The Certainty of the Second Coming, Part 2 B

Do you know why there's the delay? It's not because the Lord is slow about His promise. It's not because He's not keeping His promise. It's not because He's unfaithful to His Word. It's not because He doesn't tell the truth. It's not because He's impotent. It's not because He's indifferent. It's not because He's just busy doing something else.

The reason He's delaying is patience for people to repent. Welcome to Race to You with John MacArthur. I'm your host, Phil Johnson. They say you don't know where you're going if you don't know where you've been. And that's good advice in business and science and definitely for understanding biblical prophecy. Today, John MacArthur is going to help you understand where history has been and where it's going as he takes you back thousands of years to what the Bible foretells about the return of Christ.

Where in the world is history headed? That's the title of John's current study. So take your Bible, if you're able, and follow along as John begins today's message. Turn in your Bible with me, if you will, to 2 Peter chapter 3.

As Peter wrote this epistle, you remember, he was writing it to help believers overcome false teachers and their false doctrine. As he comes to the third and last chapter in the brief letter, he comes to the climax of his discussion of false teachers and that is his argument against their denial of the coming of Christ. Now the text reveals that their argument follows three tracks, three forms.

First, we said, is the argument from ridicule. Then there's the argument from morality. The underlying and compelling argument in their false theology is indicated at the end of verse 3 when it says they really are following after their own lusts. The third argument into which we went with some great detail as the other two is the argument from uniformity.

Verse 4, they say, forever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation. Their argument is this, there will never be some great cataclysmic judgmental event at the end of history because that's not how history works. So you have here an emotional argument, you have a moral argument and then you have an intellectual argument and this is their revisionist history intellectual argument. Now Peter's going to give us several arguments. Argument number 1. Argument number 1 is the argument from Scripture. For this we look at verses 1 and 2. Peter marvelously in this second verse pulls the Old Testament and the New Testament together as Scripture. And his first argument is the argument from Scripture, bearing witness to the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. So while the scoffers may mock, Peter says, go to the Old Testament, go to the New Testament, it's everywhere.

Argument number 2. Peter says the second argument for the second coming is the argument from history. Now hold on to your seats, folks, because you're going to learn some profound and rich things. When they say there will never be a second coming because there has never been any cataclysm, there has never been any catastrophe, everything just goes along as it always has. It escapes their notice. These people who translated this were very kind, very kind. The Greek says, they shut their eyes to the facts.

That's a little different. I love what the Authorized Version, the old King James says, they are willingly ignorant of. It doesn't escape their notice, they shut their eyes to the facts. Don't confuse me with the facts. It is deliberate ignorance, deliberate forgetfulness.

Why? They love their evil. They love their sin. They love their lust. They don't desire truth. They don't desire virtue. So they don't want a judgment and they don't want Christ to return so they develop a system that says He won't and that leads them to evolutionary uniformitarianism.

But you know something? They have to shut their eyes to two great historic cataclysmic events that totally disprove evolution and uniformitarianism. So what are they?

What do they shut their eyes to? First of all, creation...creation. He says, they willingly shut their eyes to the fact that by the Word of God, not by uniformitarian evolution, not because it was a one-celled thing in a puddle somewhere that said, I think I'll be two and off it went, but by the Word of God, the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water. What He is saying is creation was a cataclysmic invasion by God.

Now follow me very carefully. Long ago there were heavens, okay? And these heavens did not exist by evolution. They existed by the Word of God.

See that? God spoke them into existence. They were created by God. And then He makes a fascinating statement. He says, and then after God had created the heavens, He created the earth. And this is how He created it. The earth was formed out of water and by water. Did you know that? Did you know that the earth was formed out of water and by water?

You say, what does that mean? Well, it means that the earth was some kind of a watery chaos at first. So what you had was by the Word of God, heavens.

The Hebrew word is always plural and so Peter uses in the Greek the plural word to fit with the Hebrew which is always plural. So when the heavens existed long ago, spoken into existence by the Word of God, at the same time the earth was formed from some kind of watery mass. Now to understand this, you have to go back to Genesis 1.

Let's go. Genesis 1. And what he says in verse 1 is pretty simple. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Isn't that what Peter just said? He said God spoke the heavens into existence and the earth was formed out of some watery mass. And he even tells us about it. This is really marvelous.

