II Peter 3:3-5: Knowing
this first, that there shall come in the last days
scoffers, walking after their own lusts, 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.
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.
This passage in II Peter really sums up the
attitude that many (sadly in the church as well as the
world) have adopted. We often look for catastrophic
weather signs, potential peace treatises, and Middle
East unrest as signs that the return of Christ is
near-and rightly so. But stop for a moment to consider
what Peter under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit
wrote in the passage above. One of the hallmarks of
our generation is that of scoffers in the world and
more disturbingly in the church! Peter qualifies the
reason why they are scoffing-it's because they're
walking after their own heart's lusts. Is it any
wonder that some scoff and scorn at the notion of
Christ's return? For those who are not living for God,
but enjoying the pleasures of sin for a season-why
would they want the Lord to return? We know that the
first time Jesus came as a suffering servant, but the
next time He will come as a Judge and a conquering
King. The Lamb of God will come in great power and
glory as the Lion of the tribe of Judah!
Paul told young Timothy that one of the major signs of
the end times would be that men would be "lovers of
pleasure more than lovers of God." I'm not against
good clean, wholesome entertainment (which is becoming
increasingly more scarce by the way), but we are a
pleasure driven culture and a pleasure driven church.
We want Christianity to be convenient for us. The call
to "take up the cross and follow me" cannot be heard
by our modern generation because we have heaped to
ourselves teachers, having "itching ears" and desiring
to hear fables rather than biblical truth. Of course I
can't paint everyone with a broad brush, and there are
certainly the faithful still among us. Most pastors
that I know really dread the summer months because
they know that three-fourths of their congregation
will be missing in action during this time. Am I
against taking a family vacation? Absolutely not! We
need a respite from this stressful world at times. But
far too often, rather than having our minds focused on
heavenly things, we become preoccupied with the next
big trip or the next pleasure indulgence. I find
myself battling these same temptations on a daily
basis. This writer is not immune to battling the love
of pleasure.
But the evil goes beyond the temptations of pleasure.
Let's look again at the passage and notice something
else. Not only are people walking after their own
lusts, but they are saying something. What are they
saying? "Where is the promise of His coming?", "For
since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as
they were since the beginning of creation...". Jesus
Himself said it is an evil servant that says in his
heart "my Lord delayeth His coming." I think Western
society is probably more guilty of this than anyone.
Yes, it speaks to all of creation, but here in the
West, we have an arrogance that says "tomorrow will be
just like today." We have such short memories
sometimes. Our lack of historical study is woeful when
really pondered. All it takes is just a minimal study
of world history to learn that all empires eventually
come to an end-even the most prosperous of societies.
But unfortunately, the deception goes even deeper than
that-it has crept into the church. In some ways it is
the most exciting of times for prophecy watchers
because of all the fulfillment in the last 100 years
or so. But there is also a danger that we must be on
guard against. Because we do have such short memories
and attention spans, we lose sight of the fact that
one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a
thousand years as a day. Because in the early 1900's
as we began to see prophetic fulfillment accelerate,
preachers once again began to sound the alarm that
Jesus was soon to come. They were not wrong in doing
so, but because of this we now have people in the
church who say things like "well I've heard that all
my life", "my grandfather thought Jesus would come in
his lifetime, and his dad thought Jesus would come in
his lifetime." Because of this, some have become
hardened to the fact that things can and will change.
Jesus made the statement that the tradtions of men can
make the Word of God of no effect.
Because of this great tempation God directs the reader
of scripture back to one of the greatest events in
human history-the flood in Noah's day. Jesus linked
the two events (Noah's flood and the 2nd coming) by
saying "as it was in the days of Noe (Noah), so shall
it be in the days of the Son of Man". Notice Peter
says that they are willingly ignorant of Noah's flood.
It's one thing to be genuinely uninformed about a
situation and to fall into a snare unexpectedly. It's
quite another to be willingly ignorant of a fact. That
speaks of a heart attitude that says "I know this is
what the bible says but I'm just not going to worry
about it-surely it won't happen in my lifetime." No
doubt, that's what the generation of Noah believed. It
had never rained before, so no doubt they said
something like, "things will always be the same, that
mist will continue to come up from the earth and water
the ground-that Noah guy sure is crazy." Of course if
we've read the story of Noah, we know how it ends.
After many years of ark building, and no doubt hearing
the reproach of his peers, the rains finally came and
carried them all away. There's a reason that God wants
us to remember the lesson of Noah's flood. Just
because things haven't happened yet, doesn't mean they
won't. God had promised that Jesus would return again
for His church. But He didn't just stop there, He gave
us signposts to watch for as we see the Day
approaching.
Let me ask you today-are you ignoring the signs of the
times? Have you said in your heart that it won't
happen in your lifetime? If so, you've fallen into the
same trap that ensnared the people of Noah's day.
Present conditions are not an accurate indicator of
future events. Just as Noah, a preacher of
righteousness according to the scriptures, built an
ark to the saving of his house by faith-so we too must
sound the alarm. No man knows the day nor the hour,
but Christ said we could know when it was so near it
is "at the doors." I implore-no I beg you today to
join me in my prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father,
I thank you that you have promised us an escape from
the tribulation hour that is coming upon this earth.
Please help me and all of the readers of this site and
their family members, loved ones, co-workers,
neighbors, and friends to never be willingly ignorant
of the promise of the coming of Jesus. We also pray
that that we would be found worthy to escape all these
things and to stand before the Son of Man not having
our own righteousness which is of the law, but the
righteousness which comes by faith in Jesus. Let us
not sleep as others do, but let us watch and be sober.
It is in the name of Jesus that we ask. Amen