Thank you again, Mark and Jake, for leading us. Tremendous songs and meaning this morning. Good morning to everyone. Beautiful morning, sunshine we had. Good to see the sun. Little bit of snow, but that's just temporary. It's going to be nice this week, springtime.

Well, last time we were together, we studied the great promise that the day of the Lord will come. Now, Peter tells us that scoffers will scoff in his time and in our time, denying the coming of Jesus, mocking, asking, where is he? He's never come. He never will come. But as we saw from Peter's words, these mockers willfully forget the facts of history and many, many divine interventions into the affairs of men all the way from creation, and not the least of which was the worldwide flood and judgment of Noah's day.

Jesus is coming again, and this time he's coming for judgment, judgment of the wicked and setting up his kingdom here on the earth. This is the reason that the worldly wise men of our day want to deny his coming because they want to deny his judgment. They cannot handle the idea of a personal, accountable God because they love their sin. This is the bottom line. It's not an intellectual problem. It's not a science or knowledge problem. It's a moral problem. And men do not want to be accountable to God for their sin. They do not want to be judged based on their works. This is why they deny his coming. This is why they mock the word of God.

So we've seen that the coming of Jesus for the lost man and Adam means judgment, means condemnation, fear and dread and eternal punishment in the lake of fire. But what does the promise of his coming mean for us, for the believer in Jesus Christ? And what does it mean for our lives today here on this earth in this time? That's the question and the answer that Peter gives in our text, closing his second epistle. And it's the application for us in light of the truth of his coming.

Let's look at our text, 2 Peter 3.10. It says, but the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise and the elements will melt with fervent heat. Both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness? Looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, the elements will melt with fervent heat. Nevertheless, we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by him in peace without spot and blameless. And consider that the long suffering of our Lord is salvation, as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you. As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction as they do also the rest of the scriptures. 

You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ. To him be the glory, both now and forever. Amen.

Well, I've given you five points on your outline. First, the day of the Lord will come. Second, holy conduct and godliness. Third, looking and hastening. Fourth, new heavens and earth. And fifth, be diligent.

Well, first we see the promise that the day of the Lord will come. This is a certainty. Jesus promised that he would come again, that he would come to take those who believe to heaven to be with him forever. He said, if it were not so, I would have told you. It's a promise. It's a surety from the word of God. For us, his coming means salvation, glorification, eternity in heaven with him. For the lost, it is a promise of condemnation and judgment, as we see in so many places in the scriptures. The day of the Lord is dark and threatening, frightening. It means judgment for the lost.

The subject of eschatology is always fascinating to consider and generally brings a lot of conjecture and sensationalism from various teachers in and around the church. What is going to happen? When will it happen? What part will we, the church, have in these end time events? There are teachers who have made a career out of guessing at answers to those questions and keeping believers on the edge of their seats with every new event that comes into the world. 

And with some of this teaching has come a lot of established misconceptions about the day of the Lord and end times, the tribulation and rapture and second coming, all of these important biblical truths and what they mean to us. We're going to finish 2 Peter here this morning, but I want to take the next three Sundays to revisit this term, the day of the Lord, what it entails, what it means, how we should think and live and act in light of the promise of His coming, striving hopefully to have a more clear and simple understanding of the events that are to come and how we should live in light of them. 

We're going to touch on this in the course of our text here this morning, but go more into depth over the next three weeks, Lord willing, reviewing some of what we learned in our study of 1 Thessalonians 5 and the day of the Lord. Believe it or not, it's been two and a half years since that study in 1 Thessalonians 5. With the direction of our world, with all that has happened in recent years and what is happening now concerning the nation of Israel and the governments of our world and hatred and persecution of Christians that now is and seems sure to come, believers are talking and thinking a lot about end times and signs and the imminence of His coming. 

And teachers are in overdrive who fancy themselves as experts in this area, some good and some not so good. It's important that we understand what the Bible says about these things, how we should understand what is going on in our world, God's salvation plan for the church and for Israel, and how the truth of His coming, the day of the Lord, should affect how we live today. So we'll expand this study in our text this morning over the next three weeks, Lord willing, as we consider the day of the Lord, the day that will surely come by His promise.

I look again at verse 10, 2 Peter 3, he says, but the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with a fervent heat. Both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness? 

The day of the Lord will come. This is the message, the promise, but Peter says the most fascinating things here. When we think about the scope of the day of the Lord, Peter gives us some vital information. We know that the use of the term, the day of the Lord in the scripture had specific reference to Israel in the Old Testament. Prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah warned about a near fulfillment in Israel of the day of the Lord, where God would judge the nation, such as the destruction of Israel by the Assyrians and the captivity of Judah by the Babylonians to chasten His people Israel and bring them back to repentance. 