Listen to what he says. He says in the earth, as God began to create it, was at first tohu and bohu, two Hebrew words, formless and empty, a sort of chaotic mass. You say, what was the mass made of? Well, what did Peter say it was made of?

What was it? Water. And it existed in the heavens which is space that was dark. You say, how do you know it was dark? Well, it says, verse 2, darkness was over.

We'll stop there. So here was this formless, shapeless mass of water existing in darkness. All of a sudden God does something.

Look at this, verse 2. And darkness was over the surface of the deep and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. Now we find out two times, this has got surface, surface. It isn't just the watery mass. It got a surface. If it got a surface, it had a shape. God pulled it into a sphere.

So you have gravity, you have shape to the watery mass in verse 2. Then verse 3, God said, let there be light and there was light and all of a sudden there existed light. There weren't any bodies, there weren't any stars, there wasn't any sun, there wasn't any moon, there was just light. And all of the spectrum, all of the rays that go across the whole spectrum of light were created.

All the waves and rays and everything that makes up light. And then He turned to the earth in verse 6. And God said, let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters and let it separate the waters from the waters.

What? God says, I want to do something. I want to take some of the waters in this watery mass and I want to pull them up here and I want to leave some of them down here in this sphere and I want to create an expanse in between the two. So you had the watery mass and then you had an expanse of space and then you had water like a canopy surrounding it, a canopy around the earth. Verse 9, then God said, let the waters below the heavens.

Now what's that? That's the watery mass that's existing in a spherical shape. He says, let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place and let the dry land appear. And dry land is injected into the watery mass and all of a sudden it starts to rise up everywhere and the water gets collected into rivers and lakes and seas and the earth begins to take shape. The lower waters were collected as God spoke land into existence.

There you have it. He took the Tohu and Bohu, gave its shape, pulled some of the water up, surrounded the whole globe with a canopy, left an expanse of space in between the canopy and the surface into the surface of this watery mass. He injected land, moved it into different kinds of altitudes and caused the waters to rush into the great valleys and separated the sea from the land. And you know what He said about it? God said about it, verse 10, it's what? It's good. It was better than good, folks.

God is the master of understatement. It was better than good. It was perfect. Absolutely perfect. Perfect place for man to live. He had a canopy shelter all around the earth which completely blocked the sun's ultraviolet rays. Totally perfect environment. Perfect. And man lived in that world of long ago.

How perfect was it? Read Genesis 5, even after the fall. Not now, please. It's a genealogy.

Boy, you people are obedient. Read it on your own. Go down there and just look at how long everybody lived. The average length of a person's life on that list is 900 years plus, somewhere around 910 years.

Why? Because there was no direct sunlight. The canopy covered the earth. There was no rain, there was no sun, there was a mist that watered the ground, it says, about the Garden of Eden. The waters in this marvelous canopy filtered all the ultraviolet damaging rays of the sun and beautifully watered the earth with dew, a perfect environment and people lived 900 plus years as an average. But even in a perfect environment which had been created by God, not by uniformitarian evolution but by direct act of creation in three days and then the next three populated it all. He filled up the void, the bohu, the emptiness with plants and animals and fish and man.

But even in that perfect environment, man fell into sin and God looked at the world and it isn't very long. He looks at the world in Genesis 6, 5 and He saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth and every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually and He was sorry that He made the whole thing. And He said, I'm going to destroy it. How's He going to destroy it? Well, He's going to use...He's going to use the same thing that He created it from to destroy it.

What is it? Water. And so says Peter, go back now, 2 Peter chapter 3, Peter says this, not only by the Word of God did the heavens exist long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water, but verse 6, through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water, God destroyed the world with the water that surrounded it. Genesis 7-11 says, in the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the same day, all the fountains of the great deep burst open and the floodgates of the sky were opened. The canopy broke up and the earth, the springs and the fountains and the sources of water burst and water came roaring out of the center of the earth and water came torrentially falling from the sky.

Verse 22 of Genesis 7 tells us of all that was on the dry land, all in whose nostrils was the breath of the Spirit of life died. He blotted out every living thing on the face of the land or the earth. It was a worldwide flood because it was a canopy that surrounded the whole globe. Chapter 8 verse 2, the fountains of the deep, the floodgates of the sky at the end were closed when it ended. God used the water below, bursting forth, overrunning its banks. God sent the water from above crashing down upon the earth. Water came from everywhere and this was judgment. The whole world was destroyed. Don't say all things continue as they have from the very beginning.

