Remember His Coming

Trevor S Ferguson

June 22, 2013

Today we reflect on the word of God from the second epistle of the Apostle Peter, focusing on 2nd Peter 1:10-12 and 3:3-7. 

In chapter one (verse 10), Peter reminds us that we must “make our calling and election sure”.  Here Peter is admonishing the church that we must grow in God, by adding Christian characteristics such as faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness and charity (i.e. love). Lack of these characteristics leaves us in a position where we are far from God and to a state of forgetfulness with regards to the work of Christ, which had cleansed us from our past sins. Peter therefore writes: Wherefore …, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Peter further writes in verse 16: For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. This verse emphasizes that message of the gospel and of the coming of the Lord is real. It is not a made up story! It is not a deception to keep people in subjection! It is not an opiate, to calm our discomfort in this present life. This gospel which we preach is based upon the Bible, which is the word of God. 

Peter further tells us that the scripture comes to us through "holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost". To this we can attest, being recipients, ourselves, of the baptism of the Holy Ghost. We can declare to all that the baptism of the Holy Ghost is a real experience, whereby the Spirit of God comes to dwell in our hearts, causing us to speak in languages we have never learned and producing the fruit of the Spirit in us. We have seen the power of God manifested in healings and deliverance, and in the miracle of transformed lives. We therefore testify, without a shred of doubt, that God is real, the Holy Ghost is real and the second coming of Christ is real!

The world however is filled with scoffers. Many today, as they were in Peter’s day, are asking: Where is the promise of his coming? They argue that for many years they have heard that Jesus is coming but to date have seen no evidence of his return. They argue that things have remained the same throughout the ages and will continue on, in the same way, for the indefinite future. They deny the words of Jesus Christ himself and the evidence from previously fulfilled scripture. They deliberately forget past judgments and the fact that the prophets accurately predicted the first coming of Christ. Let’s look at these briefly.

The bible reminds us in the book of Genesis that there was a great flood which destroyed the whole earth except for Noah and his family who were protected in the ark. We note that this judgment occurred in a period in which there was wanton sinfulness and disregard for the things of God, just as the situation is today. We note also that before the flood, God provided a way of escape in that he gave Noah the instructions to build the ark. Today the church is that ark of refuge! Thirdly, we note that Noah preached for a hundred and twenty years but few gave heed to his message. We are committed today to preach, whether or not men will hear!Fourthly, all those who failed to heed Noah’s warnings perished in the flood. Listen to the chilling account in Genesis 7:21-23: 

Every living thing that moved on the earth perished - birds, livestock, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all mankind. Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died.  Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; men and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds of the air were wiped from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark.

This should serve as a warning to us all. Do not ignore the words of the prophets! Jesus himself reminds us Matthew 24:37-39: 

As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.

  

Let us turn now to the first coming of Christ. The first promise of a Messiah was given way back, from time of the fall, when God declared in Genesis 3:15, that the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent. Thousands of years passed then God renewed his promise through Abraham, when he declared that through his seed all the nations of the earth should be blessed.It took another 2000 years or so, for this promise to be fulfilled in with the birth Jesus Christ. During this time we trace the seed through Isaac then Jacob, then Judah. We then see the Messiah being promised as the seed of David.

The prophets spoke of his birth:

Micah identified the city as Bethlehem, the city of David. (But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting). 

Isaiah prophesied that he would be born of a virgin; he then saw him in governmental authority in Isaiah 9:6 (For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.). 

In Isaiah 53, he saw him as the suffering servant. (Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.).  

Zechariah also saw his crucifixion as he declared in Zechariah 12:10 – “they shall look upon me whom they have pierced”.

Note that all these prophecies were given over 500 years before Christ was born! But when the fullness of time was come, Galatians 4:4 tell us that God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem those who are under the law. Despite the length of time from the first promise to its fulfillment, God did ‘come true’ on the promised redeemer. Similarly, despite the years that have elapsed since the promise of Christ’s return, he will return!

Peter reminds us that one day with the Lord is like a thousand and years and a thousand years as one day! God dwells in eternity and therefore is not limited by our concept of time. Be not dismayed with regards to the apparent delay in Christ’s return. Again Peter reminds us that God is not slack concerning his promises, but is longsuffering, i.e. patient, with us. He does not desire that any should perish but rather that all should come to repentance. He further reminds us that :  

"… the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. …  Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless."

The word of God today reminds us that Jesus is coming back for his church and that he will cast judgment on the ungodly. Let us therefore live everyday in the readiness that if he comes today we will be ready to go with him. If you are not yet saved today is a good day to do so. Accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, through repentance, water baptism in the name of Jesus Christ and the infilling of the Holy Ghost. God bless you!