READ AT BEGINNING OF SERVICE:
2 Peter 3:1-18 (NIV)
1 Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. 2 I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles. 3 First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4 They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” 5 But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. 8 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. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. 11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. 14 So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 15 Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16 He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction. 17 Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.
INTRODUCTION
(I showed a short 2min video obtained from sermonspice.com called “The Paradox of Our Time” prior to preaching this message)
Indeed there are many paradoxes that can be found in our day ? things that when you really think about it give cause for wonder if there is any hope for our world. Will we ever see the elusive paradise take shape that so much of humanity has been striving for? Will we ever experience the peace of mind that we seems to be so brief in experience?
There have been many prestigious people throughout the years who have been atheists, but have eventually confessed faith in Christ and ended up saying and doing great things that helped others see Jesus more clearly.
Malcolm Muggeridge was a British journalist who was an atheist. He was so good, that he was occasionally asked to write the editorial page for Time magazine. And many consider that the crowning point in his life came towards the end of his career when he became a Christian.
He was a once guest at a breakfast in Washington, D.C. where he shared his life story. When he had finished, he made a number of comments about world affairs, all of which were very negative. One of those present told him that he was very negative, and asked if he saw any reason at all to be positive. He replied, “Sir, I am very positive because my sole hope is in Jesus Christ alone.”
Hope. That is what we all desperately need. That is what we all desperately search for in this world. The hope of tomorrow ? that it will be better than yesterday and better than today. The problem with searching for happiness or peace of mind is that we too often only look in the worldly things for them, and they can only be found in the Lord Jesus.
Hope. We need hope in order to live peaceful and happy lives. The absence of hope for our future will completely destroy the present we live in today. What oxygen is for our lungs, hope is for the very meaning of our lives. If you take oxygen away from us, it will result in our death. And, if you take any hope of our future away from us, we also shall die. If that is the case then certainly the indications are there that people in our world are losing hope:
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), someone around the globe commits suicide every 40 seconds (2003). In the year 2000, 815,000 people lost their lives to suicide ? more than double the number of people who die as a direct result of armed conflict every year (306,600). For people between the ages of 15 and 44, suicide is the fourth leading cause of death and the sixth leading cause of disability and infirmity worldwide. In the last 45 years suicide rates have increased by 60% worldwide.
The suicide rate for Canadians, as measured by the WHO, is 15 per 100,000 people. According to Statistics Canada, between 1997 and 1999, there was a 10 percent increase in suicides across Canada, from 3,681 to 4,074. In Ontario alone, suicides rose from 930 in 1997 to 1,032 in 2001.
(Statistics obtained from
www.ontario.cmha.ca/content/about_mental_illness/suicide.asp?cID=3965)
The major cause for suicides is a loss of hope and after viewing the video show today it?s easy to see why.
Today I?m going to talk briefly about one who can give us a hope that will never falter. A hope that every Christian shares. A hope for a future in Jesus Christ ? who is our blessed hope!
TITUS 2:12 tells us that it is the grace of God that enables us to say “NO” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and in VERSE 13, it says we are to do that while we await the blessed hope of the glorious appearing our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Sometimes, our English language leaves a bit to be desired. When we use the word ?hope?, we are saying that we look forward to something that might or might not come to pass. For example, we might say that we hope it rains. That means that we want it to, but we are not sure it will. Or today, more likely, we say that we hope that it doesn?t rain so we can enjoy sunshine this afternoon for Family Day. That?s our wish and it may happen but there?s no guarantee!
However, in the original Greek, the word ?hope? means waiting for something that will definitely come to pass. It means to bide your time in the anticipation of the guarantee of something that is to come.
So, the blessed hope refers to something that we can absolutely count on; something that will certainly happen.
In MATTHEW 24:3, the disciples were sitting on the Mount of Olives with Jesus, and they asked Him what the warning signs would be to announce the Second Coming. Beginning with MATTHEW 24:6, Jesus tells them what will precede His Second Coming.
Let?s take a look at some of those signs.
FAMINES & WARS
In verses 6-7, Jesus said,
Matthew 24:6-7 (NIV)
6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.
