2 Peter 3:1-9

The Day of the Lord

Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Saviour through your apostles.

First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgement 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. 9he 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.

Matthew 24:36-44

The Day and the Hour

“No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.

“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

To Be Continued…

We all know the rhythm, don’t we, of a good television series. One episode ends, the immediate problems resolve, the music begins and the credits roll. But that’s, of course, not the end of the story. The characters remain, the story continues, and often the next episode opens up something bigger than we first imagined.

And this is a helpful way to read the beginning of Acts. Luke wrote the first part of his report about Jesus in the Gospel of Luke, and we heard the ending of that as our first reading. And we might think, well, there we go, that’s the story done. Jesus has done his work. The credits roll.

But Acts opens by saying these amazing words: that actually Luke’s first book, the Gospel, was all about what Jesus began to do and teach. Acts shows us what Jesus then continues to do and to teach, no longer visibly in Galilee and in Jerusalem, but invisibly and powerfully from heaven, by his Spirit, through his witnesses, the apostles.

So Acts is not really the story of Peter and Paul and Barnabas and all the others, or even of the early church. At the deepest level, the book of Acts that we’re going to be studying in our sermon series for the next few weeks is the story of the ascended Lord Jesus continuing his mission by the Holy Spirit through ordinary people who bear witness to him.

So three things to think about this evening.

The continuing Christ.

Verse 1 of Acts 1 says, “all that Jesus began to do and teach.” And that’s amazing, isn’t it? Because it shows the earthly ministry of Jesus was only the beginning.

The ascension that we’re celebrating this evening doesn’t mean that Jesus has gone away into retirement, as it were. It means he’s gone to the throne. He’s continuing his work, orchestrating salvation, but from heaven. So really, Acts is not the Acts of the Apostles in the strictest sense. It’s a bit of a misnomer. It’s the acts of the ascended Christ through his apostles.

Imagine watching the opening episode of a great drama. The first episode introduces the characters, the conflict, the promise, the mission. And then, just as it ends, the words appear: “To be continued.” And that’s what Luke is doing. Acts is that continuation.

This matters for church and ministry even today. It shows us that we’re not caretakers of religious memory. We’re not kind of museum custodians. We serve the living, reigning Christ, who still speaks through his word.

Jesus began to do and teach amazing things in his life on earth. And that didn’t finish with the last chapter of Acts. It continues even today. Jesus still does his work through his church: in the preaching of the word, in gathering sinners, in building up our faith and in changing lives.

So when we pray, when we share the gospel with others, when we welcome people into church, when we study the Bible together, we’re not trying to keep a dying institution alive. We’re participating in the continuing mission of Jesus.

The confused commissionees.

That’s people who’ve been commissioned. That’s a real word, but it’s alliterative.

In verse 6, they say to Jesus,

“Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom of Israel?”

And if you’ve been following Jesus’ mission, that should be a facepalm moment. You should be thinking, “Oh, disciples, have you really still not understood? Do you really still think that Jesus’ mission was about restoring the kingdom of Israel as a kind of military power against the Romans? Oh gosh, come on.” But actually, it’s not a stupid question, because the Old Testament really did promise restoration. Jesus really is the King. But the disciples still don’t fully grasp what his mission is all about.

And that shows us the missing piece is the Holy Spirit. Jesus had told them to wait for the promise of the Father. It shows they don’t merely need more information. They had more than enough knowledge. What they needed was illumination. They needed the Spirit to open their eyes and to fit them for the task.

It’s like a problem I increasingly have with long-sightedness. Is anybody else here long-sighted? These glasses will get increasingly thick as I get older, basically, which means my eyes will look all huge. So when I pick up a book without my glasses, I can see that there is writing on the page, but I can’t actually understand the specifics of what it’s about, because it’s all a big blur.

In the same way, the disciples knew that there is a kingdom of God, but they needed the glasses of the Spirit to enable them properly to understand its actual meaning. And it’s the same for us today. That’s humbling for us, because it shows we can be religious but still misunderstand Jesus’ mission, because it’s a blur. We’re not using the Holy Spirit to understand what the Bible says about him.

The disciples needed the Spirit not merely to make them bold, although they did need that, but to make their understanding clear. So our churches must not be driven by nostalgia or habit or institutional survival. We need to keep asking: what is the risen Jesus actually doing? What mission has he given us? What would it mean to be led by his Spirit rather than by our own assumptions? We need to make sure that we’re putting on the glasses of the Spirit when we read the Bible, when we think about the world around us, and praying that he would do that for us and for others. Because Jesus continues his mission by his Spirit, and that shows we mustn’t assume we naturally understand what he’s doing. We’ve got to depend on the Spirit to realign our vision with his kingdom.

The worldwide witnesses.

In verse 8, Jesus says,

“You will be my witnesses.”

And Jesus doesn’t answer their question, “Are you going to restore the kingdom?”, by giving them a date. He says it’s not for them to know exactly when that’s going to happen. But what they will know is that they’re about to receive power from on high through the Holy Spirit.

Don’t worry about the coming back of the kingdom, but do worry about this: your job is now to witness to me, beginning in Jerusalem, spreading out throughout the Mediterranean, and then, wonderfully, at the end of Acts it culminates in Paul preparing himself to go to Rome itself, the heart of imperial power, to witness to the emperor himself about Jesus. And notice what the disciples are witnesses to. They’re not witnesses to values, as if “try harder to be good” is Jesus’ central message. No, they’re witnesses to his person: Jesus’ life, Jesus’ death, his resurrection, his reign, his mercy, his salvation.

So think for a second what it means to be a witness in court. The witness isn’t there to entertain, to speculate, to impress. A witness is just there to say, “This is what I’ve seen. This is what I know. This is the truth I have to tell.” And as the church, we’re meant to be in the witness box, testifying to the world, not to look impressive but to be faithful in telling the truth about Jesus. And that gives us the shape of Christian ministry. We’re not called to be successful or popular or respectable or busy or useful. We’re called to be witnesses first and foremost.

That means church life must keep moving outward: from worship to witness, from fellowship together to mission, from receiving the gospel to speaking the gospel to others.

So this new series through Acts will encourage us to keep asking: how does the ascended Jesus bear witness to himself through his people today? How is he calling us to join in that here and now? And so the ascension is not Jesus leaving the mission behind. It’s Jesus taking the throne from which the mission goes forward.

And Acts begins with three great truths.