What The Scoffers Forget
2 Peter 3:3-7
What the Scoffers Forget
First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgement and destruction of ungodly men.
He was Principal of what is probably the best-known theological institutes in Canada. I was in his office as an official emissary of my denomination, appointed to explore a co-operative educational venture. In the course of introductions I had revealed that I had earned a PhD in biochemistry and he had used that knowledge to open an avenue of conversation unrelated to the reason underlying my visit.
He turned the conversation to the issue of origins, noting that he was amused at the number of naïve literalists among evangelicals. He referred to those uneducated and unsophisticated individuals who actually believe the Bible, and more particularly who believe that God actually called all things into being in six literal days. He suddenly ceased his uproarious laughter when I stated, “I am a naïve literalist.”
“Surely you are not … one of those?” he sputtered. Arrogantly, he blustered, “Surely someone as well educated as you knows better than that?”
I found it amazing that someone who was well known among evangelicals and who had a reputation of believing the Bible to be reliable and accurate would sneer at that same Word. I was even more amazed at his assertion that none of the members of that august faculty believed the Word to be accurate in its account of origins. I quickly accepted his offer to debate the issue with selected members of his faculty only to have him suddenly withdraw the offer after I assured him that I would inform his constituency of his mockery of Scriptural truth. He evidently considered that constituency to be benighted souls so unlearned as to believe mere myths, but they nevertheless wrote the cheques which paid his salary and permitted expansion of his beloved school of theology,
There was a day in Christendom when all professing believers held to certain essential truths, including confidence that Christ would return. There was a day in which all Christians accepted as accurate the biblical account of the origin of all things. Today, sophisticated theologians ridicule those uneducated, unlettered, misinformed and witless souls who actually take God at His Word. Those who disagree with their scorn of God’s Word are too often silenced through fear that they will themselves become objects of derision as their faith is caricatured.
I am convinced that one of the surest evidences that we are drawing near to the day on which our Lord shall return is the increase in religious infidels occupying positions of influence within evangelicalism. The infiltration of evangelicalism with religious leaders who reject whatever challenges them or condemns them is evidence that we may well be nearing the return of Christ. Increasing lethargy in the pew, growing doctrinal laxness from the pulpit, a Laodicean climate of pride and unrighteous tolerance among the churches, each point unerringly to the proximity of Christ’s return. Among those evidences is the growing tendency to discount both biblical history and prophecy.
The Truths which are Ridiculed – Those who scoff at the Creation of the world also deride the coming of Christ. Having rejected God’s account of the beginning, they are compelled to reject His warning of the conclusion. With neither beginning nor ending, they can live only for the moment. They are without hope and without God in the world [Ephesians 2:12]. Having a form of godliness, they deny its power [2 Timothy 3:5]. As an aside of no small importance, there is no purpose in religious observance once one has rejected the foundation for that observance; and the Word of God is foundational to the salvation God offers. The middle is essentially meaningless if you do not understand how you arrived at that mid-point nor where it must of necessity lead.
“Where is this ‘coming’ He promised?” laughs those who have decided that God does not tell us of His plans. There is an arresting assertion found in the prophecy of Amos.
Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing
without revealing his plan
to his servants the prophets
[Amos 3:7].
The context in which that revelation is provided is a warning of pending judgement. God does not act capriciously. Always He pleads with the wayward. Always he warns. Always He shows mercy to the sinner and the errant.
At the time the Old Covenant was being penned, most of the prophecies dealt with the first coming of Messiah. As though viewing mountain peaks from a high vantagepoint, the Second Coming appears superimposed over the first advent. Only after the fact of the first coming of Christ are the two advents distinguished. Thus, the Jewish leaders of Jesus’ day did wish for a Messiah, but they wished for one who would confirm them as a religious elite, as scholars blessed with power and position. They wished to see a Messiah who would not cost them anything, but who would free them from the hated Roman occupation troops and who would exalt them in the world.
