Scoffers of the Second Coming (2 Peter 3:1–7)
Peter now brings his letter together with the certain truth of the Second Coming of Jesus—beginning with those who scoff at it. Writing to those he calls “beloved,” the very word the Father used of his Son, Peter stirs up our sincere minds to remember the truth: the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord through the apostles. Then he exposes the scoffers who ask, “Where is the promise of his coming?” while deliberately overlooking how God has already acted in creation and in the flood.
This sermon on 2 Peter 3:1–7 warns that we too can deny his coming in practice—by forgetting his promise and not living in its light.
Introduction
Peter’s last letter is an exhortation to grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ as we live in the last days. After encouraging us with the certainty of the Christian life based on the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophetic Scriptures (chapter 1), and warning us about false teachers within the church (chapter 2), Peter brings this all together with the certain truth of the Second Coming of Jesus.
This morning, we begin chapter 3 and what it says about these false teachers who scoff at the Second Coming. It’s hard, though, for us today to imagine people within the church denying the Second Coming. We live in the aftermath of generations of American Christianity emphasizing the rapture, the antichrist, the tribulation period, and the finally the Second Coming. Yet, we need to be aware that we can deny his coming in practice by forgetting his promise and not living in its light.
Theme
Let’s listen in to what the Holy Spirit has for us about scoffers of the Second Coming.
Remember the Truth (vv. 1–2)
First, Peter exhorts us to remember the truth. He opens by calling them agapetoí, beloved. This is so beautiful! This is the word God the Father used of his Son in 1:17: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Now Peter is calling his readers the same.
How can this be? Remember the opening verse of this letter: we who “have obtained a faith…by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ” (1:1), are now called beloved of God. The Father loves his Son and we are joined to his Son, Jesus, by faith; thus, he loves those in his Son, too! This is your identity, beloved. No matter what the world says you are or have to be, this is what God says about you: you are beloved by God!
He then comes to his exhortation: in both of [these letters] I am stirring up your sincere mind (v. 1). The Greek phrase eilikrinē diánoian was used by Plato of wholesome thinking. He’s stirring up wholesome thinking in contrast to the ways of thinking peddled by the false teachers by way of reminder (v. 1). This takes us back to 1:12 and following, where he said, “I intend always to remind you of these qualities…I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder…I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things” (1:12, 13, 15).
What does it mean to “remember?” Biblical “remembrance” is not merely mental, but it is applying the things we know from the past in the present. In other words, it’s an active thing. For example, how do we “remember” Jesus’ death 2,000 years ago, which we did not see? By the actions of eating and drinking.
What does he want us to remember? Remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles (v. 2). In 1:16–21, he spoke of the apostolic witness to Jesus’ Transfiguration and the witness of the prophetic Scriptures to the power and parousia of Jesus. Now he inverts that order.
Remember the predictions of the holy prophets
The holy prophets are those whom Hebrews describes like this: “long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets” (1:1). In contrast, “but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son” (1:2). The Son has brought climactic fulfillment to all the prophets spoke; in other words, they spoke of him! Remember their predictions! About what? As we’ll see, not just the Messiah’s coming to this world in his incarnation, life, death, resurrection, and ascension, but also his Second Coming.
Let heav’n and earth be glad; waves of the ocean,
forest and field, exultation express;
for God is coming, the Judge of the nations,
coming to judge in his righteousness. (Ps. 96:11–13)
Remember…the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles
Literally this phrase says, “the command of your apostles, of the Lord and Savior.” It’s somewhat dense, but the NIV/ESV give us the interpretive sense that Peter wants us to remember what our Lord and Savior Jesus said through his apostles. The words of the apostles were truly those of the Lord himself.
Note that it’s the singular commandment. What does he mean? He’s speaking of the moral command that we as God’s people are to be holy like God is. We need to remember and enact this in action. The Lord said to Israel, “I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy” (Lev. 11:44). When the Lord came to earth as Jesus, he said, “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt. 5:48). The apostle Peter said on behalf of the Lord, “as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:15–16). Paul said, “Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God” (2 Cor. 7:1). John said, “everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure” (1 John 3:3). We’ll see this and later here to live in light of the coming as holy.
You and I are called to remember the truth as it comes to us from the Lord through his apostles.
Scoffers of the Truth (vv. 3–4)
Second, Peter exposes scoffers of the truth. Remembering the truth, know[…] this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires (v. 3).Again, false teachers use theology as a cover for their immorality. The Proverbs say the scoffer “delight[s] in their scoffing” (1:22); the one who “corrects a scoffer gets himself abuse,” therefore, “Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you” (9:7, 8); finally, in contrast to the “wise son [who] hears his father’s instruction…a scoffer does not listen to rebuke” (13:1).
