THE REFORMED WITNESS HOUR
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prca.orgDear radio friends,
In these verses a comparison is made between the destruction of
this world at the time of the flood and the destruction that will take place at
the end of time. The days before the
flood were filled with violence. The
wickedness of man was great in the earth and all flesh had corrupted his way
upon the earth. Yet, from a mere human
point of view, life continued on as usual.
Society continued to function in its normal manner. But the cup of iniquity had filled and the
world, from a spiritual point of view, had become ripe for judgment.
It was during these 120 years that Noah, a just and upright man, began to build the ark.
God had warned him that He was going to send a flood of waters that
would cover the face of the earth and all flesh would be destroyed. Noah, by faith, built the ark, all the while
preaching to the world of the coming judgment.
But Noah was mocked and scorned.
What Noah told the ungodly men of his day was an
impossibility in their minds. It
had never rained. It could not
rain. That was a scientific
inaccuracy. It defied the laws of
nature. Forgotten was the truth that this
creation belongs to God. Noah believed
the word of God to him and, by faith, therefore, continued to build the
ark.
Now all of this, according to Peter in this particular chapter
of the Bible, is a picture, or a type, of what will take place in the days
before Christ’s return. The world will
become a place of lawlessness, and there will be a deliberate defiance of God’s
Word and His law. And yet, life will
continue on as if all were perfectly normal.
Society will not even suspect an end.
In this world, God will establish and preserve His church. And though the church is small, its witness
will yet be heard. Though men of science
will have sufficiently convinced unbelieving man that the flood never happened,
and even some in the church—even clergy—will convince its unbelieving
membership that the flood was nothing more than a quaint fairy tale that we
tell our children, the true church of Jesus Christ will believe the flood as a
fact and use it as a warning of the judgment to come. And the church in these last days will
continue to issue its warning: “Behold,
the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints to execute judgment upon
all.” Just as the flood came and overflowed
the earth, destroying all men, so also will the destruction of the universe
take place when Christ comes again. How
will the earth be destroyed at the end of time?
Well, that is what we wish to consider.
You see, unbelieving man in our day, just as he was in Noah’s
day, is ignorant, Peter tells us. He is
ignorant of an all-important truth: God
is the creator and the preserver of the universe. Peter tells us in this chapter of his second
epistle that, in the last days, prior to the final destruction of this world,
men will be scoffers, walking after their own lusts. They will mock the
When the ungodly man reasons and performs his experiments and
his studies, it is always in the framework of unbelief. Nothing, in his mind, ought to be explained
in terms of God. There is only the here
and now. That is why evolution has won
the day. The unbelieving world may be
told by the church that God created everything, and that only by God’s power
does everything continue to exist, but this world lives in the ignorance of
unbelief. They are willingly ignorant,
Peter says. And for that reason, in
their ignorance unbelieving men mock those who walk in true knowledge of God
and of who He is and of what He has done.
We know the world is going to end in destruction because we believe in
God, who is the Creator and Sustainer of all things.
Peter tells us in verse 5 of this passage here in
II Peter 3,
“By the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the
water and in the water.” In telling us
this, Peter points out, first of all, that, indeed, God is the creator
of the heavens and the earth. But Peter
also points out how God created the heavens and the earth. And that is what is important if we are to
understand how God will also destroy the world at the end of time.
If we were to turn to the creation account in
Genesis 1,
we would find that the first work of God in
creation was the calling forth of this giant mass of waters. We read of that in
Genesis 1:2.
Then we read in verse 6 of
Genesis 1
what
took place on the second day: “And God
said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the [mass of] waters, and let it
divide the waters from the waters.” Then
we read of what happened on the third day of creation in verses 9 and 10 of
Genesis 1.
“And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto
one place, and let the dry land appear:
and it was so. And God called the
dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw
that it was good.” God called forth to
the waters under the sky, and these waters gathered themselves together into
the globe that we now call our earth.
