Are We The Ones Who Are Wrong? is a sermon questioning whether Christians are to blame for what’s happening in the world today and if the Lord will really return. Are we wrong?
Key verses:
2 Peter 3:1-18
Take your Bible, if you will, and turn with me to 2 Peter chapter three. This morning, we were in 1 Peter chapter two, and tonight we’ll be in 2 Peter chapter three. We said this morning that Peter was a pastor, and he was, and he writes. When he writes, he writes from a pastor’s heart. In this second epistle, many people have noticed there is a similarity in the themes and structure as in the book of Jude to the point that either Peter or Jude copied the other. I don’t think that’s true at all, but I think they talked about some of the same topics, and for the very same reason we understand Jude says he sat down to write to us on one subject, but the Lord impressed on him to write on another that we earnestly contend for the faith.
Peter is not so much writing on contending for the faith though he does speak on those lines. But he is talking to us about knowing that we are near the end times. And as he talks to us, he’s telling us to get ready and get ready for the Lord’s return. Peter and Jude were both there with Jesus, and both heard Him promise to come again. This morning we talked about how the boss ain’t always right. We know that, but sometimes we have to respect the boss even when he or she isn’t right. But the question I want us to look at this evening is, are we the ones who are wrong?
Are Christians to Blame?
Do you ever think about that? People point out things, they say, “You Christians do this and do that.” I’ve shared this with you before, but I’ll share this with you again. Just a few years ago, not many, it was three or four years ago, if it was even that long, I sat at lunch one day with a man. He invited me to lunch, and we were there together. He sat across the table, looked at me, and said, “You know what the problem is in America today?” When somebody says that there are all kinds of things that are going to come out. You don’t know what’s coming next.
He said, “Do you know what the problem is with America today? Evangelical Christians.” Just like that. I didn’t say it, but I thought, “Do you realize who you are sitting across the table from?” It’s almost like he didn’t catch on. Honestly, I don’t think he did catch on. I wanted to give him that credit. But he began to expound to me why. And folks, a lot of people feel that way. We’re the ones who are wrong.
I read to you this morning from the Roman historian Tacitus. Tacitus, if you listened carefully, is not a friend of the Christians. He wrote about Christians, but he was not speaking in friendly terms. But Emperor Nero burned the city of Rome. Some people say that was an old myth. It really didn’t happen. He didn’t do it. And then he blamed the Christians for it.
But you read Tacitus, the historian of his time, and he says yes, he did do it. He doesn’t speak kindly of the Christians, but he doesn’t stick up for Nero either. I’m going to tell you that there are a lot of people today who use Nero’s tactic. They do something that is wrong, and they blame somebody else for it.
Now, that has happened again in history in the days leading up to the Second World War. In Germany, the Reichstag, which would be similar to the U.S. Capitol Building, burned down, and they blamed everybody for it except the people who did it. So, again, these things happen, and they happen throughout history. They are happening today; people blame other people.
I remember a news story that came out. This is quite a few years ago about two men who had taken a young man and killed him. They did it terribly. They didn’t just kill him, they tortured him before they killed him. They tortured him to death. The newscaster, Katie Couric, who used to be with NBC News, got on the “Today” show, and she blamed Christians. She said Christians did that.
So, I did some research, I looked into it, and you know what? Those three men, the two men that did the crime and the young man who was the victim, met in a bar. They didn’t meet at church, they met at a bar. The two men who did this crime, and by the way, they were convicted and sent to prison as they should be, made no claim to be Christians whatsoever. They meet in a bar. They don’t claim to be Christians, so how are Christians to be blamed for this? The obvious answer is we’re not. I’m telling you more and more, and more of this kind of thing is happening.
Setting the Stage
Changing the subject slightly, I don’t know if you noticed, I haven’t seen a great deal about it, but I have seen it. There are new alliances forming in the world. The one that caught my attention, and again, I haven’t seen a great deal about it, is an alliance forming between Russia, Turkey, and Iran. What’s so interesting about that? Well, if you read Ezekiel chapter 38, you’ll find there’s an alliance with Russia, Turkey, and Iran, along with other nations, not just those three, to form an alliance to attack Jerusalem, just about when the Lord comes.
