Sermon for Last Judgment – Sunday November 10, 2019
Calvary/Marquette ● Soli Deo Gloria

Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from…Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, 6 and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 7 Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen. (Revelation 1:4–7, NKJV)

2 Peter 3:10-18

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. 11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

14 Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; 15 and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, 16 as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.

17 You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; 18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.

In the name of Jesus, the Christ,
On whom our faith and hope rests,
Dear Fellow Redeemed in His Blood –

The Earth is DOOMED…so certain high-profile politicians tell us. It’s true, the earth that now exists will be destroyed…but it won’t be because of man-made climate change.
The end of the earth will come as a result of an act of God, not an act of nature. Moreover, it isn’t just the earth that will be destroyed but the entire universe and all created things. Even as the earth known to Adam and Noah was destroyed by flood waters; so also, the earth that we know is preserved and reserved for destruction by fire (cf. 2 Peter 3:5-7).

Very Big Changes are Coming. These changes aren’t millions of years in the future when our Sun’s fuel is used up and the earth becomes too cold to support human life. While we don’t know exactly when these things will occur, we do know that they will occur suddenly and for many unexpectedly.

How do we know? Well, in the Word of God before us this morning, God the Holy Spirit tells us how this world will come to an end. The cataclysmic day is called ‘The Day of the Lord’ and the ‘Day of God’ because God Himself will make the changes to the Creation. This is not merely the forecast of a human being, but the Word of God Himself, who does not lie. God tells us these things and so we take them seriously and ask ourselves, “How should these coming changes affect us, our conduct, our attitude, our hope, our watching and our growth? We find the answers in this Scripture.

May God the Holy Spirit chase our fears of the Day of God and lead us instead to live sober and godly lives, preparing our hearts through His Word. Let us begin with prayer.

Lord Jesus, no one knows the hour of your return, so I ask that you keep me always watchful and ready for that Day. Lead me daily to repent of my sins and live for you by faithfully serving my neighbor, speaking to Him of your completed work on Calvary. As the signs of the end continue to intensify, take away my fear and let me lift up my head in joyful confidence and anticipation, for my redemption is close at hand. Wake me from spiritual slumber and apathy so that I no longer indulge the sinful deeds of darkness but cloth myself with you and your armor of light. Come quickly, Lord Jesus. Amen.

+++++++

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.

It’s easy to slip into the habit of thinking that the world in which we live will go on forever. After all, in our lifetimes we’ve watched people come and go and yet the earth keeps spinning and seems hardly to change at all. We may think, ‘The earth will be around long after I am gone.’

God’s Word doesn’t teach us that the earth will go on forever. On the contrary, God tells us that he has established a day (Acts 17:31) upon which He will take the earth and the universe down. After all, God is primarily concerned with humankind, with people, not with the earth itself. This earth has been corrupted by sin and subjected to futility (cf. Romans 8:19-22).

The Day of the LORD will come. People may mock the idea, but the Day will come and for many it will come as Jesus said (Matthew 24:29, 42-44), like a thief does in the night, suddenly and unexpectedly.

 The Heavens – everything above us as far as it goes – will pass away, come to an end with a great noise or sound. The ordered structure of the universe will come apart, will be dismantled. The word used to describe the noise is used of the sound of an arrow passing through the air, of the rumbling of thunder, of the crackle of flame or the crack of a whip and the rushing of great waters.

The Prophet Isaiah wrote (34:4):
“All the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll; All their host shall fall down As the leaf falls from the vine, And as fruit falling from a fig tree.”

 The Earth and everything in it – will melt and be burned up. The things that make up the earth will be dissolved by burning and all of the mighty works of mankind will perish by fire. The form of this world will pass away (1 Corinthians 7:31). It sounds terrifying, until we remember that we will not be destroyed with it, but will witness these things from a safe distance, having been caught up to meet the LORD.

The Holy Spirit revealed to the Thessalonian Christians why we need not fear (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17):

“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. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.”

This isn’t told us to frighten us, but to help us to see clearly how foolish it is to place our hopes and hearts upon the things of this world, which are destined to pass away.

OK, so now what? What difference does it make to know that Jesus will suddenly appear and the universe and the earth will pass away? What affect should this have on our daily lives…on our attitudes toward this life?

 It’s one thing to be blindsided by the Day of the LORD. When Jesus appears suddenly and unexpectedly, people’s lives will be interrupted and changed. They will have to face the fact that Jesus is Lord.

