Preparing for the Future: Waiting with Purpose

Preparing for the Future: Waiting with Purpose

2 Peter 3:1-13

8-4-19 

Burk Parsons- “…patience… is a virtue of trust…we are trusting in someone greater than ourselves. It is no wonder the world is so impatient. Those who do not know God can only trust in themselves...”  

“God doesn’t need us to have a big audience so that thousands or millions of people can like us so that they might get to like Him. Jesus had few in number, and He didn’t command them to gain the audience of the world by mimicking the world…  He told us that His kingdom is just the opposite, and that the Gospel is what saves not our good looks, talents, or fame.”

Luke 12:35-40 - “Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning…be like men who are waiting for their master …so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks...  Blessed are those servantswhom the master finds awake… he will dress himself for service…have them recline at the table, and he will come and serve them… You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

I. Remember the words of the Lord about the Day of the Lord. (2 Peter 3:1-7)

Psalm 67:4-“Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth.”

Five Righteous and Cleansing Judgments:   

1. Judgment on earth.

Matthew 24:7 -“For nation will rise against nation…and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.”

Matthew 24:21- “…there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, and never will be.”

2. Judgment of the antichrist and his partners.  

2 Thessalonians 2:8-10 “…the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming…. the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders…with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.”

3. Judgment of the rebellious nations(Babylon).

Revelation 14:8-“Another angel…was saying, ‘Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who made all nations drink the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality.’”

Revelation 17:5-“…Babylon the great, mother of…earth's abominations.”

Revelation 18:3 - “For all nations have drunk (her) wine…the kings of the earth…the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living.”

Aldous Huxley- “I had motives for not wanting the world to have a meaning … For myself, as, no doubt, for most of my contemporaries…meaningless was essentially an instrument of liberation…from…morality… We objected to the morality of Christianity because it interfered with our sexual freedom. There was one admirably simple method of justifying ourselves: [agnosticism].”

Revelation 19:2 - “…his judgments are true and just…he has judged the great prostitute…and has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”

4. Judgment of Satan.  

Revelation 20:10 - ^“…the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire…and will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”

5. Judgment of the dead and the living.

Revelation 20:11-12 - “Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them and I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened…. another book was opened…the book of life…the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.”

1 Corinthians 3:10-14 -  “…like a skilledmaster builder I laid a foundation…Let each one take care how he builds upon it…each one's work will become manifest … revealed by fire…and…(the fire) will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work ...built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward.”

i. We are saved by God’s grace, through personal faith in Christ, apart from any works. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Ephesians 2:8-9 - “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

ii. Our faith in Christ will produce a life of Christ-like fruit and works. (Ephesians 2:10, John 15:7-8)

John 15:8 – “Jesus said, ‘By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.’”

iii. Our fruit and works are what we have done with God-given resources—time, energy, talents, money, possessions.We only get to eternally keep what we give away.

Luke 12:48 – Jesus said, “Everyone to whom much was given of him much will be required…”

iv. Jesus commanded us to seek Him and His eternal rewards.

Matthew 6:20 - Jesus said, “..lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.”

Randy Alcorn- “God has created us each with desires for pleasure, possessions, and power.”

1 Timothy 6:17-19 - “As for the rich…charge them not to…set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy… They are to…be rich in good works…generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for…the future…”

v. Our motivation for obedience, fruit, work and rewards, is love for Him.

John 14:21 – Jesus said, “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me.”

Is it really smart to pour all our time and energy into the accumulation of earthly treasures, is this really a wise investment strategy?

When all that I ever owned lies abandoned, broken, useless, and forgotten, what will I have done with my life that will last for eternity?

II. Recognize the Lord’s plan and timing for the end of days, differs from ours. (2 Peter 3:8-9)

III. How should we then live?    (2 Peter 3:10-13)

1. Live Christ-like.

2. Hasten His return.

Joel 1:14-15 - “Consecrate a fast; call an …assembly. Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord… For the day of the Lord is near…”

Acts 4:24, 31 - “… they lifted their voices together to God… when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.”

1 Thessalonians 4:9-11 - “…for you have been taught by God to love one another…we urge you…do this more and more…aspire to live quietly…to mind your own affairs…to work with your hands, as we instructed you.”

Matthew 24:14 - Jesus said, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”

 For Growth This Week:

1. In what areas of your life can you struggle with impatience and impulsiveness?

2. How should thinking of Christ’s return change the way we pray?(Matthew 6:21 and Hebrews 11:6)

3. Why might we need constant reminders of the truth that mockers, people rejecting the faith and false teachers, will seek to infiltrate and attack the church to lead it astray?

4. How are constant reminders of Jesus’ second coming vital to our faith? How we work? Go to school? Raise families? Share the Gospel?

5. What are some ways we can prepare ourselves for the second coming of Christ and be ready each day as the possible day of His return?