“Living In The Last Days”
(II Peter 3:10-12)
I. Introduction.
A. Among the things made clear in the Bible, is that Christ is
coming again. Jesus, Himself, promised this, and New
Testament writers repeatedly confirmed this.
1. John 14:3: “. . . if I go and prepare a place for you,
I will come again and receive you to Myself; . . .”
2. Acts 1:10-11: “And while they [the apostles]
looked steadfastly toward heaven as He [Jesus]
went up, behold, two men stood by them in white
apparel, who also said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you
stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who
was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in
like manner as you saw Him go into heaven’”.
3. I Thessalonians 4:16: “For the Lord Himself will
descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of
an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. . .”
4. Revelation 1:7-8: “Behold, He is coming with
clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who
pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will
mourn because of Him. Even so. Amen. ‘I am the
Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,’
says the Lord, ‘who is and was and who is to come,
the Almighty.’”
B. The fact of Christ’s certain return, or our certain death
before that moment of time, has a bearing on our daily
living. We are all on “death row”; one way or another we
are all “living in the last days.” So, Peter says: “. . . what
manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and
godliness.” (verse 11).
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1. As always, people have to speak in terms they are
familiar with. So Peter does in these verses. He
presents the New Testament doctrine of the Second
Coming of Christ, but describes it in terms of the
Old Testament concept of the “Day of the Lord.”
2. This idea runs all through the prophetic books of
Old Testament. All existence is divided into two
periods: “this present age” and, “the age to come.”
The Jews saw the change from the first to the
second as happening only by the direct action and
intervention of God. The time of this transition,
they called “The Day of the Lord.”
a. It was to come suddenly and without
warning. It was a time of complete change –
the world itself would be shaken to its
foundations.
b. It was to be a time of judgment and, for
sinners, a time of terror.
3. Peter, by inspiration, takes this Old Testament idea
of change and, now, applies it to the New
Testament doctrine of the “Parousia”
(pah-roo-SEE-ah) – of Christ’s return, and the end
of the physical world.
C. A day comes when every life must end. When that day
comes, we must be prepared. This preparation involves
attitudes and actions, and this becomes Peter’s emphasis
as he talks about Christ’s return.
1. “Living in the Last Days” means living with the end
in view, either the end of our lives or the end of the
world.
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2. “Living in the Last Days” means showing an
attitude of responsibility, of alertness, and of
confident hope. It means taking our discipleship
seriously: I Peter 4:7-10 READ.
II. “Last Days Living.”
A. The fact that the “end” will come should challenge us to
serve – not to abandon service. It should challenge us to
maintain a closer relationship to God – not separate
ourselves from Him and His love. It should challenge us to
be responsible people.
1. What motivates responsible discipleship? Peter’s
answer: love (I Peter 4:8; RE-READ).
2. Responsible discipleship may begin out of a
sense of duty and obligation. But, it should
progress to a sense of love – love for what has
happened to us (salvation by grace) and love for
what has been done for us (Christ – our substitute
in death.)
3. Responsible discipleship is love in action.
4. In another scripture, Paul gives us, in one brief
phrase, the goal of responsible discipleship:
II Corinthians 5:9 – “Therefore we make it our
aim, . . . to be well pleasing to Him [God].”).
5. In that same letter of II Corinthians, Paul also
writes of the basic motivation for responsible
discipleship – (READ II Corinthians 5:14-15).
a. The “love of Christ”, which now directs
Paul’s life and work, is the reason for
discipleship and the purpose for his life.
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b. Christ showed the ultimate in love and
responsibility by dying for everyone
(verse 15: “. . . He died for all, . . .”.
Responsible disciples, “. . .live no longer
for themselves, but for Him who died for
them and rose again.”
B. Beyond responsibility, the second attitude is one of
“alertness.”
1. Today, there is a real emphasis on “alertness” in this
nation. We are very conscious of the reality of a
potential terrorist attack.
