I SHALL RETURN
Text: 2 Peter 3:3-10
INTRODUCTION
1. Most of us remember the famous statement by General Douglas Macarthur when defeated in the Philippines, "I shall return"
2. In some ways people have made a parallel between Macarthur and Jesus Christ
a. Jesus came here and will return, so in that manner the parallel is accurate, but there is where it stops
b. Macarthur’s return was prompted by his failure to accomplish his mission the first time and need to return to complete it
c. Jesus was successful in accomplishing His task the first time (John 19:30) and will return as a reward or punishment for us on earth awaiting Him
3. Some would say that Jesus failed in His first attempt and that His second coming would be to establish the kingdom on earth that He was unable to set up the first time
4. With the creative and destructive power of the universe at His fingertips to have failed He would have to be an idiot and I am not able to call the God of the universe an idiot
5. His return will end the world and not begin a reign
6. Three things to look at regarding the return of Christ
a. Time before His return
b. Time during His return
c. Time after His return
7. When we see just how the Bible describes the return of Jesus we will see that the timing and resources for an earthly reign will be gone
TRANSITION: First though notice:
I. The time before His return
A. Some will mock
1. Where is your Lord’s return?
2. Things keep on ticking and life keeps on happening, since the beginning of time nothing has happened
3. If your Lord is coming, where is He?
4. The continued progression of the earth will cause some to doubt the Lord’s coming
B. Noah probably had this problem
1. He preached for 100 years of the earth’s destruction
a. Destruction by God had never taken place
b. Rain had never fallen, much less a catastrophic flood to destroy all of man
c. People probably stood with their hands out asking, "Where’s this water from the sky you warned about Noah?"
2. Psalm 119:90-91, "Your faithfulness endures to all generations; you established the earth, and it abides. 91 They continue this day according to Your ordinances, For all are Your servants"
a. All the elements that the mockers mock continue do so because of God’s control
b. The reason the moon follows the sun is God
c. The reason day follows night every day for a week is God
d. The progression from day to night to week to month to season to year to decade to century to millennium is because of God
3. Those who stand in judgment of God based on this progression do so to their own peril
a. They wish to see all these things end to prove them wrong
b. But God controls all of these things and keeps them going for the safety of those people
c. He delays His coming based on compassion for those who are lost to give them an opportunity to be saved
d. He does not want anyone to perish but all to come to repentance so He waits, but His waiting will end
TRANSITION: So let’s look at:
II. Time during His return
A. These events will have fire, trumpets and shouts
1. 1 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. And the dead in Christ will rise first"
2. The day of the Lord will begin with the trumpet and shout of the voice of the archangel
a. Maybe as marching orders to the angels
b. Maybe as instructions to people
c. But definitely an unmistakable event and spectacle will unfold before us
B. Fire is reserved for the earth during this
1. 2 Peter 3:7, "But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men"
2. 2 Peter 3:10, "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up"
a. On the day of the Lord’s return the earth will be burned up at the elemental level
b. Where will be the location for an earthly throne and 1000 year reign on earth?
c. How can Jesus accomplish establishing an earthly kingdom, which was supposedly His failure the first time, if there is no earth to reign?
d. Colossians 1:13, "He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love"
e. His kingdom is alive and strong today in the form of His church over which He is head and king
C. Events of the Lord’s day will involve the Lord’s return and the resurrection of man
1. The Lord will come down from heaven toward earth
a. He will not set foot on earth again though
b. We will rise up to meet Him in the clouds (1 Ths. 4:17)
c. If He never comes physically to earth again how will He then reign on a physical throne, on an earth that does not exist?
2. The dead will rise from their tombs
3. Those alive will be changed (1 Cor. 15:52) and then caught up together with them and meet with Jesus in the clouds
D. At this point we will be separated
1. Matthew 25:31-33, "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left"
2. The sheep will be divided to the right for eternal reward in heaven
3. The goats to the left to eternal punishment in hell
4. Where are the multiple raptures required for premillennialsim?
5. This is a one shot deal
E. Events of the Lord’s return will be swift and decisive, they will also be final
TRANSITION: These events will be swift, but what will be included in:
III. Time following
A. The scene in Matthew 25 gives some insight
1. Some were placed on the right, the sheep
2. Some on the left, the goats
3. There were none in the middle
a. You cannot ride the fence on this one
b. You must decide now which side of eternity to be on
c. If you fail to decide you are making a decision against Christ
B. There will be no time to change your mind
1. 1 Corinthians 15:50-52, "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. 51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed-- 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed"
2. There will not be time to renew, repent, or be baptized once the Lord is on His way
a. As quick as you can blink your eye it will all be over
b. Three classes of people
c. All right, here He comes, I knew it!
d. Oh no, those Christians were right and I am in trouble!
e. Just 5 more minutes and I can be ready
f. But those 5 minutes will not be there, time will end and eternity will begin and you cannot change your destiny once that happens
C. Then will come the final judgment
1. Coming back to earth is not a possibility, it has been destroyed with fire and is no more
2. There are only two options according to John 5:28-29, "Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice 29 and come forth--those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation"
3. Judgment leads us to eternal destiny
a. The goats, those outside of the grace of Christ, Hell
b. The sheep, those in Christ, Heaven
4. Your choices now determine on which side of eternity you will end
CONCLUSION
1. Jesus did not fail when He came to the earth
a. If He wanted an earthly kingdom it would have been
b. But He wanted us to be delivered to His spiritual kingdom through obedience
2. The time before His return will be filled with scoffers and mockers who stand in judgment of their savior and the one who patiently awaits their repentance
3. When that time runs out the time of His return will swift and decisive, all people who ever lived will be transformed and gathered in the twinkling of an eye and separated to the right and left of the judge Jesus Christ
4. Following that judgment some will rest forever in the glory of God while most suffer indescribable horrors for the same eternity
5. The great thing is that you can decide how your eternity is spent
6. The terrifying thing is that you must choose before the thief returns to claim His own