The prophecies which speak of Messiah’s reign do appear to speak superficially of such things as indiscriminate exaltation of the Jewish nation and of the humbling the nations, but ere the Second Advent shall be accomplished the first must be completed. A Messiah who would suffer and give Himself as a ransom for sinful man was incomprehensible and repugnant to these self-important religious leaders. Thus, they decidedly rejected this Jesus as a pretender and a fraud despite the fact that He fulfilled Scripture precisely at the point of His first coming.
Actually the Jewish scholars were wrong on both counts. They missed the humility which would of necessity attend His First Advent and they did not anticipate the judgement of all wickedness which must be accomplished at His Second Advent. They presumed themselves to be superior to all others and acceptable to God because of punctilious observance of religious ritual. They reasoned that scrupulous observance of the rituals prescribed by the Law would suffice to make them acceptable to God.
It is an axiom of the Faith that neither under the Old Covenant nor under the present dispensation does ritual purity count for aught in obtaining salvation. As for legalistic righteousness, Paul considered himself faultless. But whatever may have been to his profit, he counted as rubbish, that he might gain Christ [Philippians 3:6-9]. Only forgiveness of sin in Christ is of eternal value.
Writing the Roman Christians, Paul made the following insightful statement. What the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so He condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit [Romans 8:3,4]. We need such a Saviour, though the sinful nature in its pride rejects such a provision. To acknowledge that we need a Saviour, to confess that we can do nothing for ourselves to merit God’s salvation, is humiliating in the extreme to the flesh.
Rejecting the grace He offers because of His sacrifice, the proud dare not think of the purpose of His coming again. He has promised to come again, not to sacrifice Himself again, but to judge the wicked. Testifying to the Jewish leaders Jesus solemnly attested: I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.
Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgement is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me [John 5:24-30].
“Everything goes on as it has since the beginning,” unbelievers sneer as they bolster their unbelief. Dismissing the future, they must discount the past. So, they insist on a uniformitarian principle that the past can unerringly be interpreted by the present. They contend that the present is an accurate key to past events. Since there are no cataclysmic events shaping world history at this moment, they conclude there has never been a disaster of world-wide proportions. There never was a great flood which covered the entire earth. There never was a judgement of the peoples resulting in confusion of language. There never was a Garden of Eden, so there never was a Fall. Everything continues in a uniform fashion just as it is witnessed today. Thus there shall never be a conclusion, an ending of this world.
Of course, such thinking is folly-wide-the-mark. From a purely rational point of view there was a beginning. The first law of thermodynamics insists on this point. Something served to wind up the universe at one time and there was a beginning. Imagining “seeds” from outer space as the source of life only shifts the beginning of life to another time even further back in the dim past, but still fails to address the issue of origin of the elements necessary for life. If there was a beginning, there must of necessity be an ending. The second law of thermodynamics makes this point as any competent scientist concedes. The universe is moving inexorably toward a heat death. Everything does not go on as it has since the beginning; all things move toward judgement.
Have you ever considered the importance of the earliest chapters of the Word? Have you ever thought of the teachings which you accept as true and valid and which are utterly dependent upon those first chapters of the Bible? Though many portions of the Word of God offend religious infidels, prophecy and origins are the two greatest sources of irritation to such destructive termites. Hence, the first eleven chapters of Genesis serve as a lightning rod for religious unbelief. If a person begins well, he is likely to end well. If a person is wrong on these first chapters, he is likely wrong on all else.
If there was no creation, there was no Fall. If there was no Fall, there is no need of redemption. If there is no need of redemption, there is no salvation. If there is no salvation, we are free of condemnation. Why, then, do we die? What is the source of our guilt? Why should we long for peace with God and with ourselves? What is the reason for the innate yearning for forgiveness, the source of our desire for a Saviour? Intuitively we know we are sinners and that God alone can forgive our sin, for we have sinned against Him. Intuitively we know we need a Saviour and that God must Himself provide that Saviour. Intuitively we know this, and yet we resist and rebel instead of submitting ourselves to Him and seeking His grace.