As we’ve seen before, Peter says he and his hearers were already living in the last days in the first century. “But I thought the last days were the end times after the rapture of the church and rise of the antichrist?” Friend, the prophets spoke of the last days to come (LXX: Gen 49:1, Isa 2:2; Jer. 23:20, 25:19, 37:24; Ezek. 38:16; Dan. 2:28; Hos. 3:5; Mic. 4:1). In the New Testament we learn that those days have come with the person and work of Jesus (Acts 2:17; 2 Tim. 3:1; Heb. 1:2; Jas. 5:3; Jude 18).
These scoffers were prophesied by Jesus in Matthew 24:
“See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray…many false prophets will arise and lead many astray’” (Matt. 24:4–5, 11).
Paul warned the Ephesian church,
“after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them” (Acts 20:29–30).
He told the Ephesians’ pastor, Timothy,
“the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons” (1 Tim. 4:1).
John said,
“Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour” (1 John 2:18).
Note their scoff: “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation” (v. 4). These false teachers and scoffers seem to be Jewish members within the church because they speak of the fathers who fell asleep. This is Old Testament language. In fact, in the New Testament, the plural “fathers” always refers to the patriarchs in the Old Testament (Rom. 9:5, 11:28, 15:8; Acts 7 [15x]).
This brings us back to 1:16–21, where Peter spoke of the eye and ear witness of the apostles and the fulfilled Old Testament Scriptures on the power and coming of the Lord. Just as the apostles saw and heard the Lord at his first coming and the prophets’ words were fulfilled, the Lord is coming back. But here it’s a doubt leading to cynicism: “ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” Nothing’s changed. In Malachi’s day, the impatient people God’s people scoffed: “Where is the God of justice?” (2:17) In Jeremiah’s day, they scoffed: “Where is the word of the Lord?” (17:15) In Ezekiel’s day, they scoffed: “The days go by and every vision comes to nothing” (12:22).
Beloved, we feel this, too, don’t we? We can develop cynicism within the church. We can think there’s no way to change the course of history. We can think in political seasons, “They’re all the same.” We lament the injustice and exploitation of the needy and poor among us; it continues as it always has! This is where our eschatology matters. Jesus will intervene climactically one day and set all things right. Maranatha! At the same time, until then, we patiently toil and labor because our lives matter in this world. We are salt, preserving, and light, pointing the way.
There have always been scoffers of the truth of God. But don’t let them distract you from believing it!
Forgetting the Truth (& What You Need to Remember!) (vv. 5–7)
Third, Peter explains their forgetting the truth (and what you need to remember!). For [the scoffers] deliberately overlook this fact (v. 5). Their scoffing was where is the promise of his coming? In other words, God will not intervene in this world. Note how Peter goes on to explain to them from the Jewish Scriptures how God has acted in history! Then he applies this to us. God acted in creation, the Flood, and will again in the Second Coming.
Don’t forget, but remember that God has acted in history in creation: The heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of waterand through waterby the word of God (v. 5). Here he’s reflecting on the Genesis story (1:2, 9) as well as the Psalm which says, “By the word of the Lord the heavens existed” (Ps. 33:6 cf. Heb. 11:3).
Don’t forget, but remember that God has acted in history in the Flood: by means of these [water and the word] the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished (v. 6).
Don’t forget, but remember that God promises to act again in history in the Second Coming and final judgment: but by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly (v. 7). A flood of water then, but flood of fire to come. Note the continuity between the old world that was flooded and “new” world that emerged out of it. God creation the heavens and the earth in the beginning, then he judged it in a flood because of sin. The world that emerged out of the Flood exists today, but one day it will be judged in fire only to give way to a new heavens and earth.
Fire is used in the Old Testament for destruction, but also for purification (Deut. 32:22; Ps. 97:3; Isa. 30:30, 6615–16; Ezek. 38:22; Amos 7:4; Zeph. 1:18; Mal. 4:1). Fire isn’t an image here of judgement that annihilates; it’s judgment that purifies.
Conclusion
The Holy Spirit teaches us that there will be a certain Second Coming of Jesus. While scoffers scoff and even we ourselves can become cynical as the years go by, we are to remember his promise through his apostles and live in anticipation of it. As one old hymn says:
‘Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
And to take Him at His word;
Just to rest upon His promise,
And to know, “Thus saith the Lord.”