of his coming. That's what these
scoffers in the last day asked. Where is the promise of his coming? Peter says in verse three, knowing
this, whoa, y'all sit still. I can find this. Oh, there we
go. How about that? All right, where
was I? Verse three. Peter says, knowing
this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers,
walking after their own lusts. The last days. Scripture, and
especially the New Testament, frequently talks about the last
days. Now the last days are not just the last few days right
before Christ's return. It's all the days, from the day
that Christ ascended back up into heaven until he comes again
from heaven. Those are the last days. Look
over at second Timothy, second Timothy chapter three, the apostle
Paul describes to Timothy and us, gives us a description of
the last days. Second Timothy three verse one. This know also, that in the last
days perilous times shall come, for men shall be lovers of their
own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient
to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection. Truth-breakers,
false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that
are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than
lovers of God, having a form of godliness. It's not that they're
not religious. They have a form of godliness,
a form of religion, but denying the power thereof. Paul tells
us from such turn away. Now, if there's any doubt that
we're in the last days, that ought to remove it, shouldn't
it? It's such a clear, clear description of our day. There's
no doubt we are in the last days. And it very well could be that
we're in the last of the last days. It could be. I sure do
hope so, don't you? Oh, I hope so. I remember one
time Brother Henry used to, if he was going to be gone for a
while, had a yellow legal sheet he'd hang up on the bulletin
board in his study. And those men that preach better
pay attention to that yellow legal pack, because he'd just
put on there, he didn't even call and ask you, you know, are
you free this day? He said, this day, you know,
you're preaching, you had to schedule up there. And I saw
that one day, went up and looked at it, and Cecil Roach came in.
And he sat down and said, Cecil, you better go look at that paper.
And Cecil sat there and he was just nervous. He finally got
up and looked, he stood staring at that paper. He turned around,
he's walking back to his seat and he said, well, maybe the
Lord will come. I think about him saying that, and I think
that almost every day. Maybe the Lord will come. It
sure seems like he's about here, doesn't it? But we don't have
any idea. We don't have any idea. Peter
tells us the Lord's going to come as a thief in the night
when nobody's expecting it. Our Lord said, nobody knows the
day and the hour of my return. We don't have any idea when the
Lord will return. But this is what I know about
the Lord's return. The Lord's going to return exactly
on time. He won't be a second early and
he won't be a second late. He's going to come right on time. He's going to come when his purpose
for the redemption of his people is fulfilled. I don't know if
the very moment that the last one of the elect are given faith
in Christ, then the Lord will return or sometime after that. I don't know, but he won't return
until all of his elect are brought to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord is not going to return.
and have one not be brought to Christ and have them perish.
He's not going to do it. He's going to return right on
time. He's going to return right or not before all of his purpose
for the history of this world is complete. And then he's going
to return. Now, when is the Lord coming?
I don't know. I don't know. But I do know this. He's coming for me soon. He's
coming for you soon too. I mean, if a thousand years is
as a day to the Lord, He's coming soon. He's coming soon. I was thinking yesterday evening,
wondering how many funerals have I preached? I don't know. I preached
a number of them. Some of them I knew were coming.
Some of my new, this, this, this dear brother, this dear sister
soon going to go be with the Lord. And before they even passed
away, I was at least in my mind working on a funeral message
for them. Sometimes it was a complete, I got an utter surprise. I got
a call and they said, so-and-so has passed away. I said, what?
Had no idea it was coming. It's coming soon. It's coming
soon. Do you know three times in the
book of Revelation, the Lord said, behold, I come quickly. Now he's coming quickly. I mean,
it's gonna be soon. And young people might not understand
that exactly. But as we start to get older,
we start to understand how fast the years go, how fast that they
go. The Lord's coming quickly. Now
I believe that and you do too. By God's grace, I'm sure everybody
in this room believes that the Lord's coming and he's going
to come soon. But do you know that there are
scoffers in this world that do not believe that Christ is coming
back? They don't believe it. Peter
says here in verse three, knowing this first, that there shall
come in the last day scoffers. They're walking after their own
lust, after their own desires. This is what motivates, the truth
is not what motivates them. They're walking after their own
lust and saying, where is the promise of his coming? For since
the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were
from the beginning of creation. Now what these scoffers are asking
really is where's the fulfillment? of the promise of the Lord's
return. I mean, after all this time, he hasn't returned. That
must mean he's not going to return. And I'm sure in their heart,
what they really want that to believe is he doesn't exist.