No, they haven't. We're not into uniformitarian evolution. God created all this in three days, less than actually, and then God in a moment in time destroyed the whole heavens and earth that was. We now live, my friend, in the second heaven and earth.

It's a different system. Nobody lives to be 900 plus or anywhere near that. Three score and ten, the Bible says. So we're in heaven and earth two and we're waiting for what?

New heaven and earth number three. The false teachers and the uniformitarians willingly ignore the flood. If you look at the fossil records today and you look at the strata, it can all be explained by the unbelievable cataclysm of the flood. It is catastrophe that has made our world what it is, not uniformity...not uniformity. If you throw a leaf in your backyard for illustration's sake, how long does it take to become a fossil?

What? It never becomes a fossil. If you throw a leaf in your backyard and someday a massive earthquake comes, your backyard splits and slams back together, you might have a fossil.

Catastrophe, not uniformity, explains fossil records strata. So the false teachers refuse to face the true history. They become revisionist historians.

They make up their own history without divine intervention so they can live like they want to live. Things have not continued as they were. There was devastating total judgment on the whole world and there will be in the future. Look at verse 7.

I have to give you this. The present heavens and earth, that's different than the long ago one. The present heaven and earth are by His word reserved for what? Fire, not water. Remember the rainbow?

What did the rainbow signify? God will never destroy the world again by water. So this time it's being reserved to be destroyed by what? Fire, kept for the judgment, the day of judgment and the destruction of ungodly men. The present world system then is reserved for future judgment and that future judgment will come by the Word of God just as the past judgment came and just as the creation came. God will speak it into existence.

He is the Creator and He is the destroyer. Only the next time He'll do it by fire. It is reserved for fire.

The word reserved treasured up, thesaridzo, from which you get thesaurus, a treasury, stored up. The world is waiting for the destruction of fire. Once water, next time fire. And when you read about the future judgment of the world, when you read about the second coming of Jesus Christ, you very often read about fire, don't you? In Isaiah 13 it says, when the final Babylon is destroyed, it will be destroyed as were Sodom and Gomorrah.

How were they destroyed? By fire and brimstone. But Isaiah, again, who had so much to say about judgment and so much to instruct us says in 66, 15, for behold the Lord will come in fire and His chariots like the whirlwind to render His anger with fury and His rebuke with flames of fire. Isaiah 66, 15, again Malachi 4, 1, fire. Micah 1, 4, fire. Daniel 7, 9 and 10, fire. Matthew 3, 11 and 12, John the Baptist said He's coming and He's coming with fire. Second Thessalonians 1 verses 7 and 8 is so graphic.

Listen to what it says. When Jesus comes, He'll be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire. Next time, fire.

Now we understand how that can happen. The sky isn't full of water anymore, it's full of fireballs, isn't it? It's full of flaming fire, stars, sun. The fire could come from up, down. There's another way the fire could come too and that's through the splitting of the atom. A nuclear holocaust would incinerate the earth and heavens, wouldn't it?

Once a chain reaction begins that splits the atom, it could destroy the whole universe in an unbelievable, undescribable holocaust of fire. The fire could come from beneath. The core of the earth is filled with fire, the temperature of which is 12,400 degrees Fahrenheit and there's a thin 10-mile crust that separates us from it. Every once in a while it belches out and we see what the fire is like, molten lava. By the way, that's hot enough to melt everything. The highest melt point of any metal known is tungsten. It melts at 6,500 degrees. 12,400 will melt anything. So whether it's the fireballs out of the sky or whether it's the unbelievable nuclear reaction that destroys the whole universe or whether it's the belching forth of fire from inside the earth, the earth sits in the midst of fire.

Why? It is kept there, held there for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. Now keep that in mind, that word ungodly, that's nice to see there. When God flooded the world, He spared the godly. How many were there?

Eight. Noah's wife, three sons, their wives. God has a book, Malachi says, and He writes the names of those who belong to Him in it. When He comes in judgment by fire, that's going to be for the ungodly, not for us. So when this whole world goes up in smoke, this whole universe is burned to a crisp.

We're not going to be around. We will be delivered out before the day of the Lord judgment ever hits. That judgment, by the way, will destroy this universe and out of it will be born the new heavens and the new earth.

He mentions them. Look at verse 12 for a moment. He says, the heavens are going to be destroyed by burning.

