The Day of the Lord

In Second Peter 3:10, Peter reaffirms the Day of the Lord: "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up." The evidence against the false teachers is overwhelming. The Day of the Lord will come. Jesus is coming again, as He promised.

"The day of the Lord" (v. 10a), refers to the miraculous intervention of God in judgment in the end times. It refers to the events of the Second Coming that end with God's final judgment of unrepentant sinners and the destruction of the universe. In the Old Testament, the Day of the Lord will be a day of judgment, darkness, and damnation, when the Lord returns and destroys His enemies. In the New Testament, the Day of the Lord is awesome and terrible, a day in which no man can stand apart from saving faith in Christ. "For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?" (Rev. 6:17). Severe judgment because of man's sinfulness.

Peter said, "The Day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night" (2 Peter 3:10a). It will be a total surprise to the unsuspecting sinner. It will come without warning, and it will be disastrous to those who are unrepentant. Paul also said: "For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, 'Peace and safety!' then sudden destruction comes upon them" (1 Thess. 5:2-3a).

Jesus said, "Heaven and earth will pass away" (Matt. 24:35a). Peter said, "the heavens will pass away with a great noise" (2 Peter 3:10b), or "with a roar" (NASB, NIV). "Roar" is a word that sounds like what it means. It speaks of "a rushing sound," or "a loud noise," referring to the whizzing, crackling sounds that come from objects being consumed by fire (MacArthur New Testament Commentary: 2 Peter & Jude, [Moody Publishers: Chicago, 2005], 124).

John MacArthur describes the sound: "On that future day, the noise from the disintegrating atoms of the universe will be deafening, unlike anything mortals have ever heard before" (Ibid).

What Peter introduced in verse 7, he fills in the details here: "the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up" (v. 10b). "Elements" (v. 10b), literally means "ones in a row," like the letters of the alphabet or numbers. When used of the physical world, it describes the basic atomic components that make up the universe (Ibid). With intense heat the material world will be destroyed.

Take courage in your walk with Jesus. Remain faithful and true to the Word. Doubters may ridicule us and false teachers may scoff at us, but we will be vindicated when Christ returns and fulfills all things. Sinners will be eternally punished and this world will be destroyed, but there will be a new heaven and a new earth, where all God's people will spend eternity with Jesus. Stay forever faithful, and keep an eye on the sky in expectation. Maranatha! Lord, come quickly! Amen.

The Longsuffering of the Lord

Today seems like a great day to update everyone concerning Barb's health. After all, today is our 35th anniversary! Amen! Less than two years ago, I couldn't see this day coming. Barb was extremely sick with liver disease and bile duct cancer.

On November 4, 2016, the surgeon at Mayo Clinic called at 3:00 am with great news. They had a liver available for Barb! Later that day she received the transplant that saved her life. Her old liver had shut down completely and she was just weeks, if not days, from certain death.

Since then, as she continued to get stronger, she was diagnosed with lung cancer,  her third different cancer since 2014 when she beat breast cancer. A small cancerous tumor was removed. Now she continues to be cancer free! Amen! She is a three-time cancer survivor.

Then, last fall she had a ten-day bout with double pnemonia, which landed her back in Mayo Clinic's hospital, on the tranplant floor where they always care for her. Again, she came through another tough time with flying colors. Amen!

Today she continues getting stronger every day. So much so, that Mayo Clinic doctors have cleared her to be able to travel. So, next Monday we are headed for California to visit her Mother and family. Mostly due to her illnesses, she hasn't been home for six years, since her dad's funeral. Now that will change. Pray the fires won't be a problem and that the extreme heat in California will lessen. Thanks, and God bless you all. Now let's turn to todays Bible Insight.

In Second Peter 3:5-7, Peter turns to Old Testament history to make a point: "For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men."

The false teachers with their uniformitarian view of history, ignore historical facts. "They willfully forget" (v. 5a) the biblical truth of history. They know the truth, but they shut their eyes to it. They ignore the historical evidence on purpose. They choose to disregard the biblical truth of divine retribution, because they love their sinful lifestyle. They want to do as they please.

They deliberately ignore two crucial events in history. The first is creation, where "by the word of God the heavens were of old" (v. 5a), or they were created out of nothing as God spoke. God merely said the word and everything instantly came into being. The story of creation in Genesis 1-2, when taken at face value without man reading his own doubts into the text, indicates that the creation was relatively recent, completed in six twenty-four-hour days, and the earth is young. The phrase "were of old" (v. 5a), does not imply that the earth is billions of years old, but easily fits with the truth of a young earth.

God created the earth "out of water and in the water" (v. 5b). Note Genesis 1:6-10, the second and third days of creation: "Then God said, 'Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.' Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day. Then God said, 'Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear'; and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good."