 It’s another thing to know it’s coming. We don’t know the day or hour (Matthew 25:13) but we expect it to take place, we anticipate the Coming of Christ. It will be sudden, but not unexpected. It won’t be like a thief for us, but like a loving brother suddenly bursting through the door with open arms to scoop us up and embrace us.

11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?

When we expect visitors for the holidays, we prepare…right? We vacuum the carpet. We clean the kitchen and bathrooms. We make the beds our visitors will sleep in. We plan to provide them food and drink. We might even dust!

We expect the Lord Jesus to return, and so we prepare for Him. We make every effort to turn from sin and live holy and godly lives to glorify the Savior who lived for us, died for us and rose again. We don’t live Holy Lives in order to earn or win a place in the father’s house…the reservation has already been made and our names are on the door; God’s grace has seen to that. While we wait, we strive to be about the business that He has given us. We tell others the good news that Jesus’ life is their life; Jesus death delivers them; Jesus’ resurrection is the receipt of the debt paid. This is the work that has been given to us.

How do we ‘hasten’ or ‘speed’ the Day of the Lord? Well, we can’t, actually. The LORD Himself has set (Acts 17:31; Matthew 24:36, Mark 13:32) the Day of Judgment, and it isn’t dependent upon us. It may seem – from our point of view – that we can hurry it’s coming by being about the work given to us by Jesus, of proclaiming the Good News in all the world, because Jesus said (Matthew 24:14):

14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.

In this case, the word translated ‘hasten’ can also be simply translated: ‘to desire earnestly the coming day of God.’

14 Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; 15 and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation

We prepare for that Day by making every effort to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless. It isn’t just that we don’t want to be distracted by the things of this world; we don’t want to be distracted by sin, be caught in it and become impenitent.

We want to be prepared when the Savior suddenly appears. How are we prepared…by being good? This isn’t like that brand of ‘moralism’ that some parents use to get their children to be ‘good’ during the Christmas Season. This isn’t like trying to ‘be good for goodness sake’ so that an imaginary obese man might bring us good gifts. It doesn’t work that way with God…and it’s a good thing. If we had to be good to be forgiven and given a place in heaven…well we would never be or be given a place.

We are at peace with God through faith in Christ. We are without spot and blameless through faith in Jesus, for God’s Word declares that we are justified, ‘declared not guilty’ through faith. If we remain united to Christ by faith we will be found without spot and blameless…because Jesus’ perfect life is credited to us.

But there are times when we become impatient, like children in the back seat asking every 10 minutes, “Are we there yet?” Instead of being impatient or doubting because of the passage of time, let’s remember that God’s patience is the reason that we ourselves have been saved. If God had simply condemned our first parents, if God had simply condemned us the first time we sinned, it would be up.

The fact that Jesus hasn’t returned testifies to his patience, and the desire of God that many more should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. Jesus’ patience and mercy means salvation for us and for other people. Let’s not waste time, but talk about our Savior whenever we have opportunity.

If we are to be prepared for the big changes to come, then we must continue in God’s Word

as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, 16 as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.

17 You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; 18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.

The Apostle Peter considered the Apostle Paul a fellow worker, even though he had not been a disciple of Jesus. Peter recognized that the words that Paul wrote in his epistles (letters) were given to him by the Holy Spirit. While there were some things difficult to understand, they were to be received and used.

It wasn’t just that they were to use them, they were to be on guard and see to it that those words were not misused and twisted, lest they fall from faith in Jesus and lose their hold on eternal life. We should carefully use the Scriptures and know them well because not every preacher preaches truth. Not every evangelist proclaims the Gospel of Jesus. Not everyone who calls you friend is a friend. Satan uses the error of the wicked to try and topple Christ’s People. If we are to be prepared, we need to recognize this fact, and not assume that every Christian and every Lutheran speaks the truth.

Finally, the Day of the Lord won’t only mean that the heavens (universe) and the earth will be dismantled. There will be a new dwelling place for God’s People, as it is here written:

13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
Our universe will be rebuilt, re-created. It will be the home of righteousness. There will be no more sin, evil, violence, war, cruelty or crime. The voice of weeping will no longer be heard, nor the sound of crying. God will dwell with us and we will see Him as He really is. This isn’t pie in the sky, for it is written (Revelation 21:3-5, 1 John 3:2):

“Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.”

There are big changes coming…. God be praised!
God help us to prepare for it every day!
Amen!