Sermon: Sunday, 8th March, 2026
Speaker: John Johnstone
Scripture: 2 Peter 1:16-18
How many points do you have on your driving licence? Let’s imagine motorists are beginning to speed more and more on the M90. Commuters are taking risks and serious accidents are increasing. The council decide to install average speed cameras. What would happen? This accountability would stop most from speeding. But then imagine a rumour on social media with many claiming the cameras are not actually operational and that they are just there to scare us into driving more slowly. You won’t really get fined by the police and points on your licence. Relax! Drive any way you want to. At first, a few people test it. They speed through and nothing happens. Then more drivers try it. Soon everyone knows. Within weeks the road becomes dangerous. People race through the junctions. Accidents increase. What has changed? Not the road. Not the cars. What changed was the belief that no one was watching and no one would hold them accountable. But imagine the council announces: ‘The cameras have been recording the whole time, and fines are being issued.’ Suddenly behaviour changes again. We get the point: accountability does not ruin society, but it protects it. The expectation of judgment restrains wrongdoing and encourages responsible living.
Think of another illustration. A teacher says she needs to step out the classroom for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, she hasn’t returned. Once pupil announces to the class that the teacher probably isn’t coming back for the whole period. What will happen in that classroom? Once people believe there is no return and no accountability, restraint disappears. But if suddenly the door opens and the teacher walks back in, the room instantly changes.
This is what is going on it Peter’s second letter. As we have seen over the last few weeks, Peter has been urging us to make every effort to live a godly life. He describes in detail the godly character we ought to have: goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, mutual affection and love. Peter says it matters how we live and how we treat God and one another. It matters because we will all be held to account by God (v16): ‘For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eye-witnesses of his majesty.’ (2 Peter 1:16) The ‘coming’ of Jesus in power is what we call his 2nd Coming- or the Parousia. Either Jesus is coming again to hold us all accountable or he is not. We really need to know if this is true. Just like it is important to know if the speed cameras are operational or not. It changes everything.
1. Are we accountable to God for how we live?
Why does Peter feel the need to remind us that Jesus is indeed coming back again? One of the main reasons is because there are false teachers who are teaching the exact opposite.
‘But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them – bringing swift destruction on themselves.’ (2 Peter 2:1)
‘Above 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 ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.’ (2 Peter 3:3-4)
The false teachers are more than relaxed about sexual promiscuity and the fulfilment of wrong desires. If you have an itch then scratch it, they say. Why? Because they think no one will be held accountable. How wrong they are. ‘For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of the flesh, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity — for ‘people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.’ (2 Peter 3:18-19)
What is true freedom? Is it doing what we want? ‘So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.’ (John 8:36) Surely, to be free, we need to live in the way the Designer has designed us. Again, let’s be honest, either Jesus is coming back or he is not. But the answer to that question is pivotal to how we will live our lives. If we are not accountable to God, then live any way you want! If you thought how you lived in the present had no consequences whatsoever in the future, you would be likely to do as you pleased, whether right or wrong. This is very much the culture of Scotland in 2026. People scoff at the idea of being accountable to God. Many think Christians are wasting their time living in the light of a Day of Judgement when that day will never arrive. It’s just scare tactics to control you, they say.
However, if we are accountable – and we are – then it matters how we live. It matters very much indeed. Personally, I think it is obvious that Jesus will come back to judge the living and the dead. Were that not the case, great evil would be carried out across the world each day, and it would not matter. What kind of a God would ignore justice? If God is good and holy and righteous then of course it matters how we live.
2. How do we know Jesus is coming back again?
This leads us to a crucial question, how do we know this it true? This is Peter’s goal in this section of the letter – to convince us of the truthfulness of the Second Coming of Christ. How does he do it? Through evidence. In a court of law today, evidence is weighed up, including eyewitness accounts and written statements. What is fascinating about Peter’s argument is that he appeals to these very same things – eyewitness accounts and written sources.
For the rest of our time, I want us to focus on the eyewitness accounts. Clearly, the false prophets had been accusing Peter of making up stories to scare and control people. And so, Peter is at pains to say he is not making anything up. The teaching of Jesus’ Second Coming is not on a par with mermaids, the Easter bunny and the Loch Ness monster. The Greeks and the Romans had a plethora of made-up stories about their false gods. Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection are historical events in real space and time and his Second Coming will be just as real. They are not legends or myths or concocted stories. Rather, these are objective and verifiable events. They really happened.