On the second day, God gathered the upper waters into a vapor-like canopy surrounding the entire earth, and He gathered the lower waters into underground reservoirs, rivers, lakes, and seas. On the third day, He separated the land from the water, so dry earth appeared.

The second crucial event in history that they ignore is the world-wide flood of Noah. The perfect world didn't remain perfect. Man fell from grace, and sin became rampant on the earth. Genesis 6:5-8, 11-13 tells the story: "Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. So the LORD said, 'I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.' But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD… The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. And God said to Noah, 'The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth.'"

The result was judgment by Flood. Peter said simply, "the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water" (2 Peter 3:6). The false teachers refused to view world history through proper eyes. They were ignorant of the truth by choice. Today revisionist historians make the same mistake and do the same thing. They deliberately deny both the creation story and the Flood—the two catastrophic events that easily disprove their uniformitarian views.

God promised that the earth will never again be destroyed by a universal flood (Gen. 9:11, 15). But that does not mean there will never again be judgment. As Peter said, "But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men" (2 Peter 3:7). The sin of ungodly men will not be overlooked. Judgment will come, and it will come by fire!

Now, Peter turns to eternity to make his point: "But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day" (v. 8). Peter's argument, pushing back against false teachers who scoff at the delay of the Lord's return, involves a quote from Psalm 90. In Psalm 90:4, Moses said, "For a thousand years in Your sight are like yesterday when it is past, and like a watch in the night." Our perspective on the passing of time is quite different from God's. We are finite and exist in time; time that God created. For us, it seems like time moves slowly. When waiting for something special, a few days seem like an eternity.

Not so for God. He is eternal. He always has been, is, and always will be. In fact, God created time when He created heaven and earth, the stars and the planets, man and animals; He put time in motion. Having always been, to Him a few days is nothing. As Peter said, "with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day" (2 Peter 3:8b).

From where we stand, we view history as past, present, and future—what was, what is, and what is to come. From where God stands, being eternal, everything is ever before Him, everything is present—what is, what is, and what is. We can remember the past and see the present, but we have no clue what the future holds. God sees and knows it all, including the future, as one big event. It is all ever before Him. That is why for God, time is just a drop in the bucket. His perspective is timeless.

What may seem like a long time to us, is nothing to God. It may seem to us that the return of Christ is a long way off, but from God's perspective it is quite imminent. We must not try to limit God and hold Him to our time schedule. The Lord Jesus will return at the exact moment God decided in eternity past. "Do not forget this one thing" (v. 8a), said Peter. The Lord Jesus will return in God's time, not ours. To demand otherwise, or to think He is not coming at all because He has not come in all these years, is foolish. Remember, God inhabits eternity, and His timing is perfect. So, keep an eye on the sky!

Finally, Peter appeals to the character of God to complete his point: "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance" (v. 9). Peter is saying that the reason Christ does not return immediately is to allow sinners ample time to repent. God is patient with sinners. Any waiting is because of God's gracious longsuffering. It is not that He is not coming; He is! It is not that He is indifferent, or powerless, or distracted. It is just the opposite. God is merciful and forbearing. He delays His return, so that as many sinners as possible might come to repentance.

Scoffers argue that the Lord is slow at keeping His promise, so they question whether He will return at all. Peter counters by appealing to God's character: "The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness" (v. 9a, NASB). "Slow" in Greek, means "delayed," or "late," or "loitering" (MacArthur New Testament Commentary: 2 Peter & Jude, [Moody Publishers: Chicago, 2005], 121). Not so for God.

His apparent "slowness" (v. 9a), is directly related to His "promise" (v. 9a). In fulfilling "His promise" (v. 9a), God is working out His perfect plan. He will return when the time is right; when as many sinners as possible have been saved. It is the same principle as at Christ's first coming: "But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law" (Gal. 4:4).

"Longsuffering" (2 Peter 3:9b), or "patient" (NASB), translates a compound word in the Greek, that combines the words "large" with "great anger" (Ibid). It shows God's ability to store up His anger and wrath for a long time, before it gives way to judgment. Judgment is inevitable, but God's longsuffering or patience beforehand gives the sinner ample opportunity for repentance and salvation. Not all will be saved, but all will certainly have plenty of opportunity.

Time is wasting. Delay no longer. Don't let another minute go by without acknowledging the truth. Repent and trust Christ alone for your salvation. "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation" (2 Cor. 6:2b). Amen.

Exposing the Doubters

False teachers begin by denying the Word of God. By discounting the Scriptures as simply false, they go on to flatly deny the reality of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. In that regard, in keeping with their own selfish, sinful desires, they can discount any thought of future retribution, leaving them with no accountability. In their minds, they are free to live as they wish and sin to their heart's delight. As a result, they ridiculed those who were righteous, which led Peter to give this warning: "knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days" (2 Peter 3:3a).

