Jump Start # 1817

2 Peter 3:3 “Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, ‘where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.’”

One of the hymns we sing, begins with, “Troublesome times are here, filling men’s hearts with fear…” This is nothing new. This is the very thought behind Peter’s words. Trouble is coming. Be ready. Don’t be shocked. It does us well to give some thought to these words.

First, Peter says, “Mockers will come.” That alone bothers us. We want God to stop the mockers. Peter says that they will come. This is nothing more than another attack by Satan upon God’s people. Revelation 12 ends with the sober words that the dragon went to wage war against those who hold the testimony of Jesus. So mockers will come. They come in many sizes and in many colors. Some are nothing more than college professors who think that their studies have given them the answers to all things in life. Religion, and specifically, Christianity in it’s purest form, has no place in the thinking man’s world. They will use every opportunity to criticize, blast, and mock followers of Christ. Mockers come in the form of the Hollywood elite. They, too, think that they have great insight into all matters of life. Their words, they feel, need to be heard more than any one else. Mockers are found within our families. The internet is packed full of mockers. They come.

Second, the mockers come with their mocking. That seems to be an odd way of stating that. It seems redundant. Mockers certainly are not going to spread the truth. Mockers are not going to praise all things good and right. They mock because they are mockers. Peter is letting the brethren know these things. Don’t be shocked. Don’t be surprised at the ridiculous, inaccurate, and even dumb things that people state. Mockers and their mocking will come.

Third, what they say is not right. Their view of history is distorted and wrong. They claim that nothing has changed since creation. Everything has remained the same. Always has been and always will be. They look to the past and falsely assume that’s proof that things will always be the same in the future. Even in their observable world they should know better. Trees die. Rivers change courses. Volcanoes erupt. Landslides change the shape of hills and valleys. Things have not always been the same. Peter reminds them of the flood. He says “it escapes their notice.” Maybe. Maybe they don’t want to believe. By the word of the Lord God created. By the word of the Lord, the floods came and changed the world. And by that same word of the Lord, the present world will be destroyed by fire. The proof is in God’s word.

Because things have always been a certain way in the past does not mean that they will always be that way in the future. The source and the proof of their mocking was what they could see with their eyes. Their vision was tainted. They were not seeing things clearly. They had forgotten the word of the Lord.

What Peter does here is to answer their inaccurate claims. What they said simply isn’t so. They were wrong. Peter gives proof. His proof is with the word of God. That word, never changes.

Don’t be afraid when someone challenges and mocks what you believe. Like the mockers in Peter’s day, what they say is not true. God’s word is always right.

Fourth, Peter then uses this occasion to address believers. He said that “it escaped the notice” of the mockers, but later he writes, “do not let this one fact escape your notice…” Don’t be like the mockers. Don’t forget what God said. We stand with mockers when we allow reason and our limited observations to conquer what God’s word says. Stand with God and His word. We know because God said.

People like to blow smoke. They say a bunch of stuff without proof. The shallow in faith crumble at such things. Those that stand upon the word of God can see right through it. There is nothing to their claims. Most times, mockers are inconsistent, lacking proof and thriving at being loud and repeating old charges that pokes holes in people’s faith.

There are two things this section brings together for the believer.

First, know that mockers will come.

Second, know the word of God. Do not let this one fact escape your notice, Peter says.

So, this again reminds us that we need to have the word of God in us. Not only will it build our faith, but it will fortify us against those that mock. We know what is right. We know where we stand. We know God.

It seems that mockers are miserable. They don’t want faith and they don’t want others to have faith either. They seem to want the world to dwell in the present without any hope, any help and without God. Such a life is sad, without purpose and going no where. Mockers don’t offer a pretty picture. Their world is gloom and doom. Selfishness is the core and goodness won’t survive. The only persuasion of mockers is that the Gospel is wrong so there is no other alternative. There is no attractive nature to the world of mockers. There is no incentive to want to join them. Life isn’t better because of their ways. Life without God is dark and doomed. Death is seen as an pleasant way out of this agony and pain. But they learn too late, that death isn’t the end. They learn that they have believed a lie. They learn that “their gospel” has been false.

God is. God remembers His promises. God is good. God’s timetable is not the same as ours. So things continue on for generations. That does not mean God has forgotten His promises. He never does. These same mockers should have studied the prophets. They should have looked at the promises to Abraham. God kept His word. He always does. Mockers thrive because they don’t know nor understand God’s word. They simply don’t get it and as a result they build a whole system against something that they never understood to begin with.

I know whom I have believed, are the words of Paul. They ought to be our words as well. We stand upon the word of God. Wolves come who appear to be sheep, but they are not. Satan prowls like a lion. Mockers come. None of these things surprise us. None of these things move us. They will come. They will go. God remains!

Roger