I think the closer we get to the His Second Coming, we will see a marked increase in wars, famines, and earthquakes. But, even though we see more and more of these things, we are told to not be afraid.
This world is full of sin, and the return of Jesus will be the greatest spiritual event in history. But it will also be one of the biggest events in spiritual warfare that has ever occurred. It only stands to reason that the enemy is hating the thought of Jesus? return, and since the devil is a being of hatred and violence anyway, he will make sure that hatred and violence spew over into as much of the world as possible.
In the last 60 years, it is estimated that over 100 million people have been killed by some kind of war. Their own leaders have killed millions, just because they were of an ethnic group the leader did not like.
In today?s world, we see a different kind of warfare, don?t we? It is different that any other kind of war that has ever been waged. It is called terrorism, and that name defines it clearly. The world is engaged in a war waged on terror; on evilness; on hatred; and it is a war fueled by the devil.
There is a war going on in almost every country on earth. Those that are not already in a full-scale war are involved in the war on terrorism. Once quiet nations are now finding themselves being safe havens for, or victims of terrorists.
In spite of the ever-increasing influence of the western civilizations throughout the world; despite the fact that the world is more highly educated that ever before; the peace that is looked for is as elusive as ever. That is because the basic cause of hatred and war are spiritual.
And that is the pit we humans fall into. We humans put ourselves at the center of our universe. Everything is about us. We think we are so great. We have stopped depending on God now and depend on our own great selves for health, food, and everything else we want or need.
We don?t look to God anymore to help us; we look in the world around us. And looking in the world will only let us find our own demise. But, looking to Christ Jesus, will let us find our blessed hope, and with that blessed hope comes peace, joy, and happiness.
Politics and education cannot solve spiritual problems. We see Israel and the Palestinians doing everything they can to come up with a permanent peace agreement. We see leaders all across this globe talking about another chance for permanent peace between these two peoples.
In 2 PETER 3:13, we read
?But in keeping with His promise, we are looking forward to a new Heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.?
In case anyone missed it, let me set the record very straight. There will never be any lasting peace on this earth, until Jesus Christ comes back to rule over Jerusalem. And that includes the war between the Israelites and the Palestinians.
Jesus also said there would be famines and earthquakes. Whether it is brought about by natural disasters such as drought, or by mankind, such as wars, or waste famines persist, even in this age of plentiful food.
By the age of only six months, each Canadian has consumed as much resources as the average person in the developing world consumes in his or her lifetime!
27% of all food produced in North America is wasted
(www.rco.on.ca/factsheet/fs_f02.html)
The names of places like Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and Afghanistan are all synonymous with hunger and starvation. In addition millions of people throughout the world are undernourished. It is ironic that famine is increasing at a time when agricultural technology has enabled farmers to grow more food than is needed.
And, as far as earthquakes go, the occurrences of earthquakes have been getting more and more numerous. According to the world almanac, in the hundred years between 1800 and 1900, there were only six sizable earthquakes. From 1900 to 1950, there were 12.
From 1950 to 1976, there were over 50. In 1976 alone, there were 18 quakes alone that registered over 7.0 on the Richter scale. Look at the tsunami that was produced by a quake earlier this year. Just this past Tuesday, a large earthquake off the coast of Japan shook buildings nearly 200 miles away.
I quote these statistics to you so you can believe the biblical claims that there will be earthquakes and famines. But be of good cheer, because war and famine will not continue forever. God is going to step in and when He does, he will end the fighting and the starving once and for all.
ANTI-CHRISTS
In verse 5, Jesus mentions another sign that will precede His coming.
Matthew 24:5 (NIV)
5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.
There are many who have already come, claiming to be the Messiah, like Rev. Moon of the Unification church who said he really is Jesus Christ. But, there will be many more that come between now and then, too.
Why would Jesus tell us about them? Because He wants us to be aware so that we are not caught up in their mindless prattle – so that we can be safe in the true word of God and not be caught off-guard by lies.
These liars will fool people into thinking that they are the way to God and heaven. They will delude many into thinking that they have special spiritual powers and connections with God.