We see a great and consistent pattern developed throughout the Old Testament concerning Israel and the temporal fulfillment of the day of the Lord. All the way back to Egypt, we see God use a pagan nation to chasten His people Israel. And then we see God punish that nation and deliver His people. God uses a human agent to accomplish His purposes with His people. And then He executes judgment on that agent, that wicked nation or person by His own power and delivers His people from bondage and corruption. 

This was true in Egypt at the Red Sea. It's true with Assyria, with Babylon, with Medo-Persia, with Greece and Rome. And we will see in our studies that this is the very pattern that sets up the final fulfillment of the day of the Lord in which God consummates all things in Christ. So we see in the Old Testament that there were near fulfillments of the day of the Lord in Israel as a pattern of what is yet to come when God will finish His salvation work and bring to fullness all of His plans and purposes and promises in Christ. 

We'll get into more detail on this, but the beginning of this final day of the Lord certainly includes the tribulation time that we read about in Daniel and that Jesus talks about as well. The time when the Antichrist will rule on the earth and God will pour out His judgment culminating in the second coming of Christ and setting His feet on the earth again. But what is fascinating here in our text is that we see a very broad scope revealed concerning the day of the Lord. 

We could argue a bit about the exact beginning of the final day of the Lord yet to come, but Peter shows us here how far this broad scope of the day of the Lord extends. In verse 10, he says, "In which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, the elements will melt with a fervent heat, both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up in the day of the Lord." We see here that in which, or in the course of the final fulfillment of the day of the Lord prophecy is included the destruction of the heavens and the earth at the elemental level. 

The Bible teaches the tribulation time of Israel. It teaches the physical return of Christ in judgment. It teaches in Revelation 20, a literal thousand year reign of Christ on this earth. And then it teaches a final judgment, destruction of this earth and heavens and the creations of a new heavens and new earth. So we can be certain by Peter's words here that at least in one sense, the broad scope of the playing out of God's salvation plans called the day of the Lord, this time includes a long period of time, over a thousand years, and not only the pouring out of God's wrath in the time of the Antichrist and the literal return of Christ when Jesus comes and the nations are gathered, but also many events played out over more than a thousand years consummating in the creation of the new heavens and the new earth. 

Peter includes all of these things in this term, in this promise, the day of the Lord. The time in which we now live, we could call the day of man, the age of grace, where God is patient and long suffering. We see Peter write about that at the end of the epistle here that God's patience and long suffering is salvation. We saw that before that he's tarrying, not because he's slack concerning his promise, but he's tarrying because he wants every man to come to the knowledge of the truth and be saved, just as he said Paul wrote about. 

And isn't it interesting that he says that some of the things Paul wrote were hard to understand and that people take them and twist them. And we see that in the realm of eschatology, but he also says something else interesting in those last verses. He says that the writings of Paul are scripture. So that's encouraging to us. 

So we live in the age of grace where God is extending grace to men who are living in rebellion against him in order for them to believe and be saved. The simple meaning of the day of the Lord is the end of the day of man, the end of the age of grace and the end of God's patience and long suffering, a time when he will take back what is rightly his and set up his kingdom in which righteousness dwells. We see this in Revelation when Jesus takes the scroll and begins to open the seals, the scroll represents the title deed to the earth and the process by which Jesus takes back what is rightly his. 

So the day of the Lord will come and Peter gives us great insight as to what events and timeframe are included in this plan and promise of God. Peter's concern for those to whom he writes and for us in the church age is this, in light of all these events and the truth that all of this physical world is temporary and will be destroyed by fire at the elemental level, it's all going away and the only thing that will remain is that which is eternal, then what manner of persons ought we to be in holy conduct and godliness? This is a great application for us and what really matters concerning the end times for us. 

If all of this is going away, what should our focus be? What should we be living for? What should our life be about? This was really the emphasis of Peter's first epistle, turn back to first Peter two, nine with me. First Peter two, verse nine. He writes, but you, speaking of the church, you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, his own special people that you may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness and into his marvelous light, who were once not a people, but now are the people of God, who have not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. 

Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation. We are a chosen people called out by God as his people, the church, for an express purpose that we might proclaim the praises of him who called us. 

Peter says, we are here to proclaim that we are sojourners and pilgrims in this world. This world is not our home. It's not our final destiny. We long for a city that was not made with hands, the new heaven and the new earth. We're just passing through here. We're ambassadors for Christ in a foreign world. 

