Skeptics and Sinners, Beware!, Part 2

Today on Insight for Living from Chuck Swindoll. The question would come from the mind of a young Christian, how do I go through a time when I am under attack?

How do I keep my equilibrium? How does a preacher keep from fighting back? Growing up, it's helpful to have a big brother or sister. When a bully tries to intimidate you, your sibling can step in and take over. Well, in like fashion, when someone mocks us because of our Christian values, we have something far better than a big brother. Today on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindoll is teaching from 2 Peter chapter 3. In this passage, the apostle warns us that following Jesus means we will attract bullies.

Even so, we are not without defense. And one day, God will set the record straight. Have you ever been the brunt of someone's scoffing, or to use the word from scripture, someone's deliberate persecution? As long as there have been saints on the earth, there have been scoffers to attack the faith of the saints. I don't mean mild disagreement where all of us enter into that kind of uneasy feeling when we know someone may be talking about us behind our backs or feeling a certain way about us because they disagree. I'm talking about bold and blatant and brash mocking, overt public rejection. Second Peter chapter 3, we find the scoffers being the object of attention in Peter's writings. Because you see, the problem with this promise that I have been emphasizing, you begin to get the idea that they are going to win. That those who mock and those who scoff continue on and those who choose not to defend themselves wind up on the short end of the stick.

That isn't fair. And the good news tucked away in 2 Peter 3 is that God has a plan and in the final analysis, the scoffers will be silenced, the persecution will stop, and the sinners will be judged. In God's final timetable, he will work it out right.

Justice will be due. Now believers who walk with God need some reassurance and that's the way the third chapter begins in Peter's second letter. This is now, beloved, the second letter I'm writing to you in which I'm stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder. That you should remember the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles. Now what does that have to do with what I've just been saying?

Everything. The question would come from the mind of a young Christian, how do I go through a time when I am under attack? How do I keep my equilibrium? How does a preacher keep from fighting back? How does a prophet of God keep from rolling up his sleeves and losing his own perspective as he gets involved in the personal skirmishes of a few mockers and scoffers? And I'll be honest with you, these are the very things I have found that work the best. First of all, he remembers the words from God.

Look at how he puts it. I'm stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder that you should, see this is counsel on what we ought to do, you should remember the words spoken beforehand. There is something incredibly reassuring, calming, and encouraging about the timeless truths of God's book. The next time you are the brunt of someone's attack, whether verbal or otherwise, and the flack gets heavy and the mocking gets ugly, you will find that when you turn to the word of God, there is counsel of reassurance. So remember what God has written. In fact, I sometimes say to people, you ought to put together your own little personal notebook where you include some of your favorite verses of comfort and promises that bring a calm reassurance.

Because when the attack occurs, your mind tends to go blank and you look through all of the scriptures and nothing seems to speak because you're in such turmoil. But if you have put together your own promise notebook, or your own series of 3x5 cards on which you've written verses that bring comfort and encouragement, you can turn to that right away. We should, according to verse 2, remember the words spoken beforehand. You see, these words have outlasted time. They have gone all the way through all the eras I've just described and they're still true. The second thing that brings comfort is to remember who spoke them. See how he puts it? Remember the words spoken beforehand by holy prophets, the Lord and Savior, and your apostles. Isn't it the truth? When you turn to words that have stood the test of time that were claimed by and written by prophets, Jesus himself, and the apostles, you are reading time-tested words of encouragement and of reassurance. Nothing else has such power.

There's no theory there. Mark Twain once said, war talk by men who have been in a war is always interesting. Whereas moon talk by a poet who has not been on the moon is likely to be dull. When you read the words of the prophets, of the Savior, and of the apostles, you're reading words from those who have been at war. And they know whereof they speak and they have the right to write. And the Spirit of God has preserved through time the words of men who have been there.

Not one of them is dull. You may recall when the Lord was tempted by the tempter, he answered each time with scripture, it is written, it is written, it is written. There is nothing to flush out your nervous system. There is nothing like calming your spirit with God's word. So let's understand that is a major part of the therapy of going on through a time of persecution. Now, he addresses sober warnings to the ungodly in verses three through seven. Before everyone gets the idea that the game plan is that scoffing and mocking will go on forever, Peter steps forward and sets the record straight.

God will one day put an end to all of that nonsense. In fact, let me show you sort of an interesting outline. This isn't from anybody else.

I just sort of saw this myself. In verses three and four, he presents something to know about the present. In verses five and six, there is something to remember from the past. And verse seven, there's something to count on in the future.