Worse yet, if the Bible is in error in the account provided of the origin of species and the origin of the universe, how can we trust it when it speaks of spiritual matters? Jesus made this precise point to Nicodemus. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe, said our Lord, how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things [John 3:12]? Either Jesus is trustworthy in every sphere, or He is not worthy of trust in any sphere. Either the Word is accurate in every sphere, or it is suspect in any sphere.
Frankly, I am tired of scholarly termites who are content to receive the accolades of an unsuspecting and fawning public even as they undermine trust in the Word of God. If a supposed Christians wishes to reject the early chapters of the Word, let him confess his agnosticism and throw aside every trapping of religiosity that he might be truthful. That is more honest than playing some game of pretend Christianity. Though we grieve over the condemnation of any man, we can respect the one who endeavours to be honest in rejecting the Faith. I have nothing but utter contempt for that liar who with feigned scholarship rejects the Word and denies the Faith and destroys the faith of the unwary.
The Warnings God Provides – If an individual goes to hell, it will be over the objections of God and despite repeated warnings against that destructive course. Those who at last hear those awful words, I never knew you. Away from Me, you evildoers! [Matthew 7:23], will have arrived at that frightful stage notwithstanding the preaching of the Word by numerous preachers, despite the compassionate prayers of multitudes of God’s people, in spite of the availability of the Word of God throughout this land. Those who are cast out of the presence of the Living Christ will have made their own choice even while ignoring the patience of God’s Spirit and the repeated pleas of Jesus’ Word.
The warning of history is that God as Creator has power over His creation. By ignoring the warnings of history, those who are at last judged have spurned the mercy resident in those warnings. Throughout history God is seen intervening to judge wickedness. Evil does not go unchecked forever. Though an evil person, or even an evil society, may seem to be free of judgement for a short while, at the last God judges sinful behaviour.
Did God call all things into being by the power of His Word? Then, shall He not also call created beings into judgement? Shall we who are the handiwork of God avoid giving an accounting of our life and service? We who are redeemed know Him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge His people [Hebrews 10:30]. We know His awesome might, and with Moses we would also say, I am trembling with fear [Hebrews 12:21]. We who are born into the Family of God recognise His right to do with us as He wills, a right inherent in His ability to create even us. With the Apostle we say, Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use? [Romans 9:21].
The opening verses of John’s Gospel are dearly loved and among the most readily recognised of all Scripture. Listen again to those first four verses of that fourth Gospel. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.
Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men [John 1:1-4].
Consider the impact of this declaration in light of the message today. Clearly, the Word is God. Jesus and God are identified as One. Nothing that exists, nothing that you can think of, nothing that has being, exists without Jesus’ permission and direct involvement. All material elements, all spiritual beings, all things were made through Jesus our Lord. Thus, He had power over nature and calmed the raging sea. He gave sight to blinded eyes and strength to withered hands. He opened deaf ears and filled the mouth of the dumb with words of praise to the Father. He never met a funeral but that He turned the mourning to joy and disrupted the cortège by raising the dead to life. He repeatedly demonstrated His power over nature by overruling nature’s laws.
Preaching to those who would be the first Gentile converts, Peter spoke of Jesus: He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name [Acts 10:42,43]. Indeed, of God Paul testified that He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising Him from the dead [Acts 17:31].
The greatest proof that this Jesus has power to judge is that He raised from the dead. Death could not hold Him. Something monumental occurred in that rock-hewn tomb outside the old walls of Jerusalem. A man named Jesus of Nazareth was crucified as a malefactor. Deemed dead by men trained in the arts of death, He was buried in a borrowed tomb. That tomb was sealed with the Imperial seal and a squad of guards was stationed before the face of the tomb to insure that no one tampered with it. Three days later the seal was broken and the lone occupant of the tomb walked out.