Well, does that mean Jesus is coming tomorrow? I couldn’t answer that question. But I think we should see things that are coming, things that are formulating, things that are in the works, that are setting the stage. At least it certainly looks that way.
I’ll give you one more, and we’ll get into the scriptures. Not too long ago, when the vaccine mandates were coming out, and by the way, if you’ve seen the news lately, they’re saying people who aren’t vaccinated and people who are vaccinated are to be treated equally. Did you see that? That was in the news just this past week, and that’s new; it wasn’t that way before. But, when the vaccine mandates were coming out and rolling across this country and in other countries, people were saying to me, “Is that the mark of the beast?” I said to them at the time, “No, I’m quite sure, I’m certain it is not the mark of the beast. I’m certain it is not that.”
But, let me help you with something. If you are paying attention, if they can get most of the world, and by the way, it never says that the whole world takes the mark of the beast, but if they can get most of the world to take one thing and without that one thing you cannot travel, you cannot buy, you cannot enter into certain places – doesn’t that kind of prepare the way for what the Bible tells us about the mark of the beast? It sure seems like it does.
So, I’m just saying, we’re not there yet, but we are seeing some very interesting things happening in the world today that kind of lead us up to what looks like the time may be getting close. So, you are going to ask me, “How close is it?” And I have to tell you that I do not know. I do not know because I have not seen anything that tells me how close it is. I do not know because the Lord said we would not know, and He knows better than any of us.
Looking at Trends of the Day
I remember back in the 1970s, I was working at Fort Bluff Camp up in Dayton, Tennessee, and we had a preacher come in from Texas, and he preached there, I think, for the week. He preached a great deal on prophecy. This would have been probably 1975 to 1977 at the latest in that range. He spoke so convincingly about the return of the Lord. I asked him after the service as I didn’t want to interrupt his sermon. But I asked him after the service one night and said, “You’ve done a great deal of study on this. The Bible says no man knows the day or the hour, but based on your study, how much time do you think we have left?”
I want you to hear his answer. “I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t want to be pegged as a date setter.” That’s a wise statement for him to make because everyone who has set a date has been proven wrong, every one of them. The Lord said we don’t know the date or the hour. But he said this, “I don’t want to be pegged as a date setter. But the trends of today, as I’m looking at them, I don’t see it could be much past 1980.” Folks, remember this is 1975 to 1976 in that era. Can I share something with you? It’s much past 1980, about 40 years past 1980.
So, that preacher doesn’t know anything. No, he said he didn’t want to be pegged as a date setter. He was looking at the trends of the day. He was not trying to be a prophet; he was looking at the trends of the day.
I’ve told you this before. Back around the turn of the century, from the 19th to the 20th century, R.A. Torry and a whole group of other men got together and wrote a four-volume set of books called “The Fundamentals,” which is where we get the term “fundamentalist,” outlining one of the basic beliefs, basic doctrines of Christianity. Regardless of denomination, Christians believe these basic beliefs. Things like the deity of Christ, blood atonement of Christ, the resurrection of Christ, and so forth.
Those men got together, and they wrote one chapter that said they were looking, they were standing at the beginning of the 20th century, and said [paraphrasing], “We’re looking at the trends of the day. We’re not claiming to be prophets either.”
So, they were looking at the trends of their day and said that the direction things are going right now at the beginning of the 20th century, if things don’t change, if things don’t drastically change – a lot happened in the 20th century – if we don’t see things drastically change, by the end of the 20th century, the United States of America will have changed from a predominantly Judeo-Christian philosophy [to a God-less philosophy].
If you get there and follow the path, you’ll get there at a certain time. That’s not being a prophet, folks. That’s just looking at the circumstances; that’s just saying if everything goes according to plan and if we continue as we’re doing, we’ll be there.
Do you ever go on an interstate trip? You’re driving on the interstate highway, and you tell somebody that you’ll be there in about eight hours. How do you know you’ll be there in eight hours? A lot can happen in eight hours. Well, you know if you travel that direction, that speed on those roads, in eight hours you’ll arrive there. It’s that simple, and it’s not prophecy.
