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Well, it is a blessing to be here this morning. You know, some of you know this if you've been to my home, but I love military history. I think I can remember back from maybe the third grade being fascinated.
We had encyclopedias in our home, and I would go drag those things out, and I would look at maps and read stories, and I just thought this was great. And one of the greatest generals in American history is a man by the name of Douglas MacArthur.
Now, I'm going to read you something that really has absolutely no benefit to you, so, for the next ten seconds, mostly because I love this quote. And I think this just kind of gets to who Douglas MacArthur was.
He said to one of his adjutant generals, Eichelberger, when he was putting him in charge of this division that had just been absolutely shown to be useless at battle, he said, Bob, I'm putting you in command at Buna, a place in the Pacific.
Relieve Harding, the general who was in charge. I want you to remove all officers who won't fight. Relieve regimental and battalion commanders. If necessary, put sergeants in charge of battalions and corporals in charge of companies.
Bob, I want you to take Buna or not come back alive. And that goes for your chief of staff, too. And I just said, how would you like to get that charge? General MacArthur, my boss says, take it or don't come back.
But, you know, something about MacArthur is he was stationed in the Philippines before World War II. And when the Japanese attacked, excuse me, attacked, he was and his forces were gradually driven back.
And he was forced to retreat, and he wound up in Australia. And it's in Australia that he said, I came through, and his famous phrase, and I shall return. Washington, D .C. contacted General MacArthur, and they suggested he change his promise to we shall return.
He declined. That's just kind of who he was. But eventually, two and a half years later, he would return and fulfill his promise. It took him two and one half years to fulfill his promise, but he made it.
Just imagine you were in the Philippines during World War II. It might have seemed like a very long time, those two and a half years. But this morning, we're going to look at something that is a little bit more expansive in its scope.
I would invite you to open your Bibles to 2 Peter 3. And we're going to be looking at verses 8 to 13 this morning. One of the things I like to say, you know, just getting back to Elaine's singing for a moment, when we sing, every song should be an interpretive song in this way, that you want to emphasize certain words and certain notes.
You want to bring out the truths that are contained within that song, the highlights that are contained within it. In that same way, when we read Scripture from the pulpit, when we read it publicly, we want to read it as if there are things that we want to emphasize, things that we are actually interpreting even as we read.
With that in mind, let's read 2 Peter 3, verses 8 through 13. If you don't have a Bible, if you didn't bring one with you today, there should be a pew Bible, a black pew Bible. There's some blue hymnals.
Those won't help you, but a black pew Bible would be very, very helpful. And we're in 2 Peter 3, verses 8 to 13. Peter writes,. But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the day or with the Lord, one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like one day.
The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.
Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat.
But according to his promise, we are looking for new heavens, and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Now, this morning, as we read through this text, as we work our way through it, I want to draw your attention to three promises drawn from our text, so that you will anticipate the greatest return in history, the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, with appropriate zeal, and live, listen, now, now, in a way befitting a believer.
We're going to see three promises that ought to evoke, bring out, evince a response in your life, that ought to cause you to align your life with God's purposes. Peter's purpose, I have to give you a little review, for those who haven't been here for the last few Sunday nights, as we've been moving through this text, you probably wonder whatever happened to that second Peter series?
Sunday night, so... Peter's purpose in writing this book, this letter, was to warn the church that false teachers were coming. Later on, Jude would write an epistle saying, you know what? They're here!
And they've been part of the church ever since. He wanted to warn the church of a time where it would be attacked, assaulted by false teachers. He talked at length about their immorality and greed, their character, the lack of character they have, and their complete willingness to use people, to just see them as disposable, to discard them, after they've satisfied their own needs and desires.
And last Sunday night, I kind of went through and examined what mockers say, and even what mockers say today. I used Dr. Richard Dawkins, one of the leading atheists, as my primary example. I quoted from him rather extensively.
But last time we looked at five lab-tested truths. I just like the idea of them being scientifically approved. But first, you need to be reminded repeatedly, this is good. It is good for us to hear the truth again and again, for so many reasons.
First of all, we forget it. Secondly, even when we remember it, we don't always live it out. Secondly, you need to be pointed to Scripture primarily. Especially in this day and age, you can even go into the religious section of your local Barnes and Noble or what have you, whatever bookstore.
