"The Entire Universe Will Expire By Fire"
Sermon on 2 Peter 3:7-13
July 25, 1999
Saint Mark's, Watertown, WI
Pastor Karl Walther
Introduction: Setting the Scene for the Final Day
The Bible encourages us with these words: The Lord did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
God's Word, which will continue this summer's consideration of Judgment Day, is Second Peter chapter three, verses seven through thirteen:
• By God's word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
° But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
• But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.
° Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.
• That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.
° But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.
This is the Word of the Lord.
Dear fellow Christians-- approaching the end of the millennium, and anticipating the arrival of this world's final day:
Suppose with me for a moment that Judgment Day takes place this autumn.... Picture that for yourself....
Let's say it's early afternoon on a Wednesday in September. The sun is shining-- but lower in the sky than it does during the summer. There is just a little chill in the air. The leaves are beginning to turn color; some are on the ground-- blown back and forth by the breeze.
You kids, you're out on the playground for recess: chasing each other, or shooting hoops, or playing football-- whatever it is you do. You folks who do your work in your home: you're in your living room, maybe the t.v. or the radio is on in the background, maybe you've got kids or grandkids you're watching. You folks who labor in a factory or in an office: you're working away at whatever it is you do, day by day.
And boom!-- Judgment Day arrives!!! Wherever you are, you look up into the sky, and you see Christ himself! The Scriptures say: Every eye will see him, even those who pierced him. He'll appear suddenly, with absolutely no warning! The Scriptures say: like lightning that comes from the east and is visible even in the west. Clouds and crowds of angels will accompany him! The Scriptures say: The Lord is coming on the clouds of heaven, ...with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones. And we will hear, according to the Bible: a loud command, the voice of the archangel, and the trumpet call of God! -- the Lord dispatching his angels for the great final gathering.
Theme & Applications: The Entire Universe Will Expire By Fire--
So Appreciate, Act, & Anticipate
And then what? Well, God's Word to us today answers: THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE WILL EXPIRE BY FIRE. Let's consider together God's words to that effect, and learn from them three things: (1) to APPRECIATE THE LORD'S PATIENCE, (2) to ACT ACCORDING TO THE LORD'S PRECEPTS, and (3) to ANTICIPATE THE LORD'S PROMISE.
Theme: The Entire Universe Will Expire By Fire
So, the Entire Universe Will Expire By Fire. How do we know? Well, of all the sections of Scripture, it's especially God's Word to us today that emphasizes it-- three times, in fact!
First of all, we read: By God's word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. Those words have God treasuring up the present universe, jealously guarding it, only to burn it down. Why? God's holy hatred for unholy men leads him to ruin them and everything with which they've had contact. And how sure is this? We have God's Word on it.
A little later it gets all the more graphic: But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be burned down.
Can you imagine? With a roar like that of a jet engine passing overhead, the atmosphere and the sun and moon and stars will vanish! The elements -- with their protons, electrons, neutrons, and all the other subatomic particles -- with be ripped apart, down to the point of being destroyed! The entire earth will burn down! Everything -- everything! -- on the earth will flame out!!!
And just to emphasize it a little further, Peter concludes: That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. The fire of God's righteousness and the heat of God's holiness will burn down everything.
Application One: Appreciate the Lord's Patience
Like I said: the Entire Universe Will Expire By Fire! So, what's the application? Well, first of all, Peter says: Appreciate the Lord's Patience! Here's what he writes: Do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
So, why is the Lord taking so long to return? I mean: two or three hundred generations have risen and fallen on this earth without the Lord returning. The apostles and their followers, at least at first, expected an imminent return-- and that was almost two thousand years ago. What's taking the Lord so long? Well, God says two things....
First of all, on his timetable the Lord is not taking long at all-- because to him one thousand years and one day are exactly the same thing. God handles more in a single twenty-four hour period than we could handle in a thousand years. And he understands all the activities of an entire millennium better than we understand a day's activities.