But I do want to share something with you about prophecy, and we’re going to get into 2 Peter. In Deuteronomy 13:1-3, listen to what it says here. This is very important:
Deuteronomy 13:1: “If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,”
Deuteronomy 13:2: “And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;”
Deuteronomy 13:3: “Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.”
So, what is he saying? He’s saying that if somebody comes out and they look like a prophet, they look like they’re predicting the future, but they’re telling you to get away from God, get away from His Word and go after other gods or other ideas or philosophies, don’t listen to that one. Don’t follow them. You stay steady, and you stay with what the Word of God teaches.
Are We Wrong?
Now, I’ve told you all this to lead up to this point tonight – are we the ones who are wrong? Are Christians the ones who are causing the problems today? Are we the ones going on the wrong track, going in the wrong direction, or are we listening to prophets who are telling us to go after other gods? Are we listening to philosophers who are telling us to leave the Bible, God’s Word, to leave the faith of Jesus Christ and go in another direction?
Let’s carry it a step farther. I want you to look at verse four, 2 Peter chapter 3. Let’s look at verses three and four, I think it will help us.
2 Peter 3:3: “Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,”
Well, I think we see that. What’s a scoffer? Somebody who scorns, somebody who mocks, somebody who makes fun of someone else. And in this case, the scoffers are scoffing at the doctrine of the Savior. Again, verse three:
2 Peter 3:3: “Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,”
2 Peter 3:4: “And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.”
Let’s stop there for just a minute. You know, they have a point there. Where’s the promise of His coming? “You preachers, you Christians, you say Jesus is coming again.” Amen. “You preachers, you Christians, you say Jesus is coming again? But you’ve been saying that for 2,000 years.” He hadn’t come. Now, I’m going to tell you it’s a pretty good argument. “You’re going to stand here and keep saying, keep saying, 2,000 years ago, and still He hasn’t come.”
I remember some years ago, there used to be a man, an inspector for the county health department, that would inspect the pool out here every year. I’ll try to make a long story short. We used to have two pools, the big one that is still there and a smaller one that was originally a whirlpool, and we had taken that function out and used it kind of like a kiddie pool. But this man got promoted up to the head of the department that he worked in, a nice guy in many ways.
But we came to a point where we had to close it, and I won’t go into all the reasons for that. No tragedy happened or anything like that. Mainly for financial reasons, we had to close the little pool. I was telling him on the phone that we had to close the little pool, and he said, “That’s good. I’ve been telling you for 20 years that someone was going to drown in the little pool.” I said, “Wait just a minute.” I said, “You’ve been telling me that for how long?” He said, “20 years.” And I said, “And it hasn’t happened.” He said, “Well, you do have a point there.”
But you see what I’m saying? The scoffers come, and they say, “You say Jesus is coming, and He hasn’t come in 2,000 years.” So, are we the ones who are wrong? Well, let’s look at it. Go back to the first verse, and I think you’ll see what we have to say here.
2 Peter 1:1: “This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance:”
2 Peter 1:2: “That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour:”
Peter is saying in those first two verses [paraphrasing], “I want you to remember what the old prophets said.” And so much of what the old prophets said has, in fact, come to pass many times, even to minute detail. And then he says, “Remember what we, the apostles, taught you.”
You see, we mentioned this morning how Peter writes, “honor the king” in the days of Nero, the Emperor. And Peter wrote that around AD 60 throughout AD 64 after the burning of Rome or around the time, I should say, of the burning of Rome, that Paul was beheaded. And then later, Peter is crucified.
2 Peter is written six years later, around AD 66. I think Peter knows he’s at the end. I think he knows this is the last thing he is going to write, and still, he told us to honor the king and obey authority and respect those in authority. But he is saying to remember the teachings of the prophets, what we call the Old Testament, and then remember the teachings of the apostles. I think that as he wrote this, he is near the end. He’s still alive at this point, obviously. John is still alive, but many of them are not. Many of them are already gone. Thomas is gone. James is gone. Matthew is gone. Many of them are gone at this point.