You go to that religious section, and you're going to find that religious section stocked full of psychology, self-help books, things that have nothing to do with Scripture. We need to look to the sure word of God.
Thirdly, unbelievers mock God. Not all of them to the same degree. But they don't believe in the promises of God. And some of them do outright mock God. We saw in the Scripture, in the passage in 2 Peter, how they say, you know, everything continues just as it always has.
Where is the promise of His coming? Where is Jesus? Number four, we talked about unbelievers suppress the truth. This little phrase, it escapes their notice. And as we're going to see, it's even in this passage here, it means it doesn't really escape their notice.
They just refuse to acknowledge what is right before them. And I even cited Romans 1, 18, where it talks about them. Unbelievers hold down the truth. They suppress the truth. They can see what is true in creation, and they deny even that.
And number five, we talked about how unbelievers will face the full wrath of God. It's fascinating in verse 7, just to look back there for a moment. But by His word, by the word of God, the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
That word reserved, it's the same word where He talks about how things are, a place in heaven is reserved for us. It's the same word. In that same way, God is extending His power to reserve the present heavens and earth for fire.
This morning, our first promise, as we look verses 8 through 13, is God will act patiently. Now, basically, the scenario here, or the setup is set up. I am going to give you a promise, like God will act patiently, and then I'm going to list four responses from the Scripture, four things that you need to employ.
And the second one has, I believe, three responses, and the last one only has one response. That's pretty simple. So we've got eight responses, three promises. Let's just go. God will act patiently, which has four responses.
First, don't act like mockers. Don't be like the scoffers, those who say, where's the promise of His coming? You know, you just can't rely on God. Things are the same as they always were. Look at verse 8.
But do not let this one fact escape your notice, 11. That escape your notice is exactly the same phrase that He used in verses 4 and 5. Let's just look back there, verses 4 and 5 in chapter 3. Where is the promise of His coming?
For ever since the fathers fell asleep, for as long as we can remember, as far back as history goes, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation. For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice.
Same phrase. That by the word of God, the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and by water. It escapes their notice. They know, they're not ignorant of the fact that God created everything by the word of His power.
They just ignore that. Everything doesn't continue the same as it always is because there was a time where nothing existed. And God spoke and everything existed. It's not the same. And that phrase literally means to be ignorant with a purpose.
It's as if something is like right up in front of them, and they go, I can't see that. It's not even there. That's the idea. I mean, the way we would put it is maybe something is as plain as the nose on your face.
I mean, how many times when I was growing up, did my mom say, you know, I'd say, Mom, I can't find, and it was always something that I wanted. The ladies are laughing, why is that? You know, I can't find the strawberry milk, Mom.
Did you look in the cupboard? Absolutely, Mom, I went through it. She opens the door of the cupboard, there it is. It's like she has some kind of magic power where from the other room she can put the strawberry milk back in there.
I don't know how she did it. But the idea of escape, you notice, is it's right up there, right in front of you. But Peter might say it this way to believers. Don't pretend not to see what is obvious. Don't be like the mockers, the scoffers.
Don't be like them at all. They are the ones who scoff. Don't let it escape your notice. They are the unbelievers. Don't act like them. Scoffers mock God on the basis of the time, the length of time. Even in that day, in Peter's day, think about it, 1900 plus years ago, even then they were saying, Where is Jesus?
When is he coming back? How do you know? It's been almost 2 ,000 years, 1900 plus years since then. How much more are they mocking today? Don't be like them. Believe in the promises of God. Second response.
Don't disregard God's relationship to time. And I used a lot of double negatives. Don't ask me why. I just kind of got in the habit of doing it. It's a bad habit. The editor and me coming out as I'm speaking.
Don't disregard God's relationship to time. Look at verse 8 again. That with the Lord, one day is like a thousand years. And a thousand years like one day. How many times have you said something like this?
And I know this is going to get the kids. This day is never going to end. You know, you're on vacation. Are we there yet? You're at work. It's like 9 .05. You know, you haven't even had your morning coffee yet.