And by that same creative word of God, the waters on the globe
of the earth were gathered together in one place. And right out of the water itself appeared
the dry land. If one were to be able to
stand back and look at what was taking place there on that third day of
creation, he would see this mass of waters and then suddenly, by the word of
God, appearing out of it and in the midst of it, dry land.
That is the point of Peter.
The heavens and the earth, he writes, that were of old were created by
God. The dry land, or the earth, was
standing out of the water and in the water.
Actually that word “in” literally is “on account of the water.” And what that means is, the dry land itself
was created by God from the water. For
that reason the dry land, or the earth, existed on account of the water. That dry land was called out of the water
itself so that the water was the substance out of which that dry land was
created.
Even unbelieving scientists know that a basic element of this
creation is water. Everything was made
out of water. It is not so difficult to
believe, then, that everything could be swallowed up in that same water.
How then can we ignore the creation account? We ought to know that God is the One who
created all things. He created the
water, and He therefore controls the waters as a creature of His own powerful
hand.
God not only created the heavens and the earth of old, but God
providentially controls them as well.
And that is the other truth implied in this passage of God’s Word. You see, not only did God create the dry land
and the seas, but God preserves these creatures by His hands. Science has discovered all kinds of laws of
nature that explain to us, for example, why the rivers stay within their banks
and why at certain times of the year they might spill over their banks. Science has discovered the laws of nature
that keep the seas within their bounds and what determines high and low
tides. And what they discover is true,
too. We will not deny that. God has indeed established His laws in
nature, laws that govern the way that this universe operates. In fact, God has, from the very beginning,
commanded man to discover these laws and utilize them in the service of His
name.
But unbelieving scientists of today are willingly ignorant of
one thing. After all is said and done,
it is God who holds all of these waters in their places.
We read of that, for example, in
Psalm 104:9:
“Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass
over; that they turn not again to cover the earth.” Notice what we read there in that verse. God set a bound on these waters. He not only created them, but God even now
preserves them and controls them in their own particular places. By faith you and I, together with Noah,
believe these things to be true. God
powerfully preserves this creation. But
unbelief willingly turns its back on this and rejects it.
One other striking fact Peter includes in his explanation of
God’s creation and preservation of this world.
The heavens and the earth were of old by the word of God! By His word, God created and preserved the
old world, that is, the world prior to the flood. The account of creation bears that out. When God spoke His word, there was
light. God spoke the word, “Let there
be” … and there was the sky, and so on throughout the creation week. God just spoke forth His powerful word and
everything took place. And, you know
what? That was no amazing feat for
Him. It was a simple word and no
more. God is the almighty and powerful
God, and His word produces results. By
that same word, God also upheld the world that was prior to the flood. Again, that word of God by which He preserved
and governed all things was not some fantastic deed of God that took tremendous
exertion on His part. It was but a word,
an all-powerful word that held the seas in their places and kept the rain from
falling from the sky. God spoke it. It stood fast.
And then God spoke, and all those things that He preserved were
destroyed by the flood. Amazing.
The same thing is true now.
Notice what Peter tells us in verse 7 in the passage that we are
considering here in II Peter. “But the
heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word
are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition
of ungodly men.” The heavens and the
earth that we see now are also preserved.
Just as God preserved the old world unto the destruction of the flood,
so also does God preserve this new world, the world in which we live. He preserves it unto the destruction of fire,
Peter tells us. But God preserves
it. Ungodly men are willingly ignorant
of that fact. The church preaches freely
of God’s hand that preserves this world.
And the hand of God that preserves the universe today is the same hand
that preserved the old world. It is that
almighty word of God that He speaks.
The world today is kept in store by the same word of God that
preserved the old world. The universe is
kept in store. That means that it is
kept by God as a treasure. It is preserved
as an ancient treasure that soon will be opened to reveal the horrible power of
God against evil.
Now, if it is but a little thing for God to call all things into
existence by the power of His word, and if it is but a little thing for God by
that same word to preserve all things, is it really all that difficult for God
to speak forth the word and destroy all things?