I think Peter is saying to remember what we talked to you about, we’re not going to be around here much longer. We’re not going to be able to teach you much longer. Remember what you’ve been taught. And that leads him into verses three and four:
2 Peter 3:3: “Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,”
Now, “the last days” or the latter days is a term that’s used in both Testaments – Old Testament and New Testament, to refer to the time of the end of the world. Folks, make no mistake about it there is going to be an end to this world; there will. Sometimes, I don’t hear this as much as I used to; people say, “What’s this world coming to?” Every once in a while, you still hear people say something like that. Whenever I hear people say, “What’s this world coming to?” I say, “The end.” That’s what it’s coming to, coming to an end.
So, Peter says, “in the last days,” the latter days, towards the end of the world, scoffers are going to come. What are they going to say? “Where’s the promise of His coming? You Christians, you say it and say it and say it, and you’ve been saying it for all these millennia. It hasn’t happened. Don’t think it’s going to happen.”
Not the Same Since Creation
And they add to it:
2 Peter 3:4: “And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.”
Everything is still going on. The world is still going on like it always has from the beginning. Well, Peter is going to tell us in a moment that everything hasn’t continued from the creation just the same. He’s going to show us that. I want you to look at verse five:
2 Peter 3:5: “For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:”
Now, those are two words that are interesting together “willingly” and “ignorant.” Ignorant means they don’t know. But willingly ignorant means they could know if they wanted to know. They don’t want to know. They are not interested in knowing. They don’t care to know. They choose to be ignorant. “For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God,” don’t miss that, “that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:”
So, there was the earth and the dry land. God separated those in the six days of creation.
2 Peter 3:6: “Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:”
The original created earth “being overflowed with water, perished.” Do you know what Peter is saying? Since the creation, all things don’t continue as they were. There was a time when the whole world changed. There was a time when the whole world was flooded with water. Folks, you’ll see evidence of that, literally, all over the planet. You can go to the highest mountain, and you can see evidence of water erosion on the very highest mountain. I’ve not been to the highest mountain in the world. I’ve been on some mountains but certainly not on the highest mountains in the world, the Himalayas, or anything like that.
I grew up part of the time in Tennessee. As a young man, I spent a few years there and hiked all over the mountains. I went up the Smokey Mountains and the other mountains there and hiked around there. I considered myself a mountain climber until I went out west and saw what real mountains were. I never climbed anything like this. We went up Mount Rainier. We could not go up on it, but we went by Mount St. Helens. Those of you who remember, you know why we couldn’t go up on it. We went up on many of the Cascades mountains and explored them. On Mount Rainier, we went up as high as you can go without climbing equipment. If you go any higher, you’ve got to have climbing equipment, and we didn’t have it. We went up as far as we could. But all of that shows evidence of water erosion – all of it.
I remember telling you in New Mexico, we were visiting the Carlsbad Caverns, which is a series of caves up in a mountain near the top of a mountain. They’ll tell you that all of Texas and all of New Mexico were under water and that those caverns were hollowed out as the water receded. Isn’t that interesting? All of Texas, think of how big Texas is, and all of New Mexico, all underwater, and as the water receded, these caverns were formed. Isn’t that interesting? These same people will tell you there was no worldwide flood.
I was reading a year or two ago about how the remains of whales have been found in deserts in South America, and the remains of whales have been found in the desert in Africa. Do you ever wonder how those whales got out there in the desert? I suppose they hitched a ride on a caravan, don’t you? It’s not likely, is it? Well, the answer is pretty simple, isn’t it? At one point, those deserts were underwater. We could talk a lot about the resemblance of the deserts and the resemblance to the seabed, but I don’t want to spend too much time on that.
The thing I’m trying to get across to you is there’s evidence all over the world that the entire world was submerged under water. There was a worldwide flood. Many people believe that the Great Sphinx and the Great Pyramid of Giza precede the flood of Noah’s day. There’s evidence to back that up. That sphinx, I’m told, I’ve not been there, shows evidence of water erosion also. Isn’t that interesting? So, all over the world, there is evidence that the entire world was once submerged. So, Peter is saying:
2 Peter 3:5: “For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:”
2 Peter 3:6: “Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:”
What’s he talking about? He’s talking about the Genesis flood. That’s exactly what he’s talking about. Then in verse seven, he says:
2 Peter 3:7: “But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.”
What he’s saying in verse seven is this. God promised not to flood the world again. You remember that, don’t you? In Genesis, He promised not to flood the world again, and He gave the rainbow as His promise. When you look at a rainbow, you remember the promise of God. You think about the promise of God. You see that, and God promised not to flood the world again. That’s been in round numbers, about 4,000 years since the flood came, not precisely 4,000 but about that. Folks, I’m going to tell you that the world has not flooded again.
