Well I'm thinking a lot about time. We're very time conscious on Sunday mornings, whether you know it or not I think a lot about time. Let me read something to you that puts in perspective, if you will To realize the value of one year Ask a student who has failed a final exam To realize the value of one month Ask a mother who's given birth to a premature baby To realize the value of one week Ask an editor of a weekly newspaper To realize the value of one minute Ask a person who has missed the train the bus or the airplane To realize the value of one millisecond Ask the person who won the silver medal in the Olympics Reading from second Peter chapter three verses one through ten again this week It's a passage we began looking at last week The reason I'm talking about time here is that Peter realizes his time is short We know that he died not long after writing these words and these words of the last recorded Words thoughts communicates we have from the great leader of the early church Peter says my time is short. I got to make my words count Read with me from verse one of second Peter chapter three Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you I've written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to hold some thinking I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our lord and savior 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 delusional and destroyed By the same 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 earth and everything in it will be laid bare We pray with me Father once again, we're looking into the word of God some of these things are very deep and very mysterious and we ask Your guidance and your light into our hearts and our minds so we can understand And some of these things are so screamingly obvious we couldn't possibly miss it Father, we ask your grace encourage not to duck this message And lord above all as we look into these words when we pray That you would help us see the word the living word of God Jesus. I pray in his name Amen Well, I'm gonna give just a bit of review for those of you who were here last week for those you who weren't Should have been here. It's probably the greatest message ever preached and you just really missed it But I will give you just to Whoa, are you guys here? Are you with me this morning? I was kidding, okay I'm gonna have to review the whole thing here, aren't I just a quick review of what we did last week and hopefully you'll Wake up and track with me Peter says he knows his time is short He's got to make his words count and he says enough with dealing with false teachers. It's what he was doing a lot of in chapter two So enough dealing with the false teachers. Let me get back to Instructing and exhorting and encouraging Christians. I read a preacher said one time I'd rather spend my time planting seeds than pulling weeds Well, if you're a farmer you got to do both I can tell you planting seeds is a whole lot more fun So let's look at the seeds that that Peter's planted here the words that he gives first as a word recognition He says I've written both of them my letters as reminders to stimulate you to hold some thinking We spent a lot of time in this last week I'll only just review enough to say the the word in the Greek language that Peter used here is de anoya De anoya it means all your mental faculties Thinking yes and memory and analysis and understanding and feeling and imagination and even desire all your mental faculties Peter says bring them on in Bring them into the sanctuary Bring them into the Christian life the Christian life is big enough to engage into challenge all your mental faculties It demands them all Jesus said you're to love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul and with all your mind You know we sang it just a little while ago and I do I do I love that song I love the old hymn when I survey and I love the the fusion that we have with it in the wonders cross love so amazing so divine Demands my soul my life my all Thanks have nurses Jesus demands greater allegiance and any dictator that ever lived the difference is Jesus deserves it Peter says remember recall recognize that my words are consistent with the words of the prophets They're consistent with the words of the other apostles They're consistent with the words of Jesus the living word Recognize and understand the unity and the continuity of the revelation of God In verse three says first of all you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come scoffing and following their own evil desires Are these the last days? Yes, they are the last days They are the last days not because what's going on in the Middle East Ladies and gentlemen, we've been in the last days ever since those Shepherds outside of Jerusalem witnessed that angelic spectacle done then that under them was born this day in the city of David of Savior a Messiah Christ the Lord we've been in the last days ever since then we will be in the last days from that first coming of Christ Until that second coming of Christ These are indeed the last days. It's time short. Well, yes, it's short It's gotten shorter by the second as we've been here this morning Well, whether Jesus comes tonight Some as they can he could come back before this sermon is over there. That'd be all right with me Well, it comes back tonight this morning tomorrow. He comes for each of us Time is shorter than we want to imagine scoffers will come in the last days Peter says scoffing and following their own evil desires Here's the news building for you dogs bark cats me out Donkeys braay and scoffers scoff It's what they do It's in their nature They don't bring anything positive themselves They don't bring anything to the party, but they'll criticize what you bring They add nothing positive whatsoever to the message to the mean they don't bring anything to the body of Christ They just