How to be ready for Jesus’ second coming: A journey through the Bible.

Hartland Fall Conference 2017: The Divine Right to Rule

<p>How to be ready for Jesus’ second coming: A journey through the Bible.</p>

<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

Hartland Institute of Health and Education

Norbert Restrepo

The Day of the Lord

I'd like to invite you to open your Bibles to 2 Peter chapter 3.

2 Peter chapter 3, and we will turn to verse 10 of 2 Peter chapter 3 and verse 10.

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in 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." The Apostle Peter uses the term, the day of the Lord, throughout this chapter.

He uses other terms as well, the day of his wrath, the day of judgment, referring to the same event.

But it's very interesting that when Paul, when Peter starts this chapter, if we go to the first verse, he is telling the church members that He is remembering them of these things.

So the context of the passage we find in verse 10, pretty much the whole chapter is speaking about the day of the Lord.

So verse 1 says, the second epistle, beloved, this second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance, that ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior." So He is reminding them of what the prophets have said, the prophets of old, and also the apostles have said in relation to what?

It's A fact that in the Old Testament this term is used very frequently, the day of the Lord, and the Apostle Peter was making reference to that term, that reference in the Old Testament of the day of the Lord.

Now the apostle Peter speaks with such certainty of the day of the Lord and of His coming that he even exhorts the believers to look for and hasten for His coming.

Let's go through those passages And look at the emphasis He is giving.

Verse 3, knowing this first that there shall come in the last day scoffers, walking after their own lusts and saying, where is the promise of His coming?

That question, where is the promise of His coming?

For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.

For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water, whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished.

But the heavens and the earth which are now, by the same word, are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

But beloved, be not ignorant of this 1 thing, that 1 day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as 1 day.

The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." And then we come to verse 10, but the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens shall pass away with the great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat.

The earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up." Now, verse 11, he gives even greater emphasis.

"'Seen then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye verses.

And hastening unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens, being on fire, shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat." Now, the Apostle Peter, in the very same sequence of verses mentions, for God 1 day is a thousand years and a thousand years as 1 day.

And he's speaking about his long suffering and the apparent delay which the scoffers are making fun and they're not believing His promise, the promise of His coming.

So we see that the apostle Peter is kind of inferring it could be a long wait.

And we will see even further on why I emphasize that aspect.

But even though Peter is insinuating that it could be a long wait, at the same time he is exhorting them, saying that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God." Looking for and hasting the day of the coming, the coming of the day of God.

I believe the Apostle Peter lived in the expectation of the second coming and the hope of the second coming even though he understood to some extent that it would be not in His days.

We see the urgency and most of us when we think of 2 Peter chapter 3, we're thinking about last day events.

Why would Peter preach about last day events 2, 000 years ago?

When we see the word look, and It's interesting that some of the options that we find in the original definition of the Greek, it gives us several options.

Some of the first 3 options are as follows, to expect, and you have that on the screen, whether in thought, in hope, or in fear, to expect.

Peter was exhorting the believers to live with the expectation of the coming of the day of the Lord.

They were to have that expectation as a constant vision as they lived their lives here on earth.

It's interesting that the Apostle John, and if you turn with me to 1 John, 1 John chapter 3, the Apostle John says the following.

"'Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.

Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

Beloved, now we are the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be.

But we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." Verse 3, and every man that hath this hope in Him purifieth himself even as he is pure.

The Apostle John is emphasizing, is stating that those who have this hope, the hope of His coming, those who have this expectation, it will have an effect on their lives.

It will have a transforming effect on their lives.

Now so we see the perspective of the Apostle Peter, and we see the perspective of the Apostle Paul.

But it's interesting that Peter himself in this chapter refers to the Apostle Paul, and we will get there.

In fact, let me just refer to that now as, and we will do that again as we refer to it in a different context.

But 1 Peter chapter 3, if we go down to, I mean 2 Peter chapter 3, that's where we are at.

And we go towards the end of the chapter and it says in Verse 15, an account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation, even as our beloved brother Paul, also according to the wisdom given unto him, hath written unto you.

He refers to the Apostle Paul in the context of what?

Longsuffering and how is Peter using the term longsuffering in 2 Peter chapter 3?

Longsuffering because He hasn't come yet.

The Lord is not slack concerning His promise.

But He is longsuffering towards us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should proceed towards eternal life.

Keeping that in mind, let's read 2 Timothy 4, verses 7 and 8.

When Paul was about to be beheaded, he knew he was about to die and he had some words to share, very powerful words in 2 Timothy chapter 4 verses 7 and 8.

The apostle Paul said, I have fought the good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.

Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord the righteous judge shall give me at that day, and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing." So the Apostle Paul now gives a different...

Apostle Peter says, those who look for his appearing, let us look and hasten for his coming.

The Apostle John says, every man that hath this hope in himself purifies himself.

And Paul says, every unto them that love his appearing.

And I am suggesting that the Scripture is telling us through these 3 apostles that we need to live in the expectation, we need to live in the hope of His coming, we need to love His appearing, and that experience has a transforming effect in our lives.

And it has a transforming effect in our lives, not because of fear, because fear is an emotion and fear can't last.

You can't live in fear for a hundred years.

Fear is an emotion that wells up, it drives your adrenaline levels up, but then it subsides.

It's not an emotional effect that the apostles are trying to awaken here.

And by the way, as we will see later on, the apostle Paul was clear that the coming of Christ was not immediately in their days, and he wrote about that didn't he?

And he told them that there were some things that had to be fulfilled in prophecy.

So we have an indication that he was clear that the coming of Christ would not be an immediate event.

When the Apostle Peter uses the term, the day of the Lord, he is quoting, as I said before, the Old Testament writers.

So let's turn to our, open our Bibles and look at a few examples of the usage of that term, the day of the Lord in the Old Testament.

And not only that, but it's very explicit in 2 Peter chapter 3 as we read the first verses of Peter's message regarding last day events.

I will refresh those verses here before I turn to Isaiah.

Once again, that ye may be mindful, I'm reading from verse 2, that ye may be mindful of what Of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior." He is reminding us, he's reminding his audience of the words that were spoken of by the prophets.

So let's turn to Isaiah chapter 2 and verse 12, and if we were having a Sabbath school, I would ask you to read some of these verses.

Isaiah chapter 2 and verse 12, And we read in the word of the Lord, it says, For in the Day of the Lord of Hosts shall be upon everyone that is proud and lofty, and upon everyone that is lifted up, and he shall be brought low.

Everyone that is proud and lofty, and upon everyone that is lifted up, and he shall be brought low.

Everyone that is proud and lofty, and upon everyone that is lifted up, and he shall be brought low." Let's look now at Isaiah chapter 13, verses 6 and 9.

And once again we find this term, the Day of the Lord, as we study through this subject.

How will ye, for the Day of the Lord is at hand?

It shall come as a destruction from the Almighty." Verse 9 of the same chapter, chapter 13, 13 Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate, and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.

For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light.

The sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.

And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity, and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and I will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible." And it's interesting that Isaiah chapter 13 is clearly referring to last day events, but at the same time, what is Isaiah 13 referring to?

And when we go to chapter 14, it's the classical chapter that speaks about the fall of Lucifer in heaven.

So it's very encompassing, this prophecy.

It's referring to Lucifer, it's referring to Babylon, and it's referring to Babylon, spiritual Babylon at the end of times.

And let's move forward and go to Isaiah chapter 34, and we will read verse 8 of Isaiah chapter 34.

It says, "'For it is the day of the Lord's vengeance and the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion.

The day of the Lord's vengeance And it refers to the year of recompense for what the controversies of Zion.

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The Day of the Lord

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