2. In our homes we maintain fire-alarm systems and
security-alarm systems to guard against surprise,
being taken unaware. We watch, and listen, to
weather reports to keep up with potentially
dangerous storms.
3. We’re good at being alert to these dangers. But, are
we alert to what really matters?
a. Jesus once chastised some people for this
very thing: He told the Pharisees and
Sadducees they were good at reading the
“signs” of physical change, but could not, or
would not, see the sign of spiritual change
He represented.
b. Our alertness about spiritual matters must be
as acute as our alertness regarding matters of
the world.
4. The second coming of Christ, or our own physical
death, means we must be alert to these realities.
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a. READ I Thessalonians 5:1-6.
b. Alertness is not anxiety - it’s not concern
out of control. Rather, its expectant and
hopeful (e.g. plea of early Christians
“MARANTHA” – which means “Our Lord
comes”, or simply “Come!” (I Cor. 16:22:
“O Lord, come!”).
5. Discipleship requires us to be “on alert” – as part of
an active force in the world. There are no
“associate memberships” in the Lord’s church. All
disciples are on “active duty” for Christ and His
Cause.
6. Being on alert means recognizing the truth of what
God’s Word tells us about Christ’s return.
(Illust.)
Albert Speer, the Minister of Armaments in Nazi
Germany, writes in his memoirs about the
atmosphere of the “Fuhrerbunker” in Berlin in the
last days of World War II. Above ground, the city
lay in total ruin. The Russian and Allied armies had
pounded the Third Reich into submission and were
about to complete its defeat and conquest. But,
below ground, in the bunkers, a fantasy atmosphere
prevailed. Hitler poured over maps and made
decisions about the movement of armies that no
longer existed, and counterstrikes by air forces long
since destroyed or made ineffective. He raved of
“super weapons” that would win the war for
Germany, and that the Allies would fight one
another, or the Western Powers join with him to
turn on Russia. Speer found such irrationality both
amazing and disgusting.
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7. What the Bible teaches us about Christ’s return
doesn’t permit us to live in a theological
fantasyland. Being alert means knowing what’s
going on “outside the bunker” and seeing things
clearly, not through the fog of peoples’
speculations and theories.
C. In addition to our attitudes of responsibility and alertness,
we must have an attitude of confident hope.
1. A Christian need not await Christ’s return, nor his
or her own death, with fear. In either case, the
spiritually-secure soul experiences gain, not loss.
2. There are three (3) things the end of physical life
doesn’t do to the Christian:
a. It doesn’t threaten a Christian’s interests.
b. It doesn’t destroy a Christian’s purpose
(go back to II Corinthians 5:9: “Therefore,
we make it our aim, whether present or
absent, to be well pleasing to [God]”).
c. It doesn’t take away a Christian’s reward.
3. For every disciple who’s been saddened by the
injustices of life, puzzled by the successes of evil,
disheartened by the difficulties of living
righteously, shed tears of frustration at suffering or
tears of mourning at death, there is one great hope
and comfort.
4. Christ’s return means a vindication of right – the
end of tears and sorrow – a release from decay and
death. We, too, might say “MARANTHA”, “Lord,
come.”
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III. Conclusion.
A. How do you see Christianity? Is it a spiritual obstacle
course with God as a hard, demanding “drill instructor”
who’s aim is to eliminate as “many “recruits” as he can?
B. Just the opposite is true: God wants us to make it! He
wants us to be spiritually secure and to live forever.
1. The hope of the Bible is not wishful thinking.
Rather, it’s certainty and expectation.
(I Peter 1:3-4: “Blessed be the God and Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ who, according to His
abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living
hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from
the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and
undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in
heaven for you.”).
2. One who is spiritually prepared, alert, confident can
handle the present and anticipate the future.
C. When the Lord returns, or when we die, becomes an
academic question. Because we’re ready, watching, and
waiting.