Peter appeals to a different historical event to demonstrate the reality of the Second Coming – the transfiguration. This was the unique time when God the Father honoured Jesus by allowing his divine glory to be witnessed by Jesus’ closest disciples, Peter himself, James and John. Jesus’ face shone like the sun and his body radiated with glory, his clothes being dazzling white. Peter was there. He saw it. He was an eyewitness. This is what he is talking about in verse 16 when he says: ‘We were eyewitnesses of his majesty.’
Let us follow Peter’s logic. Peter has already witnessed first-hand the glory and majesty of Jesus on the mount of transfiguration. He would never forget that day. But how does this connect with the Second Coming? We might not naturally connect these things. But we should. Because the gospels connect them. All three synoptic gospels see the transfiguration as a foretaste of the Second Coming. The transformation which takes place at the transfiguration reveals Jesus is the glorious King of Kings and Lord of Lords. His glorious and majestic nature and identity as none other than God come-in-the-flesh was revealed on the mountain. For almost all of his life on earth this was hidden. This unveiling of Jesus’ glory gives us a preview of what will happen when the King returns in glory.
Let’s hear the link between Jesus’ transfiguration and Second Coming in Mark’s gospel: And he said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see that the kingdom of God has come with power.’ After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. (Mark 9:1-2) In other words, Peter’s glimpse of Jesus’ true glory on the mountain is all the evidence he needs. He knows Jesus will return in that same glory. And so, he knows it matters how we live and calls us to godly living! It is a powerful piece of evidence.
As well as being an eye-witness, Peter is also an ear-witness: ‘He received honour and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.’ We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.’ (2 Peter 2:17-18)
One thing I love about the great events in Scripture is that God does not leave us to guess what they mean. He interprets them for us. So, for example, when the angels appear to the shepherds, they explain exactly why the birth of Jesus is such a magnificent occasion: ‘I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.’ (Luke 2:10-11)
The transfiguration is also explained. God the Father is revealing the identity of Jesus as his eternal Son. He tells us that he is so pleased with the work he is going to do, dying on the cross for sinners so that they can be saved. This voice was the Father’s endorsement of all that Jesus was going to achieve on the cross. And Peter heard this voice for himself. And he is telling us he heard it. Peter, James and John are both eye-witnesses and ear-witnesses. The transfiguration was a forward-looking glimpse of the glory to be revealed at the Second Coming of Jesus.
3. We can have confidence this is true
Think about this- when the scoffers laughed at Peter and the other apostles and dismissed the Second Coming as a made-up story, do you think that had an impact on any of the Christians? Of course it did! When people mock our beliefs, it is easy to lose confidence in them. If we are surrounded by many who say that the works of God are just ‘fake news’ then that can start to get to us. Peter knows this. And so, he wants to strengthen our faith by reminding us that he has already seen Jesus’ glory with his own eyes. It is the scoffers who are wrong. It is they who conveniently deny the truth so that they can relax and live any way they want. But they are wrong. The 2nd Coming is a date fixed in God’s calendar. We have a reliable report from Peter, James and John. They were there.
The writers of the Bible were not inventing anything for their own agendas. How could they be, as almost of them were killed for believing these truths. It would have been easier to admit they were lying rather than be martyred for making up clever myths. That makes no sense. Listen to how Dr Luke begins his gospel: ‘Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.’ (Luke 1:1-4)
Let’s sum this all up. Peter knows the Second Coming of Jesus in power and majesty is true. How? Because he has already witnessed this same power and majesty on the mountain. His faith, and our faith, are grounded on historical and objective reality and not myths or legends. Our sure and certain hope and longing for Jesus to come back is rooted in a real historic event. It is going to happen. So, you better make sure you are ready to meet Jesus on that day. The only way to do this is to place your trust in him now. He is the King of Kings and it is a privilege to serve him.
Jesus will return to right all wrongs and set things right. It will be a glorious day. Those who truly believe in a future day of judgment and kingdom glory will live differently now. Getting ready for that day does not mean being obsessed do discover the exact date of the return (we cannot do that anyway). It means seeking to live a godly life. It means making every effort to do this!