The Day of the Lord Is Coming!

2nd Sunday in Advent, 12/7/14
2 Peter 3:8-14


The Day of the Lord Is Coming!
I. Live wisely.
II. Live godly.


Have you ever missed an important date on the calendar? We might forget about an appointment with the dentist or to get our hair cut, but we usually don’t forget the important dates on the calendar. For instance, when is the last time you forgot that July 4 was a national holiday? How often have you completely missed celebrating Easter or Christmas? Have you ever gotten to the end of the day and finally it dawned on you that today was your birthday and now it’s almost over? On the other hand, I know that some people have forgotten their wedding anniversary. You might forget your parents’ birthdays, but you don’t forget your children’s birthdays.

So, are you certain you remember all the important dates for the next 12 months? That might make you feel a little uneasy. I don’t intend to make you feel even more uneasy, but let me add one to it. It is without any debate or argument among us the most important date of all. It’s the day that Jesus returns. You see, the best way to get ready to celebrate Jesus’ birth is to get ready for his return on the Last Day.

Do you realize how few people realize that? Of course the billions of people who don’t trust in Jesus aren’t looking for his return. But even Christians are prone to forgetting about it.

Don’t let that happen to you! It was happening during the days when the Apostle Peter was carrying on his work. It’s still happening today. So that it doesn’t tragically happen with you, take to heart the truth that Peter stresses in these words. The day of the Lord is coming! That truth ought to affect our lives deeply. Peter offers us two encouragements. Let’s see what they are and may the Holy Spirit move us to accomplish them.

Part I.

Speaking of dates, I’ve got another one for you: December 7, 1941. It’s a day that lives in infamy. Unless you haven’t studied US history in school yet, you know that date. It’s the day that the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii and greatly destroyed our military’s naval and air presence in the Pacific. If you’ve seen a movie on the attack, you were probably impressed with how normal things looked right up to the time of the attack. Why wasn’t anyone watching out to make sure such an attack didn’t happen? No one thought the Japanese would do it. There was no formal declaration of war and there was no warning from them either. It was a complete surprise and 2,400 people lost their lives.

Peter doesn’t want his readers to be surprised about the Lord’s return. In the verses right before our text begins, Peter warns them about scoffers who deny that Jesus will return. “They will say, ‘Where is this coming he promised?’” First, they don’t believe what Jesus said about himself—that he is the Son of God and the world’s Savior from sin. So, they certainly don’t believe that he’s going to return. They only consider him to be a dead imposter.

And here’s their proof, “Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” Their unbelief causes them to base the future on the past. Every day the sun rises and sets. The seasons of the year come and go. Life just keeps going on and it will continue to do so. In their unbelief they fail to recognize the foolishness of their own words. They speak of a beginning, but they deny an end. That doesn’t make sense.

Peter writes these words so that his readers won’t be so foolish. Instead, live wisely. He states, “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.” Please don’t misunderstand his words like so many others do. Peter doesn’t say a thousand years is a day. People have misquoted this verse in stating that the six days of creations were actually thousands or millions of years. That’s not what Peter is stating. So what is he stating? God lives above time. He lives in eternity. Humans are bound by time; God is not.

Since God is not bound by time, he is patient. So don’t mistake the reason for the fact that Jesus hasn’t come back yet. God isn’t being slow to act. It’s not that he lacks the power to keep his promise. The reason Jesus hasn’t come back yet is that God is giving sinful people ample time to repent. And that’s what the season of Advent is all about. It’s a season of repentance in preparation for the Lord’s return. God’s will is for each and every sinner to repent—to confess their sins and to trust in Jesus for their forgiveness.

So use your time wisely! Don’t think you’ll have the time to attend to your spiritual life tomorrow. It might be too late. Today is the day. Right now is the time. Jesus might return before the 1:00 o’clock football kickoffs this afternoon. Are you sorry for your sins? I trust you are. That’s one of the reasons you’re here today. Do you trust in Jesus as your Savior? I trust you do. That’s the greatest reason you’re here today. Then you’re ready for his return. You’re living wisely. Make sure that’s your spiritual situation every day of your life.

The day of the Lord is coming! Live wisely!

If Jesus had stated in the Bible that he was returning on Dec. 7, 2014 at 3:00 PM, where would you be four hours from now and what would you be doing? I have a hunch some of you—maybe almost all of you—would decide to be right here, singing some of your favorite hymns. In fact, if Jesus had stated that in his word, I think there would be standing room only here in church today. You would see people you had never seen before. They’d be standing outside hoping to get in.

It could happen. So live wisely. How often does it occur to you that tomorrow might not arrive? How many times each week does it occur to you that Jesus might return before the day is done? If it doesn’t occur very often, you’re not living wisely; you’re assuming that everything is going to continue just as it has since the creation of the world. Instead, live each day in the readiness of repentance, recognizing your sinfulness, trusting in Jesus as your Savior from sin, and confidently expecting his glorious return. Now that’s wise living in light of the truth that the day of the Lord is coming!

Part II.

We’re now in the thick of what retailers call the Christmas season. You certainly can tell it by the advertising. One thing I’m not hearing as much as I used to is the warning for children to be good, otherwise they won’t get what they want for Christmas. Maybe it’s just because I no longer have children in the house. I suppose it’s still be stated; I just don’t hear it. “Be good because Santa is coming.”

We know that’s a myth, but this one isn’t, “Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.” Peter isn’t issuing us a warning; he’s stating an encouragement. He wants your faith in Jesus to be reflected in how you live right up to the day Jesus returns. He encourages you to live a godly life. Why? Well, let’s state why not first. Peter isn’t telling you to live a godly life so that Jesus will reward you when he returns. In other words, be good and you’ll get what you want. Our God doesn’t operate that way. In fact, we can’t give him the goodness he demands.

So what is Peter saying? He wants our daily lives to reflect the person God has made us. You are a child of God by faith in Jesus. That faith lives each day in repentance. It confesses how unworthy we are of anything good. It acknowledges our daily sins and clings to Jesus for forgiveness. And then, out of love for Jesus, we produce the fruits of repentance. We turn away from sin and we live as a child of God. We produce the fruits of the Spirit: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Gal. 5:22). That’s what Peter meant when he wrote, “So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.”

And a part of that godly living is eagerly expecting Jesus to return. We have nothing to fear. Jesus has told us he will come back and declare before all the world that we are his children by faith in him. And once he has done that, we have this to look forward to: “in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.” Imagine that! A perfect place to live with our glorified bodies! But most of all, a perfect place to live forever with Jesus. It can’t get any better than that. The same Jesus who won that life for you gives that life to you. He promises it to you when he returns.

The day of the Lord is coming. Live godly!

So, if you had a godly living meter, what would be the reading on your life? Not so good? Same with me. My days are filled with worry and pessimism. I feel angry and hopeless, vengeful and cheated, disrespected on the one hand and like a lousy failure on the other. I find my sinful nature driving me instead of my love for my Savior. You too? So what should we do about it? Take to heart this good news: Jesus isn’t coming back to read your godly meter. He’s coming back to claim as his own all those who repent of their sins and trust in him as their Savior. And that’s just who you are by God’s grace. By faith in Jesus you live covered in his holiness each day of your life. You can’t live any more godly than that. Remain in that godly living every day of your life until Jesus returns. The day of the Lord is coming! Keep that date always on your heart and mind. Amen.