make fun of what you offer So so Peter says first of all recognize the message recognize the unity of And continue my message and recognize those who scoff and hold it up to ridicule And they said there's order prediction I told you last week that great American theologian yogi berra says Stuff to make predictions especially about the future as a word here of prediction They will say Peter says verse four. Where's this coming? He promised Ever since our fathers died everything goes on as it has since the beginning of beginning of creation I want you to know I understand that mindset. I do We tend to take it for granted yesterday will be like today today will be like tomorrow We tend to take it for granted very few people ever wake up on any day of their lives and say you know Today this this could be this could be a day that'll change The course of my life in fact This could be a day that would change the course of history whoever does that December 7th 1941 Dawn another beautiful sunny day On the island of a Wahoo People got up that Sunday morning went about their business They had no idea that within a couple of hours There'd be 2400 dead American military and civilians Another 1200 wounded it's just another day How could they have known that was going to be the day that would change the course of their lives And would be the day that the United States would be plunged in exorably in the World War II And our involvement would change the course of history Just another day September 11th 2001 Beautiful day in the northeast beautiful sunny fall day 3000 people got up that morning New York City Washington DC Boston a few other places Went about their business driving to work Getting on airplanes Putting on their firefighter gear and their police uniforms just another day Had no idea they had no way to know But that would be the day that their mortal lives would end and their eternal lives would begin. I hope they're ready I hope they're ready December 26th 2004 all over the Southeastern quadrant of the world and the Indonesians Sri Lanka Thailand Bangladesh Malaysia Six other countries people got up went about their business just another day Just another day they had no way of knowing But that very day that the earth's tectonic plates would shift under the Indian Ocean Send a wall of water crashing into their shores Killing 240,000 people in those 11 countries I hope they were ready I hope they were ready just another day turn out to be the day that would change the course of their lives And the course of history One day we'll get up. Don't think that's me guys. We'll get up just another day Ready to go about our business and that will be the day that either as an individual Or maybe four thousand maybe millions possibly billions That'll be the day The Jesus will call and it will change the course of our lives It's changed the course of our eternal lives I hope we're ready. I hope you're ready. I hope you're ready time I hope you get another hundred years But you don't know if you get your next breath. I hope you'll be ready They will say first for where's this coming you 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 we talked about this a little bit last week But Peter's message basically is learn a lesson from Noah Learn a lesson from what happened in the days of Noah Noah's contemporaries they thought he was crazy to the scoffer scoffed and the mockers mocked What are you doing? Building a great big boat and in the middle of nowhere Noah They mocked and they scoffed right up until the time the rain started to fall
And then they wished they scoffed less and mocked less And then more to get ready Noah a Peter says learn a lesson from Noah. God doesn't bluff folks He doesn't bluff. He warns of judgment so he won't have to execute judgment God does intervene on behalf of his people not always not as soon as we'd like sometimes But he does intervene he did it in the days of Noah and he gave them the sign of the rainbow He's done it for us and given us the reality of the cross of Christ But there's an interesting phrase here they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens existed And the earth is formed. It's not just that they're getting a little little doll little old Oh, yeah, I forgot in the beginning. God created the heavens. I forgot all about that Now this isn't getting old and forgetful This is an intentional willful deliberate suppression an outright denial Of the sovereignty of God they deliberately forget The knowledge of God There's a there's a passage in Romans one The shines light on this Romans one versus 18 through 20 fossil Paul writes this The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth By their wickedness. This is deliberate Willful intentional suppression and denial of the truth of God and Paul goes on to say since what may be known about God is Plain to them Because God has made it plain to them For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities his eternal power and divine nature Have been clearly seen being understood from what has been made So that men are without excuse I mentioned to you last week a book I picked up so I'm going to interview with a man by the name of dr. Francis Collins And in all honesty, I bought the book to read just getting ready for this passage So I just want to take again remind those of you who are here last week and awake You know who you are and those of you who weren't here. Let me just tell you who dr. Francis Collins is He's the head of the human genome project They're the ones who have mapped the entire DNA sequence 3 billion letters long the entire DNA map of what makes us human as opposed to other animals It's one of the greatest scientific achievements of all time and dr. Francis Collins is the head of that project Kind of a slacker graduate from the University of Virginia and then got his PhD in physical chemistry at Yale by the time he was 22 went on to Medical school University of North Carolina It was while he was in medical school Treating a lot of poor or people older people with Serious debilitating devastating illnesses and he was struck Dr. Collins had become an agnostic at this point the word agnostic means I don't know enough to know Whether it's a god or not. I'm not saying I do believe. I'm not saying. I don't I simply don't know enough To know whether there's a god or not Dr. Collins was struck By the courage and the even cheerfulness of so many of his patients facing these devastating illnesses And almost all of them said the reason for their children cheerfulness and a confidence because they're faithing god