2 Corinthians 5, 11 says, knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. In verse 14, he says, the love of Christ compels us because we judge thus that if one died for all and all died, he died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for him who died for them and rose again. Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh, even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know him thus no longer. 

When we look at men, when we meet people, we don't think about their wealth or their status or see them in the carnal environment of the world. We think about their eternal state, their spiritual condition, how we can witness to them or encourage them. If anyone's in Christ, he's a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. 

Now all things are of God who has reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. That is that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses to them and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 

Now then we are ambassadors for Christ as though God were pleading through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God for he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him. Think about some of those words in there. We persuade men, we beg you, we implore you, we are ambassadors. God is pleading through us. He's given to us the words of reconciliation. That sounds pretty active, doesn't it? That sounds like men when they hear have a choice and they can be persuaded by the word of God. They can hear a message about Jesus and come to faith in him. That's why we are here. 

Our concern, our perspective now having been regenerated, made new in Christ is the eternal, not the earthly, temporal, carnal. Our life is about Christ. Our life is about the eternal, about salvation for lost souls and glory to God. God has left us in this world to be his witnesses. He's committed to us his message, the words of reconciliation. We are ambassadors representing our king, carrying his good news of salvation through faith in Christ. And we are here to proclaim that message to every creature, to proclaim his goodness. 

And Peter explains so clearly in his first epistle that with the proclaiming of the gospel, there is also the necessity of the witness of a holy life. We must not undermine the message we preach with a worldly sinful life. Our lives must show the transforming power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We must live in consistency with who we now are, children of the king, by his grace and power in us. 

Peter says, live such a good life among the pagans so that they might see Christ in us, that when God comes to them and visits them, you remember that word visitation was used by Jesus when he came to Israel and wept because they would not come to him. When God comes to them, that they would glorify God, that they would turn to him in faith because of the witness they've seen of the gospel in the lives of believers. 

In light of all the events that are to come in this world, the judgment, the condemnation, the eternal punishment, knowing the terror of the Lord, the destruction of all that is physical and the creation of the new heavens and the new earth, what manner of persons ought we to be? Peter says, holy, godly, representing our king, our father in this world by how we live, what we say, an eternal perspective, resting our hope, not in the things of this world, not in the cares and troubles and injustices all around us, but on the grace that is to be revealed that is coming. 

Have this eternal perspective and therefore live for eternal things. And Peter says, this is a life of looking and hastening. Verse 11 of our text. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire and the elements will melt with fervent heat. 

Nevertheless, we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Well, Peter uses a different phrase here, the day of God. I'm not sure if there's any distinction, but there's some evidence here that the day of the Lord and the day of God are synonymous, because Peter says that in both is the dissolution of the heavens and the melting of the elements with a fervent heat. The word translated looking means to watch. It means to anticipate, to expect. 

Jesus taught about this in several places. Turn over to Luke 12 with me. Luke chapter 12, verse 35. Luke 12, 35. Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning. Be ready, Jesus says. And you yourselves be like men who wait for their master when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks, they may open to him immediately. Blessed are those servants whom the master when he comes will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat and will come and serve them. 

And if he should come in the second watch or come in the third watch and find them, so blessed are those servants. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore, you also be ready, for the son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect. 

If we know that Jesus is coming and that we do not know the day or the hour, we certainly do not know if we even have tomorrow. Our life is like a vapor. How should we be living? Where should our focus be? We need to awaken out of sleep. We need to realize that the time is short, short for lost men who are dying, short because we do not know when Jesus may come. We should be living in a state of expectancy, doing the master's work, anticipating his coming. 

And then Peter says, hastening. We're to be looking for, that is anticipating, expecting. But then he says, we are to be hastening the coming of the day of God. The word translated hastening means to speed or to urge on. I like that, urge on. It's used three times in Luke and twice in Acts. It's used of the shepherds making haste to find the baby Jesus and Mary and Joseph. Jesus uses this word when he tells Zacchaeus to hurry down from the tree. In Acts, it's used of Paul trying to make haste to get to Jerusalem and of Jesus' instruction to Paul to get out of the city quickly for they will not receive your testimony. 

Every use of the word means to hurry along or speed up to urge on. So how is it that we can urge on the coming of the day of God, the day of the Lord? Peter's told us that in light of the surety and unknown timing of the coming of the Lord, we should be holy in all our conduct, living godly lives as Jesus describes in his parables as well. But the other part of Peter's exhortation, particularly in his first epistle is that we are to be witnesses. We are to be preaching the gospel to every creature. We are to herald his message and live a life that shows its transforming power. 

This is how we can hasten the coming of the day of God. An interesting thought that Peter puts forth there. Next in our text, we see the promise of the new heavens and the new earth. Verse 11, therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire and the elements will melt with fervent heat. 