You're already saying, you know, when is it time to punch out? How about this one? I can't wait for Christmas. I remember that when I was a kid. I can't wait for Christmas. Isn't that how we measure things?
Things that are important to us. You know, Monday morning, what's the most important thing in life? Friday afternoon. Why? Why do we do that? Because we relate to everything on the basis of our own experience.
On what we're, on our boundaries. On the things that are important to us. We exist entirely within our own limited time. Our own limited framework of thinking. So that every day, every week, every month, every year is magnified in its importance.
Of course, as we get older, we kind of regret the passing of time. But that's not the point. But here's something startling. It's an amazing revelation that I just came up with this week. God is not like us.
He is not sitting here thinking, boy, I can hardly wait until Christmas. Why? Peter told us. A thousand years of human time is like a day to him. It's a blip to God. It represents all of, or one-sixth of human history.
If we think recorded history is about 6 ,000 years. A thousand years seems like, I don't know, a millennium. But it's nothing to him. One man wrote it this way. To the eternal who is omnipresent in time as in space, all times are equally near.
Does God get older? No. Does God notice the passage of time? Well, I suppose he does. The key thing is, time is a creation. Did time exist before God created it? The answer is no. And therefore, God is no more subject to time.
He's not within time any more than he is subject to gravity or being in one place at a time. Any of the laws of physics or science, he created those laws. He doesn't set the boundaries and then say, you know what, I'm trapped by those boundaries.
In that same way, a thousand years can be as a day to the Lord. Well, just think, you know, sometimes things seem like we can't get very much accomplished in a short period of time. If you ever considered all that was accomplished in a few short hours on a hillside outside of Jerusalem.
Every sin ever committed by everyone who would ever believe paid for. The passage of time is something that does not consume God, does not concern him. He's not worried that he's going to miss something.
He doesn't have a daytime or day runner or whatever. He doesn't even have a, what are these things, a blackberry to remind him of when things are happening. The way I like to view time, because it is a creation, is we see time in a linear manner.
We're standing here and we only see direction, you know, this direction in terms of time. God is above time, sees all of time equally at one moment. I mean, he's able to see the whole thing. He's not stuck in it.
He's outside of time. We need to remember that third response. We need to think rightly about how God views time, how he sees it. But third, don't forget the patience of God toward his own. Don't forget the patience of God toward his own.
Look at verse nine. The Lord is not slow about his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you. All the mockers question whether Jesus is able to return or question the soonness of it, the timing of it.
What are you worried about? Jesus isn't coming back. Peter explains it as the patience of God toward believers. Slow literally means to delay or to be late. Some translations even use the word slack. And that's basically what the unbelievers are saying, that God is a slacker.
God missed the deadline. God's late. God, maybe he's sleeping. Can God ever be late? Is the timing of God ever wrong? That verb is patient, the answer obviously is no. But the verb is patient means to bear up under provocation without complaint.
That's what God is. He is patient, meaning he bears up under provocation. What is the provocation? The provocation is a sinful world. Constant sin, constantly people mocking, scoffing, unbelieving. And through it all, God is patient.
His justice, his holiness demand that he punish sin, and yet he does not. Why? Is it because he's not just? Because he's not holy? No, because he is patient. In fact, the but in the text, that little word, but is patient toward you.
That particular word in the Greek indicates a strong contrast. He's not slack. He's not late. He didn't miss a date, not at all. The reason Jesus has not returned to judge the world has to do with God's great forbearance, his patience.
Though God is provoked, has every reason to pour out his wrath, he doesn't judge instantly because he is long-suffering. Now here's the question, is he long-suffering toward all men? The answer is no.
Our text says toward you. Well, he is long-suffering toward all men in one sense, in that one sin isn't enough to instantly bring his judgment. He doesn't do it instantly every time someone sins. He doesn't condemn each and every sinner every time they violate his laws.
However, the immediate context makes it clear that God is going to severely judge false teachers. So it can't be that he's patient toward everyone. He's patient toward them in that he's only, as it were, holding his fire.
But he's going to judge them. Peter tells us that God is patient toward you, the readers of his letter, who are believers. 2 Peter 1, verses 1 to 4, listen. To those, you tell me if this is a believer or an unbeliever that Peter's writing to.
