“Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming?” , 2 Peter 3:3–4
Have you ever waited so long for a promise that you began to wonder whether it would ever come? Have you ever watched evil continue while justice seemed silent? Have you heard someone mock your faith because the answer you expected did not arrive on your timetable?
What happens when midnight passes, morning comes, and the world looks unchanged?
Do we conclude that God has forgotten? Do we allow the voice of the skeptic to become louder than the testimony of Scripture? Or do we remain watchful, faithful, and ready?
In his original January 2, 2000 archive writing, “Scoffers In The Last Days,” Pastor Anthony Joseph Massotti, Th.M., reflected on the arrival of the year 2000 and the confidence it seemed to give to those who mocked biblical prophecy. The anticipated midnight had passed. The world had not ended. The skeptics felt vindicated.
Yet the warning of 2 Peter 3:3–4 was never dependent upon a particular calendar date. It was, and remains, a warning about the human heart that mistakes God’s patience for God’s absence.
When “Business as Usual” Becomes a Spiritual Argument
At the turn of the millennium, many people watched the clock with fascination, fear, or curiosity. When the new year arrived and life continued, the world breathed again. People went to work. Families gathered. Markets opened. Meals were prepared. Weddings continued. Funerals continued.
As Pastor Anthony wrote, “We eat. We drink. We marry. We bury. We continue on.”
That rhythm sounds familiar in 2026. The devices may be newer, the systems more connected, and the voices more numerous, but the temptation is unchanged: because judgment has not yet appeared, people assume judgment will never come.
This is the logic of the scoffer:
- The promise has not happened yet, therefore it will not happen.
- The world appears stable, therefore God is not intervening.
- Evil continues, therefore divine judgment is imaginary.
- History moves forward, therefore history has no appointed conclusion.
But Scripture exposes the flaw. The scoffer is not merely asking an honest question. Peter describes people “walking after their own lusts” (2 Peter 3:3). Their philosophy is not neutral. Their desires shape their conclusions.
If there is no coming judgment, then accountability can be dismissed. If Christ will not return, then every appetite can be enthroned. The enemy would gladly turn a delay into a denial so that the human conscience may sleep undisturbed.
But delay is not denial.
The Difference Between Mockery and Honest Doubt
There is a difference between a wounded person asking, “Lord, how long?” and a scoffer declaring, “God will never act.”
The first may be the cry of faith under pressure. The second is often the shield of rebellion.
The Greek word translated “scoffers” in 2 Peter 3:3 carries the sense of mockers, those who deride what is holy and ridicule the expectation of divine intervention. Their question, “Where is the promise of His coming?” is not offered with humility. It is a challenge. It is the voice of a heart that wants the promise removed because the promise carries moral weight.
We must be careful here. Christians should not be threatened by sincere questions. A seeker who asks difficult questions may be standing at the doorway of faith. We should answer with patience, Scripture, and compassion. But when questioning becomes contempt, and skepticism becomes permission to sin, we are no longer dealing merely with intellectual uncertainty.
Either we receive the warning of the Word, or we allow the world to explain away the Word. Either we live as people who will give an account, or we live as though desire is the highest authority.
YOU must choose which voice will govern you.
The World Builds, Organizes, and Tightens the Net
Pastor Anthony’s 2000 warning also looked toward a world increasingly organized around power, commerce, and what he called a “new world order.” He observed the tightening net of global economy and the ambitions of those who seek influence through systems larger than any individual.
We do not need to speculate about every headline to recognize the spiritual danger. Human beings have always been tempted to construct a world that functions without surrender to God. We build towers, institutions, economies, platforms, and ideologies. We connect the nations, but we cannot reconcile the human heart.
Technology can serve. Commerce can provide. Government can restrain evil. Organization can bring order. But none of these can become a substitute for the Kingdom of God.
A system may be efficient and still be godless. A society may be prosperous and still be spiritually bankrupt. A person may be surrounded by information and still be blind to truth.
The question is not simply, “What is the world building?” The deeper question is, “What are we building in our own hearts?”
Are we building an altar to comfort, reputation, money, or control? Are we quietly fastening our hope to systems that cannot save us? Or are we laying our lives upon the Rock, where obedience matters more than applause?
God Is Silent, but He Is Not Absent
The silence of God can feel like abandonment. We pray, but the answer seems delayed. We watch injustice spread, and heaven appears still. We see scoffers prosper, and our faith trembles.
Yet Scripture teaches us to interpret divine silence through divine character.
God sits upon His throne. He sees. He knows. He waits with patience and long-suffering. Second Peter 3:9 explains that the Lord is not slack concerning His promise, but is patient, “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
The word associated with this patience carries the idea of enduring long with people rather than acting in sudden anger. God’s patience is not weakness. It is mercy holding back the final hour.