One day an elderly patient with a with a severe cardiac disease Who's telling Dr. Collins about her faith in Jesus and then she looked at him and said and what does it you believe? And he's stuttering a stammer and he finally said I really don't know And it sent him on a search to see whether his agnosticism Would hold up or not and let me read by the way in this book I don't like if you read it. I don't like the whole book. I don't agree with the whole book I don't understand the whole book. I'm not a scientist and he goes way over my head sometimes But when he talks theology and philosophy. I sort of speak that language And I like a lot of what he has to say. Let me read his own words about his agnosticism There are all kinds of agnostics Some arrive at this position after intense analysis of the evidence But many others simply find it to be a comfortable position That allows them to avoid considering arguments they find discomforting on either side I was definitely in the latter category In fact my assertion of I don't know was really more along the lines of I don't want to know As a young man growing up in a world full of temptations It was convenient to ignore the need to be answerable to any higher spiritual authority I practiced a thought and behavior pattern referred to as willful blindness So I went to talk with a local Methodist pastor and that Methodist pastor took a little book off his shelf Handed it to him. It was C. S. Lewis's mere Christianity and as that point Dr. Collins's preferred willful blindness began to fall apart He examined the evidence. He said any good scientist. I'll examine the evidence See where there's more rational to believe that there is a god or to believe that there's not And his search for evidence drove him to the position that is more rational to believe that there is a god Then not to believe it now I don't know and later on in his life. He does profess his faith in Christ's lord I don't know if he's made it all the way up to becoming a Presbyterian yet. I'm not sure if he's But he's a smart guy. I'm sure sooner later I don't know what his denomination is and let me add something else here Folks the Christian faith is true where there's smart guys like Francis Collins believe it or not The fact that he's received Christ from professed it so openly is it's nice. It's encouraging But if Dr. Collins renounced his faith in Christ tomorrow. I wouldn't change my faith at all It's interesting. It's encouraging, but it doesn't make it any more true. I'm not a scientist I don't bow down at the altar of science and scientist. I appreciate scientists I appreciate very much Modern medical science. I wouldn't be here right now without modern medical science I appreciate the science of engineering that gives us lights in here and air conditioning and a microphone and all the rest I appreciate science. I just don't bow down at the altar of well scientists say Well, that must be the end of the argument not so fast In his book Dr. Collins quotes an astrophysicist by the name of Robert Jastro in a book called God on the astronomers quoting from Dr. Jastro's book At this moment, it seems as though science will never be able to raise the curtain on the mystery of creation For the scientists who has lived by his faith and the power of reason the story ends like a bad dream He has scaled the mountains of ignorance. He is about to conquer the highest peak As he pulls himself over the final rock He's greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries I like that image I really like that image he goes on to say now we see how the astronomical evidence leads to a biblical view of the origin of the world The details differ the essential elements of the astronomical and biblical accounts of Genesis are the same The chain of events leading to man commence suddenly and sharply at a definite moment in time in a flash of light and energy Back to Dr. Collins now he says I have to agree The big bang cries out for divine explanation It forces a conclusion that nature had a defined beginning I cannot see how nature could have created itself Only a supernatural force that is outside of space and time could have done that
One more quote you stay in with me This is rich stuff next time you're in an argument with somebody who thinks you're too smart for God remember this Get it on the way I buy the book something Arnold Pinsius Nobel prize-winning scientist he's one of the guys who first discovered this radioactive hum out there in the universe everywhere We said them to believe that had to have come after a massive explosion Which led them to roll the clock back to there had to be a big bang Back in the 60s Arnold Pinsius was one of the two guys who have discovered that radioactive hum quoting the best data we have Are exactly what I would have predicted Had I had nothing to go on but the five books of Moses the Psalms the Bible as a whole Which leads me to something I know you and your family were probably talking about on the way over here this morning The Anthropic Principle Right weren't you discussing the Anthropic Principle on your way over this morning This is something I've touched