It is but a little thing. We learn of that in verse 6 of
II Peter 3.
“Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished,”
Peter says. With a word, God released
the bounds held on the waters. He caused
water to bubble up out of the deep. He
caused water to pour down from the sky.
And by means of that word, God destroyed the world that then was.
That is what our text means when it states that the world that
then was, being overflowed with water, perished. The old world perished—to be replaced by the
new world. Amazing power of God revealed
to us in that destruction of the old world.
But not so amazing as the final destruction that will take place
at the end of time. The flood was small
in comparison to what will happen when Jesus Christ returns. That is why the flood is a type, that is to
say, an Old Testament picture that heralds the final destruction of the world
of sin. The flood was a destruction of
this earth only. At the end of time,
when Christ comes again on the clouds of heaven, the entire universe is going
to be destroyed. Not
only the earth, but the skys and outer space as well. Isaiah tells us that all of these things will
be rolled together as a scroll. And this
time it will not be water that destroys all things. But the universe will be destroyed by another
basic element of this universe:
fire.
Such, God’s Word tells us, we will see take place. The heavens and the earth that are now, by
the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire. Or a more vivid description is given to us of
this in verse 10 of this chapter. “But
the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the
which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements
shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein
shall be burned up.” The heavens will
melt with a fervent heat. The stars, the
sun, the moon will fall from their courses.
Fire shall rain down upon this present corrupt world and it shall be
destroyed, and everything and everyone in it with a fervent heat.
That destruction comes.
It comes as really as the flood came.
The unbelieving scientists may deny it.
They may say that it goes against all the laws of nature. And the unbeliever in this world may scoff at
the church that declares that Christ is coming and that this world will be
destroyed with fire. And that
unbelieving world may go on living as if the world will never end. But the heavens and the earth that are now
will be utterly destroyed. And that by
the very power of God’s word.
Christ returns in power.
And when He returns He will send forth His angels to save His people
from that destruction. And then Christ
will shout forth, and this world, this present cosmos, this universe, will be
enveloped in heat and fire. And the
wicked will perish.
It will be a fire that will usher in the day
of judgment, Peter says, the day of judgment or perdition and
destruction of ungodly men. In that day
all unbelief will be destroyed. No more
sin-cursed earth. No more men who will
doubt and question or scoff at the power of almighty God. And then He will usher in a realm of
perfection, where time will be no more and eternity will prevail in perfection.
And that leaves the child of God with the reassurance that calms
us in our hearts. The wicked may be
willingly ignorant. That is how they
calm themselves now. Get rid of
God. Get rid of His hand in creation. Develop a theory that unbelief can grasp hold
of. Then those lost in unbelief need not
fear an end or destruction anymore.
Ignore the flood, ignore the results of that flood on the world that we
live in, explain away all things by means of a godless evolution, and who needs
to fear what the faithful church still proclaims? But that is the foolishness of unbelief.
Christ comes. And Christ
comes to destroy the world of ungodly scoffers.
But what a glorious day that will be for the church! Oh, awful for the wicked! But glorious for the
church. And because we know, we
will, as Noah, escape such destruction.
We look for that final deliverance from sin.
Christ comes. Let all who
hear the testimony of the Word of God that is spoken to everyone by the church
take heed. He is not slow in fulfilling
His promise. He comes. Let us believe that.
Let us pray together.
Our gracious God, our Father in heaven, we bow before Thy great
throne of majesty and power and we acknowledge and confess that Thou art a God
who controls all things in Thy power.
Thou dost rule over Thy creation.
Thou hast created it to fulfill Thine own good
pleasure. And even now Thou dost
preserve it and control it to fulfill Thy sovereign will. And when Thy will is finished with respect to
this present world, we know and we believe that Thou wilt destroy this world
and Thou wilt usher in for Thy people a kingdom of eternal bliss and
peace. Father, may we not grow weary, as
the