That the tomb was emptied, no one could deny. That the followers of this Jesus were transformed from cowards to bold men is a fact of history. That multiplied numbers of people were convinced to believe in Him is a fact of history. That the whole of human history was changed by this singular event is self-evident. That no satisfactory explanation, other than His conquest of death, has ever been advanced, is a fact. These facts all conspire to compel us to accept that He has conquered death. If He is Lord of death, then He must also be Lord of life with power over all creation. Amen!
The warning of prophecy is that God alone shall judge mankind, as He alone is worthy to judge. Some have suggested that God cannot be good since He warns of pending judgement. Nothing could be further from the truth. Is the physician evil because he warns against those practises which can cripple or kill? Lynda and I have a dear friend who for years has struggled for each breath as result of emphysema. For years doctors urged him to quit smoking, warning of the consequences of the weed. Were those doctors evil because they warned him of the cost of smoking? Is the judge who warns against breaking the law evil because he speaks of the consequences of illegal actions? Is the father who warns of the consequences of a child’s choices evil because he loves his child enough to dare think about what may follow a given choice? Why, then, should we think God cruel because he warns that He holds all power?
Even the title that Jesus shall bear at His coming speaks of that power over His creation. He is given the name King of kings and Lord of lords [Revelation 19:16]. I need not belabour the point that Jesus is repeatedly presented as the One appointed judge over all mankind. That One whom the sinner now rejects as Saviour shall one day sit as judge; and who can stand before the Righteous Judge of all the universe?
That is an awful scene which is painted in the Apocalypse. Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire [Revelation 20:11-15]. It is awful because anyone can be judged free of condemnation and free of sin on the merits of Christ’s sacrifice, now. But those who reject that blood must be judged on their own merits at the last; and how shall our best efforts compare to the perfect standard of righteousness which God has set?
The story is told from the American West of a child left unattended and sleeping in a wagon as his parents stepped briefly into a local dry goods store. Something spooked the horses, and they bolted, dragging the wagon behind. The child, startled by the lurching of the wagon arose from his sleep and cried out, and the spectators realised the peril of that little boy. A young lawyer walking along the sidewalk saw what was happening, heard the cries from the spectators and the wail of the frightened boy. Instantly the young man raced into the street and seizing the rein of the lead horse was able to eventually halt the runaway despite being dragged for a considerable distance.
Years passed and that young lawyer was appointed to the bench in that same town. On a day there came before him a case in which a young man was charged and convicted of the crime of murder in the first degree. As the judge called the young man to stand that he might pronounce sentence, the teen cried out, “Your honour, don’t you recognise me! I’m the boy you saved in the runaway.”
“Son,” intoned the judge, “then I was your Saviour, but now I am your judge.”
That is precisely the situation presented by this grim prophecy. Will sinners really gamble that it is but a story, a myth? This Jesus whom we now preach as Saviour shall sit as Judge. If we will not receive Him as Saviour, He shall sit as Judge. How, then, shall we answer when we know what is right and yet refuse to do it? How, then, shall we answer when we know our responsibility and yet refuse to do it?
The Interdependence of History and Prophecy – Contemporary man, if he thinks of God at all, so focuses on mercy that he ignores holiness. God cannot ignore sin … it cost the life of His Son. God cannot ignore sin … it is an affront to His holy presence. It is history that the earth and the heavens were called into existence, being formed out of water and by water. Those same waters were used by the Creator to destroy His creation when sin had become well nigh rampant. Just so, He has spoken a dark word concerning the manner in which this present world shall end. God, by His holy Apostle Peter says: By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgement and destruction of ungodly men.
Prophecy is based upon the accuracy of history. All the revisionist efforts of wicked men cannot alter one fact of history. The heavens and the earth did come into existence at a point in time. The planet was judged in awesome universal judgement once. Sin was once forever judged at Calvary. Because this is true, it is only through deliberate ignorance of the facts that one may discount the prophetic word warning against trifling with sin. Christ shall return and sinners shall be called to account.