The Lord Jesus Christ does not exist. That's why he's not coming
back. Now, the only people that would
ask such question are scoffers, scoffers. And I looked that word
up in Strong's and this word scoffers comes from the root
word meaning to trifle with or to play with. These scoffers
are trifling with the word of God. They're just playing with
the word of God, using it to promote their own agendas, and
using it to enable them to walk after their own lust and their
own desires. They scoff at the gospel. They
just, that's ridiculous. Only somebody without a mind
would believe such a thing. They scoff at people who believe
the gospel. But you know what the biggest thing that they're
scoffing at? Here's where their real problem lies. It's the kingship
of Christ. The kingship of Christ, their
point of rebellion. We talked about their point of
rebellion in the lesson this morning. Here's their point of
rebellion. It's the crown rights of the Lord Jesus Christ to do
with his own as he will. It's his crown rights to show
mercy to one and to pass another by. It's his crown rights to
love Jacob and hate Esau. That's their problem. They think
they deserve for God to love them. They think they deserve
for God to save them. They scoff at the notion of righteousness
by the obedience of Christ. How can one man who lived when
we did not live and who we'd never seen, how can his obedience
be my obedience? That's foolishness. If I'm going
to have an obedience before God, I got to contribute to it. I've
got to do it. They scoff at the sacrifice of
Christ alone. They say now, yes, Christ died
for sinners. He died for everybody. But now
in order to make that salvation effectual for you, you have to
believe, or you have to do this, or you have to do some ceremony.
Redemption cannot be found in the blood of Christ alone. No,
no, no, you have to do something to add to it, to make it effectual.
All that is doing is scoffing at the sacrifice of Christ alone.
They scoff at the word of God alone. They say, oh, you know,
I mean, that's not all true. That's just men's, you know,
impression. How do we know that's all true?
So the men were talking before the service, you know, at one
time, and even when they were compiling the King James Version,
there's a lot of people that did not want the book of James
in the scripture. They didn't want the scripture
saying that Abraham was justified by works. They don't want that
being said at all. They said that can't be true.
They scoff at the word of God because they don't know what
it means. They wrestle and they twist with it because God just
has not shown them what it means. We quit trifling with the word
of God. if God ever shows us what it
means, who it points to. God help us that we don't ever
trifle and play with the word of God here. God help us not
to do that. See these scoffers, here's their
problem. They don't want to bow to the kingship of Christ. They
don't want to be dependent on Christ to save them. They want
to think they can do something to save themselves. They want
to depend on themselves. I tell you, that's all I want. All I want is for Christ to save
me by himself. I just want to depend on him
alone because I can't do it. And he has, but these scoffers,
they don't want to be dependent on Christ to save them. So here's
how they trifle with and play with the word of God. They look
for inconsistencies in the word of God. They look for things,
say, well, you know, this says this, and that's not true. That's
not happened. Since that hasn't happened, why? All the rest of it must not be
true either. And we don't have to worry about Christ returning
and judging us. That's their whole agenda. They
say, these scholars say, now Christ is not coming again. Of
course he's not coming again. Nothing has changed since the
ancient times. Since the time of creation, why
nothing's changed. The seasons keep going, you know,
as they do at a particular time every year. The sun, the moon,
the stars, and the earth, and the planets, they all stay in
their orbits. Nothing's changed. And since
nothing's changed, nothing will change. See what they don't know
is a thousand years is to the Lord is a day. And the day is
a thousand years. Things have changed. But look
at verse five. Things have changed. For this
they're willingly ignorant of. That by the word of God, the
heavens were of old and the earth standing out of the water and
in the water. Now these scoffers are willingly
ignorant of three things. And when you're willingly ignorant,
it's your own fault. It's your own fault that you
don't know these things. Because you're covering your eyes when
somebody's trying to show you, or you're covering your ears
when somebody's trying to tell you. They're willingly ignorant
of. The first thing they're willingly
ignorant of is this. Almighty God is the creator.
Now the scriptures can't be more plain on this. God's the creator. He's the creator of heaven and
earth. All through scripture, the prophets and the apostles,
one of the ways that they most frequently identified the God
of heaven and earth is He's the creator. He's the creator. And since He's the creator, it
all belongs to Him. It's all His to govern. It's
all His to dispose of as He will. And here's His power. There was
nothing. The universe was a I don't know
what you call it, a blank slate, a black hole, whatever. There's
nothing. And God spoke and suddenly there was something. God didn't
take a globe and fashion it into the earth. There was nothing.
And God said, let it appear. And it appeared. God spoke this
world into existence. You talk about the power of God,
the power and the wisdom of God. Look at how this earth operates
and functions. I mean, how nature functions
to keep the earth full of water and full of air. It's unbelievable. It's the wisdom of God. And what
we see is a world ruined by sin. It's still beautiful. It's still
wondrous how it all works together, isn't it? I mean, only God has
wisdom. Only God can create something
so beautiful and wonderful. All you've got to do, and Paul
said this in the book of Romans, all you've got to do to see that
God is, is look at nature. Look at creation. Somebody created
this. There's no leap of logic to say,
to believe God created the heavens and the earth. Somebody had to
create, I mean, just your natural intelligence tells you that.