To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours. In verse 3, seeing that his divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of him who called us.
Verse 4, he has granted to us his precious and magnificent promises, so that by him you may become partakers of the divine nature. Only believers are included in the you. God is patient toward you, believers.
Fourth response, don't doubt the love of God. Again, look at verse 9. Now, I just want to say a couple words about the word wishing. Right there in verse 9, not wishing. I once had the blessed fortune of going to a church in Southern California.
It was called Saddleback. And the man who was in the pulpit that day was not the pastor, but he said this, that his message was called the God of Second Chances. And he said that God is in heaven wringing his hands, hoping that you will make the right decision.
He's wishing. He's hoping. He's pulling for you. That word wishing doesn't mean that God is wringing his hands in yonder heaven. It deals with the nature of his character, of his character. Ezekiel 33, verse 11.
Ezekiel 33, 11, you don't have to turn there, but listen to this. Say to them, he's talking to the prophet, so say to them, as I live, declares the Lord God, listen, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live.
Turn back, turn back from your evil ways. Why then will you die, O house of Israel? We see the same concept in the New Testament, where God has commanded all men everywhere to repent. Paul preached that on Mars Hill in Acts 17.
So what's the implication? Does that mean that all men everywhere are independently able to repent? They just have to hear, calculate things in their head and go, you know, to repent is better than not repent.
I think I'll choose to repent. Can they cause themselves to be born again? Can anyone cause himself or herself to be born again? Is that how Jesus describes it in John 3, when he talks about the sovereignty of the Holy Spirit and about how the Holy Spirit moves as he will?
Is that how Peter writes about it in 1 Peter, when he says that God has caused believers to be born again? No one can choose to repent. No one can, I mean, can... Here's the question I was going to ask this morning in Sunday school.
Can you repent without being born again? Can you repent without being born again? The answer is no. But God's stated desire is that all men would repent. This is God's desire. Well, then some questions come about.
Can he not cause this? Can he not make all men come to repentance? Well, that's really not the question. It's a bit like asking why God does not decree, in other words, cause everything he commands. Does God cause everything that he commands to come about?
Well, he commands what? Thou shalt not murder. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Do those things happen? Yes. We can only take things so far. Here's what we know. We know that God has a general love for all men.
That he longs for, wishes for every man, every woman, every child to repent. Does not take any delight in the death of the wicked. What else do we know? We know that all that God decrees comes to pass.
Everything that God decrees will happen. But not all that he commands will happen. Think about it this way. God wants every single person to repent. But they won't. So how does God respond to that? Is he frustrated?
Disappointed? Is he surprised? Is he too much of a gentleman, as one man says on the radio, to force someone to be born again? And the answer is no to all those questions. God is sovereign. But he is also patient.
He also does not delight in the death of the wicked. God is patient toward you, toward believers. Because he is determined to gather each and every believer. Each and every person who ever will believe to himself.
And that is the group that will come to repentance. Those who were chosen by God before the foundations of the world. We don't have time to go through a series on election, or to go through all of Ephesians 1.
But that's the point. God chooses some, and they will be saved. But he suffers the provocations of a sinful world, so that the elect will repent and believe. But can unbelievers blame God? No. His desire was for all to repent and believe.
They had plenty of evidence. They had plenty of truth. They had access to all that they needed to convince them of his existence, and yet, and his character. And yet they did not repent and believe. Their own sin condemns them.
God will act patiently. He is merciful. But he has set the standard. Men must repent. They must turn from their sinful reliance upon their, or from their own supposed goodness. Everybody thinks they're good enough to get to heaven.
I've yet to really, well, you could talk to some people who admit they're sinners, but you find very few who will say, I'm a wretch, and I deserve to go to hell. But each and every one must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved.
And to you this morning, I ask, how will they repent? How will they turn if they don't hear the gospel? If you don't preach it to them? You are the means by which this merciful, patient God will save sinners.
Our second promise, God will bring a fiery judgment. God will bring a fiery judgment. Maybe I have four responses here. My first one I really enjoy. Do not try to, do not try and calculate the date. God, the judgment of God is coming.
Don't try to figure out what day it's going to happen. Look at verse 10. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The day of the Lord has long been promised in the Old Testament. It is a day in which God destroys his enemies and establishes his kingdom.