Nevertheless, we, according to his promise, look for a new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Peter says it's according to his promise. What we know, what we have, we have by promise, by the word of God. We can trust his word. He cannot lie. What he says, he will do. Even though this world is falling into all kinds of evil and wickedness coming apart at the seams. In fact, even though this whole world and its system is going to melt away with a fervent heat in a great instantaneous display of global warming, nevertheless, he says, we look forward to a new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells according to his promise. 

Turn over to Revelation 21. I want you to just look at the last couple chapters of the Bible as John is given a vision of this new heavens and new earth. Revelation 21, one, we'll read the first seven verses of this chapter. 

Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also, there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, behold, the tabernacle of God is with men and he will dwell with them and they shall be his people. God himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There shall be no more death, no sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain for the former things have passed away. 

Then he who sat on the throne said, behold, I make all things new. And he said to me, right, for these words are true and faithful. And he said to me, it is done. I am the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things and I will be his God and he shall be my son. Look at chapter two, verse one, chapter 22, verse one. And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal proceeding from the throne of God and of the lamb. 

In the middle of its street and on either side of the river was the tree of life, which bore 12 fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the lamb shall be in it and his servants shall serve him. They shall see his face and his name shall be on their foreheads. There shall be no night there. They need no lamp nor light of the sun for the Lord God gives them light and they shall reign forever and ever. 

Look now, verse six, Jesus is coming. Then he said to me, these words are faithful and true and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to show his servants the things which must shortly take place or quickly take place. Behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book. Now I, John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things. Then he said to me, see that you do not do that, for I am your fellow servant and of your brethren, the prophets and of those who keep the words of this book, worship God. 

And he said to me, do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book for the time is at hand. He who is unjust, let him be unjust still. He who is filthy, let him be filthy still. He who is righteous, let him be righteous still. He who is holy, let him be holy still. And behold, I am coming quickly and my reward is with me to give to everyone according to his work. I am the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are those who do his commandments that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter through the gates into the city. But outsider dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters and whoever loves and practices a lie, I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you these things in the churches. 

I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright and morning star. Look at this in verse 17. And the spirit and the bride say, come. And let him who hears say, come. And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely for I testified everyone who hears the words of this prophecy of this book. If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book. And if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away from his part in the book of life from the holy city and from the things which are written in this book. 

He who testifies to these things says, surely I am coming quickly, amen. Even so come Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. 

Jesus is coming. And this is the eternal heaven in which we will dwell with our God forever and ever. And Peter says, therefore, we must be diligent. Verse 14, therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by him in peace, without spot and blameless, and consider that the suffering of our Lord is salvation. 

Peter says, be diligent, give every effort, make haste to be found by him in peace. He tells us to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, to beware of false teachers leading us into error. You know, my brother, my sister in Christ, we will be found by him. Each and every one will be found by him when he comes. We want to be found in peace, without spot and blameless. Peace with God, peace with men, by God's grace, resting, believing, trusting in him, looking up, anticipating his coming.

Paul summarizes this diligence, this peace that we can know, we can have, even as the world falls apart all around us, how we can be found by him in peace, living one day at a time, trusting him, anticipating his coming. Listen to Colossians 3.1. Since you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above and not on the things of the earth, for you died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

The key is to set our mind on things above, to live for that which is eternal, to rest our hope fully on the grace that is to be revealed, living in holiness, witnessing for Jesus. What is God's will for my life? Sometimes we wonder about that. We hear people, what's God's will for my, I wanna tell you what God's will is for your life. Be faithful today. My friend, be faithful today. Be faithful one day at a time. And if you are faithful one day at a time, you will be found faithful when he comes. 

Let's close in prayer. 

Father, we thank you. We praise you for your word, your truth. We thank you for the promise of your coming, the promise of salvation that we have now. We thank you for the word that you have committed to us, the word of reconciliation, the gospel, the key to the kingdom which you have given to us, to proclaim, to preach, to herald as ambassadors, messengers in this world so that men might hear, believe, and be saved. 

Thank you for your heart, your love for men, your desire that they would come to the knowledge of the truth and be saved. Thank you for the work, the privilege you've given us to serve you, to bring you glory, to bring men to Christ. 

Father, we thank you that we don't have to worry. We don't have to be upset about what goes on in the world. We know that you have all those things in control. We know that you've promised to preserve us, to take us, to deliver us, to bring us to be with you forever. And that you've promised that you're coming. We look forward, we anticipate, we expect your coming, Lord Jesus. And we say with John, even so, come Lord Jesus. 

In your name we pray, amen.