on in here before but this bear is repeating about once every year or so for some of you You don't need this faith and for some of you you need You need to engage your brains on this some of this you will have heard me say before so I'll go quickly the Anthropic Principle So termed by you used by dr. Stephen Hawking in his book a brief history of time I would ask him if you own a copy and then I ask him if you actually read it, but I won't It's tough reading man. It's another one's books where I thought I like parts of it most but just got right by me dr. Hawking Regardless the most brilliant physicist since Einstein himself Dr. Hawking uses this term the Anthropic Principle Meaning it however you look at it It certainly seems as though the universe was designed to support human life And here just a few of the things he points out in his book The earth tilts at an angle of 23 degrees in relationship to the Sun If you change that angle even slightly in either direction The resulting changes in temperature would be so extreme the life as we know it Which these to exist If the rate of the expansion of the universe have been slower by one part and a hundred thousand million million That's a one over a one was 17 zeros after it If the rate of expansion to the universe have been slower by that much one over a hundred thousand million million a fraction of a second after the Big Bang The universe would have collapsed back on itself long ago If the moon were 50,000 miles away from the earth instead of 200,000 miles away from the earth The ocean tides would be so enormous that all the connoisse would be submerged and the mountains and the mountains themselves would have eroded If the ratio of carbon to oxygen in the atmosphere had been slightly different None of us would be around to breathe it Our earth orbits the Sun every 365 days traveling through space at a rate of 19 miles per second Or 1,140 miles per hour If you change that distance from the Sun or the rate of the orbit just a little Life on earth was ceased to exist The Anthropic Principle is simply stated that however you look at it wherever you look at it the universe certainly seems to be set up To support human life Someone's gone to a lot of trouble to make it possible for us to be here this morning You get the idea that we're pretty important to God
Who am I that you are mindful of me? We just sang it friend of God Who am I that you are mindful of me that you hear me when I call It's almost but this way and it's all made When I consider thy heavens the works of thy fingers The moon and the stars which thou hast ordained What is man that thou dost take thought of him But the Son of man that thou dost care for him He yet thou hast made him a little lower Than God And have crowned him with glory and majesty There's your Anthropic Principle folks There's who you are Before holy God One last line from Dr. Collins Clearly the scientific worldview is not entirely sufficient to answer all the interesting questions about the origin of the universe And there is nothing inherently in conflict between the idea of a creator God and what science has revealed In fact the god hypothesis Solve some deeply troubling issues about what came before the big bang and why the universe seems to be so exclusively tuned For us to be here What we cannot discover through science alone Are the answers to the questions? Why is their life anyway and why am I here Amen Dr. Collins God bless Dr. Collins Science is great about telling us what it's great about telling us how it can never tell us why Put that book you have right in front of you will tell you You know why you're here To glorify God and enjoy him forever If you've not heard this before and you don't hear anything else. I say today here this You are created by God in his image To glorify him to be in relationship with him That's the good news the bad news is that your sins and mine have severed that relationship we were intended to have with our creator And just as Valerie was telling the little ones a while ago Young ones are getting bigger all the time Just as Valerie told them there's one answer For that gap for that wall between us and God one way to bridge that chasm and that's the cross of Christ You were created to know him your sins have separated you from him. Jesus died To build that Bridge to you and God that your good works However many you have however spectacular they are could never ever accomplish You could never build the ladder up to God by your good works Good news God has built the ladder down to you In a ladder shaped like a cross These men that Peter talks about in verse five They deliberately forget The long ago by God's word The heavens existed and the earth was formed They may forget We must not Peter gives us here a word of recognition order prediction finally and briefly gives us a word of admonition Look at verse eight with me again But do not forget this one thing dear friends With the Lord a day is like a thousand years a thousand years or like a day Well, that's an interesting phrase it comes from Psalm 90 in verse four for a thousand years In your sight or like a day that has just gone by or like a watch in the night How we'd understand this? time again God and time We know the guys outside of time that he's eternal Yet we use words like seconds minutes hours days weeks months years millennia We use those as terms to measure time Eternity is by its very definition immeasurable So what is time mean to God God works with us in time. How are we to understand that? Do you have one more scientist? You've heard of this guy his name is Einstein Albert Einstein History or relativity said Among other things now I've had this explained to me so I think I understand it but please don't ask me to explain it to you That the faster you go the slower time is so that if you actually could go the speed of