I was reading this week they are anticipating massive flooding in California from the monsoons that they are having and so forth, they’re anticipating massive flooding. How bad is it going to be? I don’t know, we’ll just have to wait and see. It’s not good news, not good news at all. But God promised not to flood the world again.
Here’s what Peter is saying. God’s keeping the world in store leading up to judgment not by water but by fire. Then in verse eight:
2 Peter 3:8: “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”
Some people take that verse and run with it and say, “See, the six days of creation are not six literal days. They are probably 6,000 years, maybe longer, maybe much longer, maybe millions of years, maybe billions of years.” You watch it. When I was young secular archaeologists used to talk about the world as millions of years old. Now, as I am in the latter part of my life, they talk about the world as billions of years old.
You watch, some of you young people, sometime in your life they will be saying trillions because they never have enough time for the things to happen that they say happened. So, they have to keep making it longer, longer, and longer. But I’m telling you it’s not billions, it’s not millions, it’s thousands.
This verse doesn’t mean that a day is 1,000 years long. What it means is God lives in eternity, and He sees all things in the present. So, what happened 1,000 years ago, He sees. What happens 1,000 from now, He sees. What happens today, He sees it all. That’s what Peter is saying.
God’s Day of Judgment
Verse nine, a precious verse I quote here often:
2 Peter 3:9: “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
It is God’s will for everybody to be saved. It doesn’t mean that everybody is going to be saved. There is no universal salvation. What is that? Some people believe that everybody is going to be saved. The Bible does not teach that. That’s not what this verse says. It says it’s God’s will for everybody to be saved. But look, listen to me, it’s really simple. If everybody did God’s will, nobody would need to be saved. Does that make sense to you? It does, doesn’t it?
Let me tell you something else that I heard this week that struck me. I should have thought of it myself. I’ve listened to a fellow on the radio, and in the sermon, he said this, I should have come up with this all by myself which I could claim, but it wasn’t me, it was somebody else. He said, “You want proof of the resurrection of Jesus Christ? The New Testament, the existence of the New Testament is proof of the resurrection of Jesus.” He said, “If Jesus didn’t rise up from the dead, why write the New Testament? What would there be to write about? I mean, if Jesus died and remained in the tomb, why would you write 27 books writing about it?” You know, I never thought about it that way. Makes perfect sense.
2 Peter 3:10: “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.”
“The day of the Lord” is a term you find in both Testaments, and it talks about God’s day of judgment. It is the Day of Jehovah, literally. “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which” – look at this description – “the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.”
Back in the 1970s again, there was a preacher who had a television broadcast, and he would open the broadcast every time with this verse, 2 Peter 3:10. As the words were on the screen and somebody was reading the words of 2 Peter 3:10, the theme would be that of a nuclear explosion. He was saying, “Look, nuclear weapons. That may be the fulfillment of this prophecy” – “the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.”
Can I share something with you? That matches the description of a nuclear explosion. It does. But I don’t think that’s what it’s talking about. “You don’t?” It matches, it fits. I can understand why the preacher used it the way he did. But look at verse 11:
2 Peter 3:11: “Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,”
“Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved,” – look what Peter is saying. He’s talking about earth being dissolved and the works thereof. He’s not talking about part of the earth being burned up like this. He’s not talking about Hiroshima or Nagasaki. He’s not talking about dropping a nuclear bomb on Afghanistan, or Iraq, or the United States for that matter. He’s talking about the entire world, all of it being burned up.
Folks, we’re running out of time here, and I don’t want to get sidetracked on some controversy that we’ve been hearing for a long time about global warming. Now, they’ve changed it, they don’t call it global warming anymore. They call it climate change. They say it’s causing the floods in California and it’s causing problems all over the world. I’ll tell you what’s causing all the problems all around the world, it’s man’s sin.