Jesus is coming back, and when he does, it is going to be with judgment. You can go ahead and keep your finger in 2 Peter, and since we're going to go to Revelation 19, verses 11 to 16, Jesus, when he ascended, told us he would come back.
And this is John's description of that return. And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And he who sat on it is called faithful and true, and in righteousness he judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written on him which no one knows except himself.
He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following him on white horses. Verse 15.
From his mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it he may strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. And he treads the winepress of the fierce wrath of God the Almighty. And on his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Jesus Christ was born as a baby in humility, most humble circumstances possible. He lived an innocent life. He died sacrificially after being wrongly accused, was raised gloriously, and ascended in the company of angels.
But he will return in all his glory, power, and wrath. Unbelievers aren't going to be happy when he comes back. Not only has the day of the Lord been prophesied in Scripture, but Peter writes in the future tense of the verb, that it absolutely will come, it is sure to come to pass, and it will fulfill every promise of Scripture.
But notice, as I said, don't try to calculate it, it cannot be predicted. That's why Peter writes, like a thief. Just as the actions of a thief cannot be known with certainty, the day of the Lord cannot be known.
How do we know that? Well, the Lord himself said that. In Matthew 24, verses 42 to 44, you don't have to turn there. But listen. Therefore, be on the alert. This is the Lord himself talking. For you do not know which day your Lord is coming.
But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. For this reason, you also must be ready.
Listen, for the Son of Man is coming in an hour when you do not think he will. If you have a book at home that says, here's my prediction on when the second coming will occur, chuck it. It is useless.
If you've got sermons where a man or a woman predicts the date of the return of the Lord, throw them away. I remember once, one of the real highlights of my life was being in line to wait and ask a question of John MacArthur.
I was so excited and it still lives in infamy because it was recorded. But the guy who went before me, excuse me, I have a question. Could you please explain, now this would have been like 96 or 97. He said, could you please explain how Benjamin Netanyahu fits into the end times?
And John just kind of went, and answered some other question entirely. Benjamin Netanyahu, how would you know? Unless his name's in the Bible, we could turn to Revelation, we won't see, and Benjamin Netanyahu shall do.
No one knows. I went to a Bible study when I first got saved where all they did was break out the newspaper and try to figure out when Jesus is coming back and where the signs were pointing. Don't do that.
If you think you know, if you know someone who thinks they know, they're wrong. Because no one knows. Again, Jesus in verse 36 in Matthew 24. But of that day and hour, no one knows. That would include pretty much everyone.
No one knows, not even the angels of heaven nor the Son, but the Father alone. If the Father didn't tell the Son when that day was, he's not going to let anybody else know. It's on a need-to-know basis.
So forget all these clipping, trying to discern the times, whatever, silly questions about Benjamin Netanyahu. Don't try to calculate the date. Secondly, do not prize temporary objects. Look again at verse 10.
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. The heavens, that is to say, the entire universe, all that we know, all that exists, will pass away.
I looked this up, and this is true. This is a direct quote from the dictionary, the Greek dictionary. When it says pass away, it means they will come to an end and so no longer be there. You had to look at a Greek dictionary to figure that out.
They're going to pass away, they're going to cease to exist. And what's that going to sound like when they cease to exist? Like the loudest fire ever. You know how a campfire makes a pop? You know, when the little, when the things in the, whatever it is, in the wood, you know, just start, the little knots start blowing up or whatever?
Well, just imagine everything being consumed all at once, even down to the atomic level. That's what the idea, elements, that's kind of what it contains. The very substance of all that is, is going to disintegrate.
It's going to cease to exist. And that verb destroyed typically is translated loosed. In fact, it is the verb that we, the people who study Greek learn, you know, it's the one that they, they learn all the endings to that verb, and it typically means loosed.
But here it carries a meaning of to reduce something by violence into its component parts. Violence is going to be forced upon all that exists, and it is literally going to come apart at the seams, even at the atomic level.
And subatomic, if we figure out what all that is. It's going to disintegrate. Why? Why must the earth and its works be destroyed? Because they're worse than useless. They've been corrupted by sin. When Adam and Eve fell, sin entered the world and it spread, and disease spread, and corruption spread, and rust spread, and every impact of sin spread across the planet.