The elements are going to melt with intense heat and after that we will look for a new heavens and a new earth in which only righteousness dwells. Wow. There's one other argument I need to give you briefly. That's the argument from eternity. We've seen the argument from Scripture, the argument from history. Quickly, the argument from eternity. Verse 8, but do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day.

It's quoting Psalm 90 verse 4. What's He saying? Well, somebody's going around saying, well, I mean, He doesn't come.

Why is He waiting? Peter says, why don't you look at it from God's side? From your viewpoint, it looks like a long time. From His viewpoint, no. What He's saying there is not an attempt for us to calculate the one thousand or the one, but what He is simply saying is an illustration of the fact that God looks at time differently than we do, right? That's the argument from eternity. You can't confine God to your schedule. You say, God, I'm trying to fit it into my day timer, but I don't know where to put it. It's been so long.

Just don't let this one fact escape your notice, beloved. What He is indicating there, some of these Christians have been sucked into the false teacher's approach that God never does anything because He's impotent or indifferent and the delay is so long, maybe He can't act, maybe He won't act and so He says, look, while you're looking at time one way, God is looking at it in a totally different way. For you it's been two thousand years, for God it's been a couple of days. That's all?

That's all? And there's something more in that verse that's so rich and so helpful and so wonderful, but I'll have to show you that when we get into the next section of the passage because that's where it ties in. One last argument, the argument from the character of God. He says, the certainty of the coming of Christ can be argued from Scripture, from history, from eternity's view, and fourthly from the character of God.

This is wonderful. Verse 9, the Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. Do you know why there's the delay? It's not because the Lord is slow about His promise. It's not because He's not keeping His promise. It's not because He's unfaithful to His Word. It's not because He doesn't tell the truth. It's not because He's impotent.

It's not because He's indifferent. It's not because He's just busy doing something else as some men count slowness. That's a sad statement because that means that some Christians apparently were buying the false teachers' lies that God was delaying out of indifference or impotence or unwillingness. Some men might think that, but the reason He's delaying is not impotence and indifference. The reason He's delaying is patience for people to repent.

See that? He's long suffering. Remember 1 Peter 3.20 wrote about the patience of God in the days of Noah. How long did it take Noah to build the boat?

One hundred and twenty years. And the whole time he preached righteousness, God was so patient, so patient. Down in verse 15, see what he says? The patience of our Lord leads to salvation. It's because He doesn't want anyone to perish, but He wants all to come to repentance, that He waits. There's much more to say about that verse and we'll say it next time.

But those are pretty strong arguments, aren't they? To cause us to believe in the certainty of the coming of Christ. God is using His time to express His patience for His grace that people might be saved. That's John MacArthur, pastor, author, and chancellor of the Masters University and Seminary, showing you three compelling reasons Jesus will come again to judge the world, and how you can escape that judgment. John's current study on grace to you is titled, Where in the World is History Headed? Well, friend, I trust that this series is showing you the blessings of studying biblical prophecy, and how knowing that God is in control of the future helps you live with confidence today, even when times are difficult. And along that line, I'd like to recommend a brand new book by John called, Christ Triumphs Over Sin and Death. It unpacks the 70 Weeks Prophecy in Daniel chapter 9, showing you what that portion of scripture reveals about the future earthly rule of Jesus Christ.

Once you pick this book up, you'll have a hard time putting it down. Christ Triumphs Over Sin and Death is streamlined and readable, and yet it gives serious attention to detail. To order your copy of Christ Triumphs Over Sin and Death, or to order several for a small group Bible study, call us or go online today. You can call us at 855-GRACE or you can go to GTY.org.

The price is reasonable and shipping is free. This would make a great gift for someone you know who struggles with worry about the future. Again, to order Christ Triumphs Over Sin and Death, call 855-GRACE or shop online at our website GTY.org. And if you want to dive even deeper into the subject of biblical prophecy, I'd encourage you to go to our website GTY.org. There you'll find blog articles, daily devotionals, and more than 3,600 of John's sermons available to download in MP3 and transcript format, all free of charge.

Simply search the term prophecy and dive into all of the free content available to you. Our website one more time, GTY.org. Now for John McArthur, I'm Phil Johnson. Thanks for being here today. Join us again tomorrow as John looks at the incredible patience of God and shows you why that patience is, frankly, the only reason we're still here today. John will continue to answer the question, where in the world is history headed, with another half hour of unleashing God's truth, one verse at a time, on Grace to You.