12/7/25 2 Peter 3:8-15 “It’s Party Time!”

03 Dec 12/7/25 2 Peter 3:8-15 “It’s Party Time!”

12/7/25    2 Peter 3:8-15    “It’s Party Time!”

This is a great time of year, Advent.  One of the problems we might have with our organized Christian walk is that we have to observe Advent now, then Epiphany and then Lent and so on.  What we should be teaching is to observe these things all year round.  Here is what I mean.  Advent is the season of preparation for the coming birth of Jesus that we celebrate on Christmas.  We should be preparing all the time because Jesus is coming again and not just in this season.  It is ok to have different readings and songs for this season but our hearts need to be in the state of preparation all the time.  With that said, I’m going to try to incorporate the message of hope that we normally would have found in last Sunday’s sermon, with the message of preparation that is the theme of this Sunday’s Advent reading.  I do this because many times the Thanksgiving weekend service is one of the least attended of the year.  This way some people don’t have to feel that they have missed much.  I think that we can do this in the reading we have from 2 Peter.  This is a tough reading but let’s see if we can find the hope and preparation in it.

As I was preparing this service, I came across 6 theories that people have so they know that the world will end as gathered by Jeff Strite.  In 2028 a huge asteroid will come close to the earth and if it hit, which they say it won’t, the dust from the impact would all but destroy the world.  Others feel that a worldwide pandemic or deadly disease will destroy us.  It will be something that make Ebola seem rather minor.  Others feel that solar storms could do us in.  These happen every 11 years and sometimes they have caused lots of damage.  Of course the bandwagon to jump on today is global warming.  They say greenhouse gases will build up enough to affect our ability to grow food and breathe which in turn could cause a pandemic.  Then of course we are always on the verge of nuclear war.  We all know the devastating effects that could have on everyone.  I might also add worldwide food shortages, water shortages and different ways that computers might do us in.  However, I save the best one for last which is that the world will be destroyed by Zombies.  What more can I say?  You might be thinking that this is a rather gloomy way to begin an Advent sermon and you might be right.  However, I would like to say that none of these things are right.  Our world will be done in by the Day of the Lord.  God has it all planned out and as Christians we shouldn’t have to jump on any of these various bandwagons because God will take care of His people.  I feel bad for the people who don’t know Jesus and those who just think they are saved.

Now before we get to the heart of the matter, I would just like to spend a couple of moments on how time flies for God.  It has always been my belief that for God there is no time.  He is above time or outside the realms of time and this is one of the passages that prove it.  Here is what I mean.  Suppose that this flat line or surface indicates time.  We are here.  Last week is here and next week is over here.  We are all in this surface at this certain time and place.  We are here and now.  But God is outside of now, yesterday and tomorrow.  He invented time so we would have references but He is not in time Himself.  We can see this when God tells us that He will be right back.  He will be but not on our timetable but His which could be hundreds of years or it might be in 10 minutes.

The second part of this is found in verse 9 where we think that God might be slow or even late.  But we can see here that it is impossible for God to be slow or fast or late or early.  He can’t be these things because He is, once again, outside the realm of time.  And of course the reason for this is that He wants to be able to save all people.  He wants to save the person who you absolutely hate.  He wants to save the person who is on the other side of the world.  By being outside of time, He can do this.  He can wait and watch.  Now some of this is just my theory but it sort of fits with the facts we get from the Bible.  We will probably find out when we get there that it is totally different but it kind of works for me.  So, we have God outside of time who controls all things.  He wants everyone to come to know Him.

Then we have verse 10 here that tells us that God will destroy everything in His perfect time.  Therefore, we don’t have to worry about nuclear bombs or zombies.  Don’t get me wrong on this point.  We have nothing to worry about but those who don’t believe in Jesus have everything to worry about.  We have the promise of heaven and the others don’t.  Just as a little sidebar here, if your life is filled with worry, then try to make Jesus a bigger part of your life.  Your total faith in Him will lead you to less worry.

One of the problems in this country and maybe in the world is that we don’t really believe in these promises from God.  We don’t really believe in heaven because for the most part we certainly don’t believe in hell.  I’m not talking about us but those who kind of believe or don’t believe at all.  I know this from the nonchalant attitude we have about the devil.  I have been told over and over again how a loving God would never send us to a place like this and of course He doesn’t.  We send ourselves to this terrible place.  And we all know that as wonderful as we think that heaven will be, we are certain that it will be far, far better.  The same thing goes for hell.  For the most part we don’t even think that it will be such a bad place but I’m here to tell you that if you use your wildest imagination about thinking how terrible this place will be, the fact is that it will be far, far worse.  It will be worse beyond our imagination.  Just keep this in mind as we go into the world trying to win people for Jesus Christ.  If we don’t really believe in hell, then there is no urgency to believe in heaven.

Now let’s get down to business.  The first thing that we have to do, according to verse 11, is that we are to live our lives as if we are devoted to God.  These ancient people were no different from us.  They had to make a living, pay the rent, buy groceries, make car payments.  They were a little more devoted to Jesus than we are in that they were very faithful about their worship.  They took a day of Sabbath seriously.