Now, some of your Bibles, I think especially the King James and New King James, some other ones might say something like this, that the earth and its works will be exposed. And I think that's even in the ESV, maybe it's just the ESV.
And this is a variant of the Greek text, but you know what? It just emphasizes, it doesn't change the meaning, it just emphasizes the worthlessness, ultimately, of the earth and all it contains. It's all going to be destroyed.
And that ought to give us a very good idea of how pervasive sin is and how determined God is to make an end of sin. Each and every sin and every effect of sin will be blotted out. The mockers have said that everything's the same, it's always been the same since creation.
Well, God is going to change all that, and nothing will ever be the same. Third response, live your lives in light of the looming judgment. This is really key. Verse 11, since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, everything in the earth and the earth itself, the entire universe, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness?
That's really not even a question. It's kind of an exclamation point, an exhortation. What sort of people ought you to be in light of everything being destroyed? Now, if you're someone living with no hope, and you hear that the universe is going to end, I don't see where that really gives you hope.
Peter's not offering hope or comfort, but a challenge to believers. He says there are two responses here to the end of everything as we know it. Holy conduct and godliness. And he could have said it this way, do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy.
Maybe to have gone on to say something like, not to mention what God's going to do to them. But instead, Peter looks at it from a positive perspective. Let's talk about holy conduct. What is holy conduct?
It's pretty evident. It is your behavior. It's what you do. It's your actions. Everything about your life externally. It's to be separate from evil. It is to be dedicated to fulfilling God's purpose for your life.
Holy conduct is your life from the time that you wake up until the time you go to bed. Is your life externally holy? Are you doing the right thing? But it's not just enough to do the right thing. You must be motivated from a heart that loves God.
That's the second part, godliness. It's a mindset, a determination to have fellowship with God. To think thoughts pleasing to Him. To be focused on Him, His word, His kingdom, His people. What is your purpose in life in light of the approaching end of creation?
Since the world's going to be destroyed anyway, are you more focused on global warming than you are on holy living? Peter says you ought to live lives worthy of your calling, both outwardly and inwardly.
You know, people call the church and they ask all sorts of questions. And one of the more common ones is about end times. Sometimes they'll ask about what sort of Bible we use, or this, that, the other thing.
And I'm not going to say that eschatology does not matter. End times do not matter. I am saying it shouldn't be the primary reason for choosing a church. Peter's question isn't are you pre-mill, post-mill, awe-mill, pan-mill.
Peter's question is in light of the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, how are you living now? What are you thinking now? What are you treasuring up now? Are you living this very minute as if the Lord might return the next minute?
I think some of you this morning, if He did show up, wouldn't even notice. This is what we call ethical eschatology. In other words, post-mill, pre-mill, whether we're before or after the millennium, those things are important.
Yes, they have their scriptural place. But what is more important is living as if the imminent return of Jesus Christ really is imminent. As if any moment He could be here. God demands that every aspect of your lives be pleasing to Him.
And He has shown great patience and forbearance in preserving you until the day He saved you. And in response, He commands that you live a life that reflects the reality of His return. Do you live like you actually believe Jesus is returning?
Fourth response. Look for the kingdom of God to be established. Look at verse 12. Looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning and the elements will melt with intense heat.
You need to be expecting the coming kingdom. That's what the word looking means. As Christians, you are not to dread the end of the world. You're to look forward to it. You ought not to be worried that Jesus is coming back.
You ought to eagerly anticipate it. You need to be excited. You need to earnestly desire that day. Now, hastening in the New American Standard, in the English, has the unfortunate implication that somehow we can speed up the return of Jesus.
Well, that's been disproven by what's gone before that. You know, if we could speed that up, you know, Peter would have written something like this. You know those scoffers who say, where's the promise of His returning?
You guys work harder so that He'll hurry up and come back. No, he says, don't worry about what those scoffers say, because God's timetable is God's timetable. A thousand days or a thousand years to God is, or to us, is but a day to Him.
The return of the Lord Jesus Christ is a great day for those who are in Christ. Now, MacArthur differentiates, and many scholars do, between the day of the Lord and the day of God. I'm going to briefly just say this.