But you look at this and what God is saying here and there is coming the day of God, and there will be global warming. How warm is it going to get? Well, verse 11 again:
2 Peter 3:11: “Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,”
2 Peter 3:12: “Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?”
That’s pretty hot, folks, that’s pretty hot. Verse 13:
2 Peter 3:13: “Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.”
2 Peter 3:14: “Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.”
2 Peter 3:15: “And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;”
2 Peter 3:16: “As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.”
The interesting part about verse 16 is that Peter equates Paul’s writing to the other scriptures. You know what he’s saying? He’s saying it’s part of God’s Word.
2 Peter 3:17: “Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.”
What are we going to do? Here it is:
2 Peter 3:18: “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.”
That’s what we’re supposed to do. We’re supposed to keep on growing. We are supposed to keep on growing for the Lord. We’re to keep on growing to be like Him. We’re to keep on growing spiritually. The great preacher, Dr. Monroe Parker, stood in this pulpit and gave us an acrostic for growth – G-R-O-W. He said, “Go Right On Working.” Go right on working. That’s how you are going to do it. He’s right, he’s right.
We’re Not Wrong
We’ll close with this. God’s promises have not failed. God’s promise for the Lord’s return will not fail. We’re not wrong. We are not the ones who are wrong. As long as we stay with the scriptures, as long as we don’t go off base, as long as we don’t follow some other teaching, false teaching, we’re going to be alright. Stay with it. But the promise of the Lord’s return must be fulfilled.
Hebrews 9:27: “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:”
Hebrews 9:28: “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.”
The promise of the earthly kingdom shall be fulfilled. We haven’t touched on that much tonight. But the promise of the earthly kingdom shall be fulfilled.
Isaiah 2:2: “And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.”
Isaiah 2:3: “And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.”
Isaiah 2:4: “And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.”
The promise of the earthly kingdom will be fulfilled.
In Revelation 20, the 1,000-year kingdom is mentioned six times in that one chapter. Matthew tells us that the coming judgment must be fulfilled. Peter just told us about it. Listen to what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 24:
Matthew 24:36: “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.”
Matthew 24:37: “But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”
Matthew 24:38: “For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,”
Matthew 24:39: “And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”
Matthew 24:40: “Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.”
Matthew 24:41: “Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.”
Matthew 24:42: “Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.”
Verse 44 of the same chapter:
Matthew 24:44: “Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.”
Jesus is coming again. If we believe a lie, then there is no veracity in the Christian faith. But if the entire New Testament was written to tell us that Jesus has risen, then it is also written to tell us that He is coming again. So Peter explains it to us. And finally, in Revelation 1:5, John writes from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness:
Revelation 1:5: “And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,”
Revelation 1:6: “And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.”
The Lord is coming. He’s going to come. Is He going to come this week, this month, or this year? I don’t know. I cannot guess, but He’s promised to come. He will come. It may be in my lifetime; it may be in yours. It may not be for lifetimes to come. I couldn’t say.
It certainly appears as though things are getting close. One thing we know is it’s closer than it has ever been. Folks, I’m telling you, we have the league of Russia, Turkey, and Iran. We have other things in this world going on that certainly look like it’s leading up to what the Bible says is going to happen. We didn’t have the mark of the beast, but it is a good example of how people could accept that and could go for it. It certainly brings it into the realm of reasonable possibilities.
How much time do we have? Well, I’m like the old preacher back in the ‘70s. I don’t want to be a date setter. But the thing we’re told is to be ready and know that as long as you are with the Lord, you are not wrong. You are not wrong.
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Let us pray. Heavenly Father, thank you so much for blessing us. Thank you for loving us. Thank you for your Word, so true and so clear. And Lord, it is my prayer that you would help each of us who know you as Savior to live a life that is pleasing in your sight and points others towards you. Forgive us for the things where we fail and strengthen us and encourage us to go on.
Lord, as always, we pray for those who are not saved that they would come to know you and know what it is to be forgiven, to be born again. Now, our heads bowed and our eyes closed, we’re going to sing a hymn of invitation. If God’s spoken to your heart and you need to respond, this is the time to come. Father, bless and move, we ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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About the Speaker
Dr. Michael L. McClure
Senior Pastor
Dr. Michael L. McClure, our lead pastor, is known for his in-depth knowledge and effective teaching style of biblical truths applicable to everyday living.