If you are here today, then you are probably taking a day of Sabbath and that is good.  It certainly is not what most people do in this country.  But I think that Peter is talking about something else here.  It is a little deeper and much more rewarding.  We live in the faith and hope that Jesus is perfectly right in all that He tells us.  Yet we have a hard time to be devoted to Him.  If we are going to be in preparation for His coming or our coming to Him, then we need to be devoted and here is what you can do.

This may involve an overhaul of your thinking system.  When you are out doing the mundane things in life, think about how Jesus would do them.  Remember that He was human just like you are and had to face all of the things you have to face today.  So here is a little tip on how to have devotion to Jesus.  The next time you are out in the field or on the job and having a bunch of trouble, remember that Jesus didn’t have a tractor or a car.  Everything they did was by hand.  You have been truly blest.  The next time your schedule is almost beyond reason, remember that Jesus had to walk every place He went.  He purposely delayed His arrival after the death of Lazarus and everything turned out better than ever.  Every time you are involved in anything, think about how Jesus would have had to handle things.  No matter what you do, I think you will find that you have been truly and richly blest.

By thinking of these things that you are doing in terms of Jesus, you will soon have Jesus on your mind all the time.  When Jesus is always on your mind, you can begin to pray continuously.  You are praying to Jesus every time you even think about Jesus.  When you begin to pray continuously, you will see differences in your life.  You will see good differences, the best differences.  Ok?

Now the next thing we are called to do in this passage is to look forward expecting that the things that Jesus talks about will happen.  Much of this stuff was pretty farfetched for our ancient comrades.  However, they had the luxury of having eye witnesses in their midst.  Peter was one of the original disciples.  He saw these things happen and reported them to all he saw.  These people knew this was all true.

In our world today it is a little different.  I recently read an article about Adam and Eve and evolution.  Please remember that it doesn’t matter to me if you believe in evolution but just remember that you might be wrong because I am right!  Anyway they supposedly now have proof that Adam and Eve weren’t the first humans but came from a population of about 10,000 similar humans.  I think that the obvious question to this is ‘who were the first humans of this 10,000 people population?’  I would say that science is off by 9,998 people.  Sometimes these experts crack me up!

The point is that we need to have some sort of proof for everything.  Proof is just fine for most things but it doesn’t mean anything for faith.  If you live in the faith that Jesus is who He said He is, then you don’t have to worry about science to back you up.  You know you are right and you can live in this assurance.  That is how I know that evolution is wrong.  Personally, I don’t really care what they come up with for proof of Jesus.  I know for a fact that He exists and that everything He said and did is true.

And this leads me to know that what Peter is telling us is true.  The world will be destroyed but not you and me.  As a matter of fact I look forward to that day when many of my friends and relatives will be able to quit suffering in this world.  Don’t get me wrong here.  I will try my best to have as many people as possible come to believe in Jesus.  That is my job and your job while we are still here.  And in God’s understanding of time that we just talked about, He wants everyone to end up with Him in heaven so He is giving us many, many chances.  But when the time comes for me to end in this world or that this world will end with the promise of a new world, I will be rejoicing all the way to Jesus.  I love Him and can’t wait to get there.  I just have these few things left to do here.  But I try to look forward with joyous expectancy.

And finally we are to live in Christian character.  This is similar to devotion but Peter is talking a little differently in verse 14.  He tells us to make every effort to be spotless, blameless and at peace with God.  In other words we are to try our very hardest to keep our character spotless.  This means that you are the same here on Sunday morning as you are when things go wrong on Wed. afternoon.  We get this all confused when we behave our best on Sunday morning when we think others are watching.  There aren’t many non-believers watching here but there are a pile of them watching you on Wednesday afternoon.

The other thing I’m going to mention here is to be blameless.  This has everything to do with your reputation.  This goes hand in hand with your character.  Peter repeats this in a different way because it is so important that you have a good reputation if we are going to be winning people to Jesus Christ.  If this hasn’t been working well for you then let me suggest that you go before Jesus and confess all the sins and bad things in your life and start new.  If you are a Christian I suggest you do this also.  This is the way to starting or building your character and reputation.  People will listen to you if you clean up your life a bit.  Here’s where this is going.

Have you ever been to a party and it just didn’t turn our very nice.  So after an hour or so you decide to head back home.  As you open the door at home you find all your friends there giving you a party.  And it is a grand party with all your favorite foods and drinks.  It is probably the best party you have ever attended and it is for you.  Well the same holds true for us in life.  We are attending a party in this world that really isn’t that good.  If you don’t believe me, then look at the newspaper tomorrow or watch any or all the news channels on TV.  However, this world should mean nothing to us.  When we get to heaven, we will be at the real party, the best party that there has ever been and it will be for you.  Everything in heaven will be for you.  That will be a glorious day for you and for all of us.

However, there could be many people who don’t get to this party unless you show them the way in this world.  If you are of good reputation, character and you know exactly where you are going, the people will listen.  They will listen and want what you have.  Share your joy with everyone.  Jesus wants everyone to join Him in heaven and He is waiting on His time.  He does this because of the love He has for you.  He wants you and loves you.  Thank you, Jesus, for first loving us.  Let’s pray.