First, something to know about the present. Know this first of all, that in the last days, that's the day, the time in which we are now living, mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts and saying, where is the promise of his coming? Forever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.

Let's stop there. In the days in which we live, called here the last days, you have the assurance from God's own word, there will be mockers. Now, let me encourage you, just in case you're thin-skinned, you've not yet developed a hide like a rhinoceros, just in case you tend to get a little bit sidetracked, discouraged, demoralized by the attacks of the scoffers, one of the things you can be sure of is that we are experiencing exactly what God told us would happen. And that also tells us we're in such days as the last days. And the scoffers will come and they will attack the thought that Jesus is coming again. I mean, it seems like they can sort of sit quietly and endure us when we're on various subjects, but when we get on the subject of Christ coming back, that sort of brings them out from under the rocks.

You get on something supernatural and they just can't take it any longer. And they say, according to this, where is the promise of his coming? Look, ever since the beginning of time, all things continue just as they were from the beginning. This is called the theory of uniformitarianism, which is there is an unbroken continuity of existence according to natural laws, which nullifies the possibility of interruption. Since the beginning of time, there has been this continuous movement, this constancy in existence, and nothing has interrupted it. How can you believe there will come some kind of return of Christ who will interrupt the events of this earth?

I mean, give me a break. And they stand against the thought that Christ will indeed step into time and break up the events of life. Now, Peter gives an answer. And he says, there is something to remember from the past that they deliberately forget. Verse 5, when they maintain this, when the scoffers claim this theory of uniformitarianism, when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God, the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and by water, through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water. Now, Peter goes back to the past and he says, the main problem with the theory of uniformitarianism is that it's just a theory.

In fact, the Greek word translated that it escapes their notice suggests a deliberate and willful ignoring. They deliberately and they willfully ignore that God interrupted time in the past, when he brought a universal flood. And this old world that was moving along at a fairly good clip, seemingly unchanged and unchanging, suddenly went through a cataclysm that was devastating. In fact, the way he puts it, the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water, meaning humanity and life on it as it was then known. The flood changed everything, changed the whole geological structure, changed the ability to date the earth. The flood brought about such a cataclysmic change in its arrival and in its devastation that the earth never could be considered the same as it was in the beginning. You see, it deliberately, they deliberately ignore the fact that the flood came in time past.

Now, the point is obvious. Since he did that in the past, then there is something about the future we need to remember. Verse 7, but the present heavens and the earth by his word are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and the destruction of ungodly men. Just as the Lord interrupted the events of this earth with the flood in the days past, so he will interrupt in the future with what is called, and we'll look at it next time, the day of the Lord, verse 10, which will come like a thief in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and there will be such an intense heat, the earth and its works will be burnt up.

Somebody put it this way, I thought this was a good way to say it. God is simply holding the earth on layaway. It is being stored up like a treasure for fire and kept guarded or held for judgment. Peter mentions this day of God, this day of judgment earlier, chapter 2 and verse 9.

Just go back a page, look at this. Then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment, which is to be compared to the day of the Lord over in verse 10 of chapter 3. The point is this, God intervened catastrophically before with water and since that is true, he will do so again with fire and in that final intervention, just as he promised, he will remove from this earth all that looks familiar to us and all of the works will be burnt up. All these days of waiting notwithstanding, all the mockery and jokes notwithstanding, in spite of how brilliant and sincere and logical the intelligentsia of the earth may be, God will have his way. In the end, God wins. And it's great to know you're on the winning side. There's nothing like that to bring comfort. You know when I'm glad that that's true? When we have an earthquake.

That is when I'm glad. I have on my desk a gift my sister gave me, which is a little globe and when you turn it on, it hangs in space. Literally, you can take a piece of paper and you can run the paper above the little globe and you can run the paper underneath the globe and there it sits in space. I don't know how it does it.

A lot of you folks know how those things work, not me. I just enjoy the globe. Every once in a while I sort of spin it and people come in and I say, look, and boy, they just, wow, magic.

Yes, I have a lot of powers like that people don't know about. But my whole point is this, there's nothing like that little globe to tell me we're having a little earth tremor. And this past week, that thing jitterbugged all over my desk. And I just thought I am his and he is mine. If we go, we go. That old earth shaking around and I shake along with it and you and I have no control. I always think at that time, I'd love to interview one of those so-called brilliant people who tell me in a sense they're in charge or they've got it all put together.