If you listen to them, you will hear them ultimately reject the Gospel of Christ, just as many seminary teachers now reject the virgin birth as being myth. That is one way you can tell that they are false. They will dispute the true Bible and try to explain it away as an allegorical concept or myth. If the Bible is a myth, I am one Christian who is happy to be mythified.
They will dupe people into believing that there are no absolutes. They will fool people into thinking that only they know the real truth. These anti-christs are educators, business leaders and political leaders who deny the deity of Christ.
If you do not think they exist today, look at any of our universities and see what kind of things they are teaching the youth today. If you knew, you would not just be shocked ? you would be horrified!
Look at the leaders in business today. They are going to prison for cheating faster than they can make new leaders. And as far as the politicians ? just look what has happened in our parliament lately with the types of issues that are considered “major”. You will be frightened to death. Why? Because it is getting more and more clear as to whom they really serve ? and it doesn?t seem to be God!
Although interpretations differ from one denomination to another, a large majority of evangelical Christians believe that the presence of these false Christs will culminate in the appearance of the one final Anti-Christ.
In the last days there will be one bold, arrogant, powerful and persuasive individual leader who will actively promote that which is evil in God?s sight. He is viewed by many as a leader who will masquerade as a prince of peace, a savior of the world.
He will be one who will promise to solve the world?s problems. In warning us of this individual, 2 THESSALONIANS 2:3-4 says,
2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 (NIV)
3 Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. 4 He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.
Who this Anti-Christ is remains a mystery for now. When he will arrive on the scene we don?t know. When the time is right, he will appear and use his considerable influence and power against the Lord and against those who love the Lord.
But again, be of good cheer, as not long after this wicked man arrives, the Lord will come back after His flock. THAT IS US! There are many out there that will be glad to have us gone, and let me say that I will be just as glad to be gone! But sad will it be for those left behind.
EVANGLIZATION OF THE WORLD
In MATTHEW 24:14 Jesus gives another sign.
Matthew 24:14 (NIV)
14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
?And this Gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.?
God?s Word makes it clear that the gospel will be proclaimed to every nation before the end comes. As a result of our technological explosion, the gospel has, in the last few years, gone forth in an unprecedented manner. Satellites can now beam the message of Christ into every single part of this world.
As a matter of fact, it has been said that everything that needs to be in place has already been put in place. There are new and innovative ways of reaching people, too. One of the most effective recently is introducing foreign students to Jesus Christ so that when they graduate and go back to their nations, they go as missionaries of Christ Jesus.
Consequently, the message of Christ is being spread throughout the entire earth. This sign is but another that points to the return of Christ. These signs and their fulfillment remind us of our blessed hope, the return of Christ and the fact that God, after all, is in control of human history.
CONCLUSION
Today I am talking about that glorious day when Jesus will come back to call His followers up in the clouds to meet Him. This will be the most important meeting that will have ever taken place. Everyone will want to attend, but I believe that many will be fooled on that day. They will expect to be among the first taken, but they will remain after the last one has disappeared. These men and women are among those going to the house of God every Sunday all over this world.
These men and women profess to be Christians and they are very involved in God?s church, but only while they are here.
They are also very involved in the world, and do not want to put away worldly things because everyone they know is involved in them. These people are referred to as the lukewarm. These are the people who make Jesus sick. These are the people who will be spit out of His mouth because they did not care enough about Jesus to walk away from the world and all of its offerings.
Many today live in the blessed hope of Jesus. But there are many others who only think they live in the blessed hope. These are those people who have not surrendered themselves entirely to Christ. In actuality, these people have no hope.
Do you have hope today, or are you just going through the motions? Does your heart yearn to be with Christ, above everything else? If it does, you have hope. If it doesn?t, you had better get right or you will be left.
There are also those who will be left behind on that day who have heard about Christ or who have been misled about Christ. But they have never received and believed in Jesus as their Lord and Savior?
God is affording you an opportunity this morning to get right and to receive that blessed hope. The question is, ?Will you choose to receive it??