Pastor’s Notes
“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.”
2 Peter 3:10
What a statement from a man that is nearing the end of his life. Peter claims that God created the world, and as the Creator He will one day pull the curtain down on this world when He has had enough of our rebellion. In Peter’s charge, he tells us that we should spend our lives preparing for this day to come. That we will all give an account when what we have read becomes what we stand in front of.
However, Peter also tells us in chapter 3 that as the Lord nears His return, there will be many people who will “scoff” at everything that he has laid out for the world to hear. He comes to us Simon, Peter, an apostle, and a man who walked with Jesus, and tells us not to be swayed by all the people who laugh at the claim that God is returning.
What is so powerful in this week’s text is that Peter not only warns us of the attitude of the lost concerning the claim that the Lord will return, but he also sheds light on why the lost scoff at the notion. Peter tells us that the lost don’t scoff simply out of their lack of faith, but out of their desire for sinful living. To believe in God and His returning to judge the living and the dead, then this would mean that those who love sin must cease their sinful living.
I truly believe that today’s culture suffers from many of the same issues of the heart and mind. It’s not our lack of imagination or desire for there to be “something more” that gets in our way, but if the God of the Bible is true, then my life would have to change. I believe that many of us are made to believe that the lost stay lost out of a worldly intellect that does not give room for unexplainable faith in the unseen, but Peter tells us that there is more than this at the heart of the issue. Man is lost out of the sin in our heart and the continued desire for that sin to stay there.
Peter calls us this week to take hold of our roots, press on, and not give way to the scoffers. That the Lord will return!
Scripture to go along with the message
Read Acts 1:11 and have this verse in mind as we go through the text this Sunday.
Highlight in your Bibles
Highlight verse 3 and 8 in 2 Peter chapter 2.
Questions to consider
1.) Where do you see and experience scoffers in today’s world?
2.) Do the scoffers of this world ever discourage you or create doubt in your mind?
3.) Does Peter’s word’s in chapter 3 bring you hope and understanding in how to combat the naysayers?