At those insecure moments, you just hold on tight. And if you're like me, you're so grateful that you've come to know the one who has all things under his control and has hung this earth in space and spins it perfectly in its orbit and on its axis. And he knows precisely when there will be one major bonfire that will with a whoosh take it all away. And at that moment, just as those who denied the flood and stood outside the ark and pounded on the door to get in. So one day, the scoffers and the mockers and the sinners beware, will feel the intense heat from which they cannot escape. And it will be eternally too late. Now it doesn't take a person with an enormous IQ to figure out a final reminder about God's judgment. It is coming. Prepare for it now. I need to go back to my earthquake illustration.

Isn't it funny how when you get a little 5.6, 5.7, 5.8, how you think, I should have that earthquake kit. Where is the, where do you turn the gas off? I see. Here? No, that's a water heater.

There? No, that's not it. That's a faucet. And you go through all this stuff at the time it happens, which is dumb because it's too late. And what this book, what these verses are all about, it has to do with earth destruction preparation.

This is a kit. And it says you don't have to buy anything, you don't have to go somewhere like some physical mecca, you don't have to learn a language or get some kind of education to prepare for that moment. What you need is a solid and absolute and indestructible faith in the Lord Jesus Christ because judgment is coming. The mocker will have his day in time but in eternity there will be no such animal. It will all be over. Persecution will end. Mistreatment will be gone.

All scoffing will cease. Are you absolutely sure you're ready? The question is not is it coming, the question is are you ready for it?

How many times will some of you need to be asked that before you finally say yes, I'm ready. I'm not nearly as concerned about your earthquake preparedness, though I am concerned a bit about that. I'm not nearly as concerned as I am about your eternity preparedness. When the big one comes, we'll all be gone. But when the final judgment comes, we'll all live through it. We all have eternal life.

Don't think just the Christians have eternal life. You'll live forever. But the question is where?

Where will you live? A very haunting, serious question. This isn't moon talk by a poet that's never been there. This is truth under the direction of the Holy Spirit and the remarkable thing is that Peter who wrote this letter is there now. Someday we will join him or someday we will experience the judgment of God.

I'd like us to bow together. I'd like to challenge you to turn your heart toward Jesus Christ himself and to give him your life. He that believes on the Son has everlasting life. He that believes not the Son will not see that life, but the wrath of God abides on him.

As many as received him, to them he gave the authority to become children of God, and to them who believe on his name. Take him now. Believe in him now. Prepare now. Leave the ranks of the mockers and the scoffers. There's no future there. You have only a few moments of glory and laughter, but it's an eternity of weeping and gnashing of teeth.

It isn't worth it. Our Father, I pray that you will take the truth as it has been set forth and use it in each one of our lives, speaking directly to us in areas of greatest need. Take away the doubt, our Father, that has kept some away from you and from your Son. Calm the spirit of those who have sought to find reasons not to believe, and give them a convincing, confident faith that brings them from death to life. I pray that you will do that, and until you do that, you will keep them in a state of turmoil and unrest until such a time as they believe, like a child, and take you at your word. I ask this in the wonderful and precious name of Jesus Christ.

Amen. When you're prepared to dig deeper into 2 Peter on your own, keep in mind that Insight for Living offers a wide variety of study tools. These helpful resources come from the wellspring of Chuck's personal study and preaching, spanning six decades of personal ministry. Today, let me draw your attention to the commentary that Chuck wrote that covers 2 Peter. In fact, the book includes his commentary on James and 1 Peter as well. It's called Swindoll's Living Insights New Testament Commentary. In one volume, you gain access to Chuck's best thoughts on these books. To purchase a copy of Chuck's commentary on James, 1 and 2 Peter, go online to insight.org slash store. Well many are asking if we have audio messages for this study on 2 Peter.

The answer to your question is yes, we have all 10 programs in stock right now. The teaching series is called Conquering Through Conflict. By purchasing the complete set, you're able to listen to Chuck's teaching at your own pace, and you can pass along these messages to friends and family as well.

To purchase the entire set, give us a call. If you're listening in the United States, you can call 800-772-8888. Well, Insight for Living is a nonprofit ministry fully supported by grateful listeners like you. We invite you to join in our mission to reach North America with this daily Bible teaching program, and in fact, to make disciples for Jesus Christ in all 195 countries of the world. You can partner with us in this mission by giving us a call. If you're listening in the United States, call 800-772-8888, or you can give online at insight.org. I'm Bill Meyer. Join us when Chuck Swindoll describes what Peter called the Day of the Lord. That's our topic next time on Insight for Living. The preceding message, Skeptics and Sinners Beware, was copyrighted in 1990 and 2011, and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2011 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.