light The time would actually stand still If you could put somebody in a rocket ship and blast them off from earth at the speed of light Lock in the coordinates chewy. We're making the jump to hyperspace If you really could do that and you sent that person out into orbit for a hundred years earth time at the speed of light and then brought them back Only person be around would be bobber's ass go and he'd still have the same energy level, but the rest of us wouldn't be here But if you really could do that that person would not have aged one second We would raise a hundred years So at the speed of light time literally stands still Say okay, can't see read another science, but what's this got to do with anything? There's another apostle His name is John He lived longer than the rest of him. He lived to be an old man. He's the only one that did And he wrote a letter we call first John First John chapter one verse five John says this This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you God is light And in him is no darkness at all God is light What an odd thing for a first century Galilee and fishermen with no formal education whatsoever To say I'm only aware of two God is statements in the whole Bible God is love And God is light There are other things about God is and he's He's a fire, but only two God is God is love and God is light What an interesting thing for a first century Galilee and fishermen to say But it might explain why with the Lord One day is like a thousand years and a thousand years are like one day If you're light Time doesn't mean anything anymore The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness Can we just talk for just a minute about patience
Boy to a child patience. Okay. I'll be right with you. Give me 20 minutes Christmas is coming Your birthday will be here to a child that 20 minutes is an eternity Christmas never comes My birthday must only get her every 10 years to an adult That 20 minutes you want the kid to wait if you're reading a good book or you're trying to rest that 20 minutes is gone Christmas Ask Doug and musicians how quickly Christmas will be upon 125 shopping days Doug keep it keep it in mind How fast will Christmas be here you know and your birthday? Well, you know how quickly your birthday is piloted, don't you? Patience the Lord is not slow He's patient with you not wanting anyone To perish but everyone to come repents. What does that mean? Don't we believe What the Bible says about predestination? Don't we believe the biblical doctrine of election the Bible does teach The doctrine of election the God calls whom he will it does teach predestination The God has predestined before the foundations of the world who would come to him I do not believe and reasonable Christians disagree on this, but I'm right of course I don't believe the Bible teaches double predestination Which is to say He is not wanting anyone to perish But everyone to come to repentance God wants people to repent and be saved But he does not will Everyone to repent and be saved Are you with me? He wants repentance salvation. He only wills it For the elect the others He simply passes them by He simply lets them go the way they're going You won't have God is God you won't have Jesus's Lord God simply says I'll confirm you decision You know eternity GK Chesterton says Hell is the greatest compliment God has ever paid to the dignity of human freedom
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief in time Heavens will disappear with a roar Elements will be destroyed by fire And the earth and everything in it will be laid bare When's that going to happen? I don't know This is a reference to nuclear holocaust. I don't think so Could be around things. I'll tell you why I don't think so The heavens will disappear with a roar
The almus Be destroyed by fire the earth and everything will be laid bare I don't think there's a nuclear weapon they can do that. Isaiah described it this way Isaiah 34-4 all the stars of the heavens will be dissolved The sky rolled up like a scroll All the starry host will fall like withered leaves from the vine Like shriveled figs from the fig tree No man made nuclear bias is going to accomplish that When's that going to happen? I don't know I don't know I don't know how much time we get But I know why Peter we got to make these words count folks Recognition prediction Abmonition Get ready Our time is short too The 1960 presidential campaign John F. Kennedy Like to close his speeches With a story of Colonel Davenport the speaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives One day in 1789 the sky over Hartford Connecticut dark and ominously and some of the representatives Glancing out the windows if you're at the end was at hand Quelling a clamor for immediate adjournment Davenport Rosen said The day of judgment is either approaching or it is not If it is not there is no cause for adjournment if it is I choose to be found doing my duty Therefore I wish that candles be brought Time is short folks be ready let's be lights Until that day let's be ready let's pray
Father, I thank you for your word that it's It's rich and it's deep It's higher than our heights and it's lower than our depths and it's Wider than the breath that we can get around it And father, I thank you that your word is true We may not understand at all. I don't claim to But you promised us you'll give us what light we need To walk out The salvation you've given us lord I pray that we this day Who hear this message and the one who gives it as well would take seriously The value of the time you give us and use it all for your glory for the building up of the body of Christ To advance of his kingdom for I pray in Jesus name Amen Now we see the benediction Going the love of God the Father The grace and mercy of God the Son Fellowship and companionship of God the Holy Spirit And live the life, Amen