The Promise of His Coming

Upon my return to San Diego, I was surprised to hear of a hurricane Hilary moving straight towards "America's Favorite City."  I grew up and spent a great deal of my adult life in San Diego, and I never heard of such a thing--or had seen such an almost hysterical response to an incoming storm.  Television programs were rescheduled to provide extra coverage of the "hurricane", and long before it entered the United States it had been downgraded to a tropical storm.  An insurance company made automated calls to encourage their customers to take every possible precaution for this potential disaster.  The hype was so intense school was cancelled for many students today.

Because the buildup was so intense, when it finally started drizzling and raining yesterday the storm was quite underwhelming.  Before the storm everyone was talking about the forecast, and many after the storm had a chuckle over how much a non-event it was.  If this storm was a test of San Diego's emergency broadcast network, based upon my experience I would say it passed with high marks.  It is better to be safe than sorry.  When there are warnings that do not correlate with reality, however, it would be no surprise for people to tune out if future alarms prove false.  Like in the fable of the boy who cried wolf, people grow weary of being mislead--even if others have their best in mind.

Hurricane Hilary has come and gone, and life goes on without a hitch.  Peter warned believers not to forget the warning Jesus gave about coming judgment people made a mockery of in 2 Peter 3:1-4:  "Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), ² that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, ³ knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, ⁴ and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation."  In these last days some people scoff at the idea of coming judgment for sin or their own mortality, but God's people ought to be aware and mindful of both.  We should not scorn God's warnings in His word, by His prophets or Son with the manner of our lives.  The sun rises and sets every day without fail, and winter makes way for spring.  But one day, all that will change for us.

Peter used the flood in the days of Noah as an example in 2 Peter 3:5-7:  "For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, ⁶ by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. ⁷ But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men."  God who destroyed the earth with a flood of water is actively preserving them until He brings judgment with fire upon the ungodly.  The world that existed before the flood perished, and the world that exists now will someday perish:  of this we can be certain.  But praise the LORD God has sent His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.  Meteorologists can get it wrong, but God is never wrong.  With a high degree of accuracy it was predicted when the storm would arrive in southern California, yet only God knows the time when our lives will be required of us and we will face judgment.

How we live today matters as Ecclesiastes 12:14 says, "For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil."  Let us not mistake His patience and longsuffering for carelessness or forgetfulness.  God has promised, and He will be faithful to complete the work He has begun.  What God says He will do He will do without fail.  The question is, will we sit in the seat of the scornful or make our LORD Jesus  the delight of our souls to hear and obey?