That's the first thing. And secondly, what's taking the Lord so long to return? Well, he's patient. He really doesn't want to singe a single spirit in the fire of his holiness. He wants to give absolutely everybody time to get to know him. The Lord wants to rescue everybody.
And aren't you glad?! I mean: what if the Lord had come before you got to know him? What if the Lord had come before your sins were washed away in his name in holy baptism? What if the Lord had come before you got to know that Christ lived perfectly for you? that Christ died your eternal death for you? that Christ rose to prepare a place for you? Aren't you glad the Lord has delayed long enough for you to get to know him?!
And that's our first application regarding Judgment Day: Appreciate the Lord's Patience.
Application Two: Act According To the Lord's Precepts
How about a second application? The Entire Universe Will Expire By Fire; so: Act According to the Lord's Precepts! Here's what Peter writes: Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. ...Now, one question, first of all: How do we speed the coming of this day of the Lord?
Well, I suppose that's especially through our prayers. God heard it when the Apostle John prayed at the very end of the Bible: Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. And the Lord hears it every time we pray: Hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done. And he weaves these prayers of ours into his plans in order to speed the day of judgment.
We also speed the day of judgment when we spread God's Word. It will be only after every elect soul comes to confide in Christ that the end can come. And it's our job as Christians to reach those folks-- which then has the effect of speeding Christ's coming.
But now back to Peter's chief point. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? -- You ought to live holy and godly lives.... Let me put this as vividly and applicably as I can....
When the day of judgment comes, and Christ appears on the clouds with all his angels and that trumpet sound-- when the moment of judgment comes, I don't want to be shoplifting something off the shelf. When the moment of judgment comes, I don't want to be in bed with someone who is not specifically my wife. On that day I don't want to be drunk. And if it's time for church, I don't want to be sleeping or shopping or fishing or feasting.
Now, don't get me wrong: I'm not saying there's not forgiveness for all those sins. I'm just saying that when Christ returns, I don't want to be doing them. You don't either. That's our second application for Judgment Day: Act According To the Lord's Precepts.
Application Three: Anticipate the Lord's Promise
The Entire Universe Will Expire By Fire. So finally: Anticipate the Lord's Promise! Here's what Peter writes: In keeping with God's promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.
Friends, after this little speck of time we call "earthly life", and after the final great day of judgment, there are a multitude of innumerable mountains of time -- no, more than that: there is everlasting time! -- "eternal life".
In our eternal life, it says here, there will be a new heaven and a new earth. It may be entirely a new creation, or it may be this heaven and this earth, purified by the fire and risen from the ashes-- just like our bodies will be. The original language allows for either.
And Isaiah chapter sixty-five refers to a city and houses and vineyards and animals in this new heavens and new earth. Revelation chapters twenty-one and twenty-two tell us God's glory will be its sunlight. The river of the water of life will flow down the middle of the great street of the eternal city. And the tree of life will yield fruit every month, with its leaves to serve for the healing of nations.
Furthermore, we read right here that this new heaven and new earth will be the home of righteousness. Now think of that.... Forever and ever, righteousness will rule. You will be righteous. I will be righteous.
So, we will all love each other absolutely perfectly. I will never utter a mean word, and I will never have a mean word uttered against me. No more sin! I will never experience an unclean thought, and I will never have any evil thought against me. No more guilt! In contrast, we will all perfectly help each other. We will all perfectly encourage each other. We will all perfectly pull for each other.
And we'll revere the Lord perfectly. We'll worship him with a fuller heart and a mightier voice and a greater emotion than anything we've ever experienced or imagined here.
Conclusion: Setting Further the Scene for the Final Day
That's the story of the final day, on which the entire universe will expire by fire. There is, though, one final event of that last day we still need to consider. So, come back next week and hear from Christ's own mouth the account of nothing less than the Final Judgment itself.... Amen.
The Bible encourages us with these words: May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it. Amen.