercy. The Lord will come like a thief in the night. Of course, the shock of a thief is its suddenness, its unexpectedness. The Lord Jesus says the same in the Gospels. Paul writes the same, uses the same language in 1 Thessalonians 5. God will come like a thief, the suddenness of an earthquake or a tornado. One minute all is well, the next the earth shakes. Now you all will have experienced this way more than I have, and you'll have more stories than I do, but last February, so February 2020, when none of us knew a word called COVID, okay, there was a tornado in Charlotte, and I'd just been out for a run, you know, the athlete that I am, and I'd just been out for a run, and as I left, and even as I got home, it was nice, it was warm, it was February, it was a really crisp day, the sun was shining, and I got back in, it was getting changed, and just looked out the window, oh, there's a little spot of rain, Within 20 minutes, if not 15, there was a darkness that I cannot describe to you. And then all of a sudden, our phones started to go bananas and scream at us, warning, tornado here, there's our tornado, get inside, take shelter. and there was a tornado just a mile and a half, two miles down the road. Did some damage to our church and pretty substantial damage to people's houses in Charlotte. But friends, it was like a thief. It was out of nowhere. There we are, out running, people out with their kids in the play park within 15 minutes. This thing's tearing through our little corner of Charlotte like a thief. And so we do not despise the Lord's mercy. He will come. What did we just read in Hebrews 12, 25? Do not refuse him. Do not refuse him. Even though it feels slow, it will happen. Just look at verse 10. Do you see the language of will four times? The day of the Lord will come. The heavens will pass away. Heavenly bodies will be burned up. The earth and the works that are done will be exposed. We do not despise his mercy. The wedding invites have gone out, if you like. Today is the day to repent. The bridegroom is coming. Expect scoffers. Give thanks for the Lord's mercy, not despising it. And thirdly, grow in godliness. verses 11 to the end. If you look down again, if you have it before you, what people are we to be as we wait? Well, what does he say in verse 11? What ought you to be? Live lives of holiness, lives of godliness. Verse 14, what does he say in 14? Since you're waiting for these things, be diligent to be found without spot or blemish. Look at the last few words of the letter in verse 18. What does he say? He says, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It's interesting, isn't it? We've actually come full circle. This is what Peter wrote to them right at the start in 1, 3 to 11. Grow in godliness. this time coming at it from the angle of the day of judgment. So he's saying our waiting is preparation. The world is gonna be dissolved and we get ready today. Christians aren't to sit around twiddling our thumbs waiting for this day that's in our diaries. No, we prepare. We have prior knowledge of this event. He says, get ready. A storm's coming, get ready. A hurricane warning, stock up, water, food, and gas. The day of the Lord is coming, and we're to get ready by growing in godliness. So to the godly, to the godly, to Christian people who know their God, he says, grow in godliness. Why, verse 13, why are we to grow in godliness? Well, one reason is, according to Peter here, is because we're waiting for a new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. We're to grow in holiness because heaven is holy. We're to grow more like the Lord Jesus, because in everything, in heaven, everything will be and will bear his likeness perfectly. Friends, the goal of redemption isn't just release from God's judgment, it's friendship with God, delight in him and wanting to be with him. John Piper says this, if you could have heaven with no sickness, and with all the friends you've ever made, and all the food you've ever liked, and all the leisure activities you've ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or natural disaster, could you be satisfied with heaven if Christ was not there? Friends, we want to grow and be fitted for heaven because Christ is there. Christ is there. Christ is bringing a world of perfect holiness and righteousness, and we are to be fitted for it. We are not merely as Christians waiting for the world to end. That's not what we're talking about this evening. We're not merely waiting for the world to end. That's a secular view. We're waiting for the curtain not to fall. but for the curtain to lift, for the curtain of lift, for the beginning of all things. As C.S. Lewis notes in The Great Divorce and in other places as well, we're not waiting for things to go blurry. We're waiting for things to be more real, more solid. One commentator says it like this, we're waiting to walk onto a stage more glorious and real and grand than anything on earth. We are heading to the promised land. We're heading to Eden, to new Eden, to new Jerusalem. Peter does not motivate these Christians from fear. He says, no, we're waiting for the veil on this world to lift, for the fog to dissolve, to rise and enter new heavens, new earth. We're, as we see there in verse 13, a world of righteousness and holiness and glory. The bride, the church on earth, the bride is to use these days to get ready to meet her husband, to meet the bridegroom. The church is to be ready to meet Christ face to face. No bride slumbers and is slothful on the day of her wedding. No, they get ready. and the church is ready to meet Christ. Now, of course, as we've been running through all of this, these verses, of course, raise many questions about what will happen on that day, many questions. The language here is very strong. Repeatedly, he speaks about dissolving, destruction, fire. It's very strong language. And all we've really talked about so far is how we're to wait for this day. What does it mean for fire to fall? What does it mean for all to dissolve? And for the heavens to be set on fire, verse 12. For heavenly bodies to burn and melt, strong language. Well friends, honestly, it's hard to say, but we can know this, we can know this, that it is the beginning and not the end. God's cosmic countdown that the wristwatch strapped to the universe is not the end of all things, but the beginning. For God's people, it is into world made new, world without end, and rejoicing in the new heavens and the new earth with God. And Peter said to them, wait for that day. Know that that's coming. Prepare yourself as a bride for her bridegroom. Let's close and finish then and conclude by turning to Revelation 21. Please turn to Revelation 21. And I'm going to read the first eight verses. The Apostle John writes this, then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And then I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as what? A bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. And he shall wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death shall be no more, and neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore. for the former things have passed away. And he who was seated on the throne said, behold, I am making all things new. Also he said, write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true. He said to me, it is done. I am the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God, and he will be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death. Jesus is coming. New heavens and the new earth are coming down. Just turn over the page of Revelation 22. Revelation 22, 12. What does the Lord Jesus say? Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me to repay each for what he's done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. Jesus is coming, and with him the day of the Lord will come. And so friends, as we wait, as God's people, as we wait, we expect scoffers. We give thanks for God's patience, praying that all those who are in Adam, those who do not know the Lord Jesus, would repent and come to him. And we pray that by his grace, we would grow in godliness, that we would be fitted to see Christ there. Friends, we wait with hope, do we not? We wait with hope, with longing, with trust. behold, the Lord Jesus is coming. He is coming soon. Let's pray. Lord Jesus, we thank you so much for your word. We thank you for the short epistle of 2 Peter, We thank you that all that we have learned about how your people are to live, that we are to grow in godliness, that we are to listen to your word, and that we are people who wait. But we do not wait as those without hope. No, we wait knowing that history has direction, that we are headed somewhere, not for the curtain to fall, but for it to lift, and that all your people will dwell in righteousness and holiness with you in glory. Lord, as we wait for that day, Lord, as we hear and meet opposition, help us to be firm, standing firm on your word and strong. Help us to give thanks for your patience and bolden our evangelism and help us to grow in godliness and holiness as we long to see Christ face to face. Prepare us, make us a hopeful people, trusting you and you alone, Lord Jesus. And we ask this in your precious name. Amen.