Jesus is Coming! The End is Nigh! 2 Peter 3:10-18

2 Peter 3:10-18 A New Heaven and Earth 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. 11 Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! 13 But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.

2 Peter 3:10-18 14 Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, 15 and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, 16 as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. 17 You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness, 18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

Message to false teachers Jesus IS coming back! The world you love is going to burn!

The coming Day of the Lord It includes Jesus coming back. It will be sudden, unexpected, destructive, like a thief for those who don’t believe. It will bring deliverance and salvation for those who do believe. The world will be “destroyed” by fire.

More on the Day of the Lord Joel 2:30-31 Zephaniah 1:14-18 Malachi 3:2, 4:1-2 also Isaiah 2:11—17; 13:9—13; Amos 5:18—20; Joel 3:14—16; Psalm 102:25ff.; 2 Thessalonians 1:8; Hebrews 12:29.

New Heavens and New Earth Romans 8:20-21 Opinion – The Earth will not be destroyed through fire, but purged and renewed as it was by water during the Flood. Isaiah 65:17 Everything that is not right will be swept away in favour of what God originally intended, a complete restoration.

What will and will not remain This earthly destruction should motivate us to be godly. False teachers seek money (2:24-16), power (2:10), reputation (3:16, 2:18), sexual pleasure. Jesus power is not power OVER people but power FOR people. To HELP, not CONTROL.

Godly things will remain. Only one life, twill soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ will last! Matthew 6:19-21, 1 Corinthians 7:31, 1 John 2:17) Grow in the Grace and in the Knowledge of our Lord.

The Age of Salvation 2 Corinthians 6:2 "I am a spirit come from God and returning to God; just hovering over a great gulf; 'til a few moments hence I am no more seen; I drop into an unchangeable eternity! I want to know one thing―the way to heaven . . . He hath written it down in a book. O give me that book! At any price, give me the book of God! I have it: here is knowledge enough for me. Let me be homo unius libri (a man of one book)." John Wesley Psalm 1

Scripture can be hard to understand We must preach the WHOLE wisdom of God, not just the bits we like… This means that is should be expected that preaching will sometimes be the most demanding thing you hear all week.

Guard yourself from error because misinterpretation can lead to destruction. James 3:1 The eternal destiny of the people around you hangs on how we interpret scripture….! Grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ Do NOT exalt one person’s teaching above all others and do NOT exalt one person’s teaching above the Bible. Test their words and their fruit! Jesus, The Word, Prayer equals grow, grow, grow.

The Final Word - For Christ’s Glory The joy of hope is the power of godliness and right living. The knowledge of God’s promises is the pathway of his power. The promises, the power, the hope and the godliness are all contained in the grace found in Jesus. Jesus is coming back. The end is nigh. Choose you this day whom you will serve. “To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen!”