The urgency of His coming – Certainly I would plead with each of you with us today who has somehow put off salvation. Consider the peril in which you now stand. Consider that you are judged deserving of eternal separation from the love of God. Cast away, without hope and without solace, without companionship and without love, what hope have such wanderers? Do not think that your specious speculations concerning what lies beyond this moment we call “life” has any hope of coming to pass. He who holds power over all that He created is the One who shall determine what shall be. Well has Jesus warned: Fear Him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell [Luke 12:5]. Indeed, the Judge is standing at the door [James 5:9]!
Because the Lord of Glory shall shortly return, will you not seize this moment to prepare yourself for His coming? Will you not heed the message which Peter implicitly delivers to cease your presumption against grace? The Lord is patient; but will His patience not one day come to an end? The Lord is merciful; but is not the moment you call “now” quickly coming to an end? In light of His coming and in light of His return, will you not embrace the message of grace?
The Word of God is gentle in calling you, for at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly … But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us [Romans 5:6,8]. Again, God’s Spirit pleads for your life: the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus the Lord [Romans 6:23]. Here is what you must do. If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved … “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” [Romans 10:9,10,13].
What of you my fellow Christian and especially you who are my fellow church members? Does the promise of His coming matter to you? Does the imminence of Christ’s return make any practical difference in your life? When did you last think of His return? When did you last alter an action or redirect your thought life because you considered the proximity of His return? For all practical purposes I fear that we Christians have become religious atheists in this day. Though we know the language of Zion and perhaps even profess to be part of the heavenly kingdom, beyond the walls of the church building we are unchanged by our profession.
I plead with Christians to reflect on Christ’s return. I plead with Christians to cease being so caught up in this moment we know as life and to begin to weigh the actions of the present in light of eternity. Our decisions are too seldom guided by what will glorify Him at His coming and our conversations are too seldom directed by the knowledge that we must give an account on the day of judgement for every careless word we have spoken. We know that by our words we will be acquitted, and by our words we will be condemned [cf. Matthew 12:36,37]. Our standing with Christ is of greater importance than our reputation with our fellow man. Our righteousness before God is of far greater importance than any superficial adherence to the rules of man.
The urgency of His judgement – Will Christ really judge the world and all who live therein? Will Jesus actually call all people to account? Should He do less, He cannot be God. For then He cannot be holy, nor can He be just. Just as violation of human law demands that the violator must stand before the bar of human justice, so violation of divine law demands that the violator must stand before the bar of divine justice. Sin must be judged, else there is no order in the universe and no justice to be found. But God is just! God is holy and God is righteous. The text is very clear in its presentation that the present heavens and the present earth are reserved for fire. All that waits fulfilment of that prophecy is the day of judgement and destruction of ungodly men.
If Jesus shall judge, should I not prepare for that eventuality? On what basis will I be judged? We who are Christians have already been judged at Calvary. We were found guilty of sin against Holy God and all our sin was accounted to the infinite Son of God. He died in our place and paid the penalty for our sin. Just so, He has paid a price sufficient to include you, if you are willing to accept Him as the substitute who has already been judged in your place.
He has demonstrated that He is very God and that His ransom is sufficient even for you. He demonstrated this by the resurrection from the grave. He has conquered death and raised from the dead that you might be made alive in Him, delivered from fear of condemnation and given the promise of life eternal. This is a life which begins now; it is a new kind of life even more than mere length of days. It is being made alive in Christ – alive to God and free from guilt and condemnation. You need but believe that this Jesus died because of you and that He has raised from the dead for your benefit.
This is the Word of our Lord. I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life [John 5:24]. You have heard this Word, and our invitation to you is to believe Him. Who today is willing to confess that Jesus died because of your sin? Who today is willing to confess that this Jesus has raised from the dead? Who today is willing to confess that they are now making this Jesus Master of their life? Let that one stand, and coming down the aisle to take the Pastor’s hand say, “Here I am. I choose life. I choose to be delivered from judgement and to be forgiven all my sin. I come to Christ today.” Amen.