The doubters deny biblical truths, scoffing at the truth of Scripture and ridiculing believers. It was happening in Peter's day and it is happening across our land today as well. Perhaps you have recently heard someone mocking Scripture. Perhaps you have even been ridiculed for your faith. Stand strong! Peter warned us that these things would take place. He warned us, to encourage us to hold fast our faith and to maintain our walk with Christ.

Doubters try to intimidate us through a constant barrage of mocking and sarcastic ridicule. So many years had gone by without seeing Jesus return that some believers began to wander about it, perhaps even to the point of doubt. The false teachers were taking advantage of the delay of Christ's return to add fuel to the fire and draw as many as they could away from the faith. "Knowing this first" (v. 3a), does not refer to chronological order, but to level of priority. Peter's top priority was to warn us about the tactics of the scoffers, the false teachers, so that we would not fall prey to their lies.

"In the last days" (v. 3a), refers to the entire time between the first and second coming of Jesus. It refers to today. "Scoffers will come" (v. 3a), warns us to fully expect ridicule and harassment. It is a way of life in the church for the believer. Don't let it bother you and don't let it deter you from walking faithfully with Jesus, fully expecting and anticipating His return. Keep an eye on the sky!

Peter continues by stating plainly that the false teachers are "walking according to their own lusts" (v. 3b). They embrace a doctrine of self-determination. This is the real reason they deny the reality of Christ's return. Belief in the return of Christ makes them accountable for their actions, their lifestyle. They don't want any accountability. They want to be free to indulge in a life of sin as much as they please. To believe in the Second Coming only puts a damper on everything.

"Walking according to" (v. 3b), in the Greek, literally means to "travel" or "go" (MacArthur New Testament Commentary: 2 Peter & Jude, [Moody Publishers: Chicago, 2005], 112). It refers to long-term behavior. A lifestyle of sin, patterned after "their own lusts" (v. 3b), is a long-term way of life that they don't want to end. Any thought of the return of Christ bringing judgment, would put a kink in the schedule and force them to consider repenting and changing, leading to a whole new way of life. It would lead to living a life of righteousness, instead of a life of sin. So, they deny Christ's return, hoping they can escape the judgment through denial. But what they don't realize, much to their own detriment, is that it doesn't work that way. That is why we need to hold fast our belief in the return of Christ, keeping an eye on the sky in full anticipation!

They embrace a doctrine of uniformitarianism. That is a false doctrine claiming that nothing ever changes—everything is as it was from the beginning. The scoffers, the doubters, are "saying, 'Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation'" (v. 4). The doubters, the scoffers, the false teachers, base their denial of Scripture and their denial of the truth of Christ's return, on His delay. A doctrine of uniformitarianism. They say, "all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation" (v. 4c). They question why Jesus has not yet returned and they assume the delay means He is not coming!

"Where is the promise of His coming?" (v. 4a), they ask. "For since the fathers fell asleep" (v. 4b), or literally, "since the fathers died," referring most likely to the Old Testament patriarchs, nothing has changed! So, why should anything change now? Or so the thinking goes.

John MacArthur explains: "The heretics' argument was simple. If everything continues just as it was from the beginning of creation (meaning that the universe is a divinely created but closed, naturalistic system of cause and effect), then divine intervention—including the return of Christ—must be ruled out a priori. In modern times, that view is known as uniformitarianism. Contending that the present is the key to the past, uniformitarianism asserts that the only natural processes that have ever operated in the past are the same processes at work today. It categorically denies divine intervention throughout world history, most notably opposing both six-day creation and the global Flood" (Ibid, 113).

John MacArthur went on to explain: "To be sure, there is an element of general uniformity in the universe; it is a manifestation of God's providential care for His creation. After all, if the natural laws and universal processes did not normally function in a consistent manner, chaos would ensue. A biblical view of the universe, then, sees creation as an open system—in which God has ordained a uniform operation of natural causes, but also a universe in which He has intervened and still does intervene. Those who go beyond this, advocating a uniformitarianism so rigid as to preclude God's involvement in history, have foolishly deceived themselves. Like the false teachers of Peter's day, they deny the promises of Scripture (including Christ's return) on the basis of their conveniently devised worldview" (Ibid, 114).

We see this kind of doctrine being repeated constantly by people around us and even in the secular news. People prefer to deny the truth of God's Word so that they can continue to sin all they want and to live free from godly morals and righteousness. They don't want to repent, they don't want to change, they don't want to accept the truth that there is a God of the universe who is ultimately in control. Don't let these scoffers fool you. Don't fall prey to their lies. They talk loudly, but carry no power, because they do not teach truth. Reject the false babblings of the scoffers and embrace Jesus Christ, the Lord of the universe, our Lord and Savior. Amen.