He and others say that the day of the Lord is a time of judgment, and the day of God is His reign. But in any case, you are to say with the Apostle John, even so, come Lord Jesus. We want what? What did even the Lord pray in the disciples' prayer?
He said, Lord, or disciples, he told his disciples to pray that God's kingdom come. We want His kingdom to come. And our third promise, we'll be brief here, our third promise is that God will create a new universe.
God will create a new universe, and there's only one response to that. Let's look at verse 13. But according to His promise, the promise of God, we are looking for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
As believers, we're surrounded, as I said earlier, by a world system that is enthralled with sin. We are accosted by those who would mock our faith, and we are under constant threat, even from inside the church of false teachers.
So what shall we do? We need to stand on the promises of God. He who will uncreate, as it were, His own creation, cause it to dissolve, will, according to His promise there in verse 13, create a new heavens and a new earth.
They will be new, they will be freshly created. And to make a crass comparison, and this is something my wife would like, it would be like our old junker, 1991 Honda Accord, original owner, being towed out of our driveway, and her dream car, brand new, right off the assembly line, being placed in its place.
And that really is a crass comparison, because the new heavens and the new earth, there will be no disease, corruption, rust, sorrow. We'll have perfect weather all the time. Everything will be perfect.
It will be beautiful beyond anything we have ever known or seen in this life. And what's more and even better than the quality of this new world is the quality of life within it. Look again, in which righteousness dwells.
Righteousness. The quality of righteousness actually taking up residence there. How will that happen? Why? Because not one person will ever live there. Not one sinful person will ever live there. Not one person will entertain a sinful thought.
And the Lord himself, the personification, righteousness in the flesh, will dwell there. Why would any believer not look forward to that? There's only one reason not to look forward to the new heavens and new earth, to not look forward to the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, to not look forward to the dissolution, the dissolving of all that exists right now.
It's if you don't think you're going to be in that new heavens and that new earth. If you're here this morning and you are in that condition, may I just urge you, while the Lord is being forbearing, patient, to turn from your sin, to turn from your reliance upon your own goodness, the fact that maybe you're better than someone else you know, to think, well, you know, I've done a few things wrong, but God needs to accept me, that maybe I have a chance.
Let me assure you, apart from belief of the Lord Jesus Christ, there is no hope. There is no reason to eagerly look forward, to anticipate his returning. Repent while there is still time. General MacArthur promised to return, and he did.
I could have thought of a lot of promises that were made and broken over the ages. I could have even gone to something like divorce rates, where people promised to do this or that, or how about some sad story of a guy who goes overseas, engaged, and this woman comes back and she's found somebody new.
The truth about human beings is we are promise breakers. We say things, sometimes we even intend to do them, but sometimes we don't have the power to do them. God promises things, and he has the power to carry them out.
And in light of that power, we read God's promises, we believe in God's promises, and our lives need to be transformed by that belief. We know that Jesus Christ is coming back, and our lives need to reflect that now.
God is not late. He's not behind schedule. He is patient toward men, but a day of reckoning is coming. He has promised that too. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we rejoice in your goodness to those that you have caused to be born again, whom you have called according to your purpose.
Lord, when we think, if we were to reflect on our own lives, even the believers here today, and to think, what did I do to deserve salvation? The answer would be nothing. By your grace, you have saved us.
By your unmerited favor that you have set upon us. Father, we know that there are some here today who have not been beneficiaries of that grace, who have not yet turned from their sin, who have not yet bowed the knee to Christ.
Father, I pray for a conviction in the hearts of those who don't know you today that they would stop being numbered among those who must dread the day of the return of Christ, who must dread your judgment.
Lord, we know that you are able to transform hearts, to take out hearts of stone, to give hearts of flesh. We know that you are able to cause those who have stubbornly refused, even though they've heard the gospel time and time again.
We know that you are able to cause them to be born again. And Lord, we would plead with you, even as we plead with them. We plead with them to be reconciled. We plead with you, Lord, to cause them to be born again.
Would you make us a people who eagerly desire the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, and who live lives worthy of all that he has done on our behalf, we pray. In Christ's name, amen.