This should humble us. The same patience that gives the scoffer another day to repent gives the believer another day to grow in holiness. The same open door that permits rebellion to continue also permits salvation to be preached.
God’s clock is not broken. It is RIGHT ON TIME.
As a Thief to Some, as a Father to Others
The return of Christ is not experienced the same way by every heart.
To those who persist in rebellion, it will come with the shock of a thief in the night (2 Peter 3:10; 1 Thessalonians 5:2–3). A thief does not arrive according to the homeowner’s schedule. The suddenness exposes the danger of spiritual unpreparedness.
But to those who belong to Christ, the coming of the Lord is not the arrival of a stranger. It is the fulfillment of hope. The One who comes in judgment is also the One who gathers His people. For the saints, readiness is not frantic terror; it is faithful expectation.
We should not attempt to calculate dates that Scripture has not given us. Date-setting produces either false confidence or needless panic. Watchfulness is different. Watchfulness means living today in the light of eternity.
It means we repent quickly rather than protecting our sin. It means we forgive before bitterness becomes dirt in the vase of the soul. It means we refuse to let entertainment, political outrage, financial anxiety, or digital noise become a wolf cloaked in sheep’s clothing, something that appears harmless while quietly consuming our devotion.
I once prayed during a season when the silence of God felt heavier than usual: “Lord, keep me from interpreting Your patience as permission. If You are waiting, make me faithful while I wait. If You are near, make me ready.”
That prayer remains necessary for us. We do not know whether the Lord will return in our lifetime, but we do know that our lives are moving toward an appointed meeting with Him.
What Does Watchfulness Look Like in 2026?
Watchfulness is not staring at headlines while neglecting holiness. It is not fear dressed in prophetic language. It is a disciplined Christian walk with Christ.
To watch and pray means:
-
Stay rooted in Scripture.
Do not let trending opinions interpret the Bible for you. Read the Word carefully, test every teaching, and pursue practical resources for deepening your Bible study. -
Examine your desires.
The scoffers walk after their own lusts. Ask the Lord to reveal where appetite is disciplining you more than truth. “Search me, O God, and know my heart” (Psalm 139:23–24). -
Repent without delay.
“I’m sorry” may express regret, but “Please forgive me” seeks restoration. Biblical repentance is not merely feeling bad; it is turning from the old path toward obedience. -
Refuse spiritual numbness.
The world may say, “All things continue as they were,” but the Word says history is moving toward fulfillment. Do not allow repeated headlines and constant distractions to anesthetize your conscience. -
Strengthen your faith through faithful practice.
Prayer, worship, service, generosity, forgiveness, and fellowship are not empty routines. They are ways we remain awake before God.
The Lord’s patience is an invitation. The warning is also mercy. Behold, the door of repentance remains open, but we must not assume that an open door will remain open forever.
Nothing Is Truly Continuing as It Was
The world may appear ordinary, but ordinary days are carrying us toward an extraordinary conclusion. Every sunrise testifies to mercy. Every unanswered question reminds us that we are not sovereign. Every funeral announces that earthly arrangements are temporary. Every act of repentance is evidence that the Lord is still calling people out of darkness and into His Light.
The scoffer says, “Nothing is changing.”
The Word says, “The Judge standeth before the door” (James 5:9).
The fearful heart says, “God is absent.”
Faith answers, “The Lord is patient, holy, and near.”
The careless soul says, “Tomorrow will be like today.”
Wisdom replies, “Today, if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts” (Hebrews 3:15).
This is why Pastor Anthony Joseph Massotti, Th.M.’s 2000 archive warning rings even louder in 2026. The passage has not aged. The world’s technologies have changed, but the scoffer’s argument remains. Human pride still resists accountability. Human appetite still seeks a world without restraint. Yet God’s promise stands.
Prophecy will be fulfilled.
Wait, Watch, and Pray
We are not called to predict the hour. We are called to prepare the heart.
Wait, not passively, but faithfully.
Watch, not anxiously, but attentively.
Pray: not occasionally, but continually.
If you have drifted, return. If you have doubted, bring your questions honestly before the Lord. If you have mocked what once convicted you, humble yourself. If you are weary, ask God for strength to remain steadfast.
The enemy wants you distracted by the delay. The Lord wants you transformed by it.
WAKE UP.
REPENT QUICKLY.
SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES.
GUARD YOUR HEART.
REFUSE THE SCOFFER’S LIE.
DRAW NEAR TO CHRIST.
WAIT, WATCH, AND PRAY.
The clock of the Creator is clicking. The hour is known to Him. And when He comes, He will not be late.
This article is an adaptation and present-day reflection on Pastor Anthony Joseph Massotti, Th.M.’s original archive writing “Scoffers In The Last Days,” copyright © Anthony J. Massotti, Th.M., January 2, 2000. Read the original here.