Now, it doesn't tell you about his grace. It doesn't tell you
about his mercy. It doesn't tell you about his
justice. It doesn't tell you about his purpose of redemption
and his son, but at least creation tells you that God is, doesn't
it? If you want to believe evolution, You got to take gigantic leaps
of logic to say how from some amoeba became a man. I mean,
I'm not even going to spend time poking holes in that. It's just,
it's ridiculous. It's ridiculous. You got to make
such leaps of logic and these scoffers do it because they don't
want to admit that God is. And I'm not really trying to
prove to you God created the heavens and the earth. God's
word says it's so-so, isn't it? It's so. But I want to tell you
what I love about God the creator. Almighty God created the heavens
and the earth for a purpose. For a purpose. so that his son
would get the glory in redeeming a fallen sinful people out of
the lump of Adam's fallen race. That was God's purpose in creation,
to glorify his son in saving a sinner like me. The purpose
of God's creation is his redemptive glory. And I love that. I rejoice in that, to think about
God creating this earth for the glory of his son. For allowing
man to fall for the glory of his son. And sending his son
to redeem those people by his sacrifice so that his son would
be glorified. And giving us this gospel to
preach for this purpose, to glorify Christ. Not to talk people into
anything. I mean, if that was the preacher's
job, I wouldn't beat one. I mean, if I had to be a salesman,
we'd starve. We'd starve if I had to do that.
I don't have that skill. But now, if God will enable us,
we can talk about the glory of Christ, can't we? That's why
God created this earth. All right, number two, here's
the second thing. They're willingly ignorant of
this. All things have not remained
the same since creation. Verse six says, whereby the world
that then was being overflowed with water perished. All things
haven't remained the same as they were from the time of creation.
Everything remained the same up until the days of Noah and
then God sent a flood and he destroyed the entire planet. He has destroyed every living
creature on the face of the earth. except for Noah and his family
and those animals that were found in the ark. He destroyed it all
with water. And you know, there's geographical,
geological, geological is the word, evidence that there was
a great flood. Who cares? Who cares? God's word says there was a flood.
That's all we have to have to believe God's words that there
was a flood. He sent his justice to destroy man because that he
created on the face of the earth because of his sin. Faith doesn't
need any scientific evidence to believe God. The flood of
Noah was a frightening, awesome display of God's judgment against
sin. that God sent rain and opened
up the floodgates of the earth to cover the entire planet. How many feet? I forget. Above
the highest mountain, above Mount Everest, above the highest mountain,
water was above it all. And it stayed there for 40 days.
I mean, my soul. Or I mean, it rained for 40 days
and it took a long time for all that water to go down. That's
a frightening display of God's judgment, isn't it? And again, I'm not trying to
prove to you God flooded the earth, but I want to tell you
what I love about this story of the flood. Oh, it shows a
frightening display of God's justice, doesn't it? His hatred
against sin, but it also shows God's mercy and God's grace to
his people and the Lord Jesus Christ. 120 years before God
sent the flood, Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. And
the Lord told Noah what he was gonna do. He says, so Noah, here's
what you do. You build an ark. You build an
ark. He gave him all the instructions
for how to build it. All Noah had to do is build the ark. God'll
call the animals. God'll bring them in. God'll,
you know, build the ark. And when it came time, Noah went
in the ark. All the animals were in the ark.
Noah and his family went in the ark. And almighty God shut the
door. God didn't send the rain until
he shut the door. That rain is God's judgment against
sin, right? Not one drop of God's rain fell
on Noah. Not one drop of God's justice
fell upon Noah. Now God's justice fell against
the sin of Noah and against the sin of his family, didn't it?
But where did it land? On the ark. Everybody else drowned
in the depths of that flood. Noah floated on top of it in
the ark, a picture of Christ. Before God destroyed the world
with water, he gave us a picture of how he's going to redeem his
people in his son. He's going to put his people
in his son and his son's going to die as the substitute for
his people. God's wrath is still, God's holy. Now God must punish sin. God's
wrath is still going to fall on the sin of his elect. God
has an elect people. He's determined to save them.
But before God can save them, his justice has got to be satisfied.
And in God's wisdom, in God's mercy and grace, He made his
son sin for his people and he poured out his wrath on his son
as our substitute. And the son took it all so that
not one drop of God's justice will ever fall on any of God's
people. Oh, I love that. They give such
peace to my soul, don't you? Then here's the third thing they're
willingly ignorant of. Christ is the one holding all
this thing together even now. Verse seven says, but the heavens
and the earth, which are now by the same word are kept in
store, reserved under fire against the day of judgment and perdition
of ungodly men. The Lord Jesus Christ, he is
the word of God that created all things. John one says that
in the beginning was the word, capital W. I was talking about
a person, the Lord Jesus Christ. The word was with God, the word
was God. The same was in the beginning
with God and all things were created by him. Without him,
there's not anything made that was made. The Lord Jesus Christ
is the creator. He's the one that spoke and said,
let there be light. Now, 6,000 years later, the earth
is still hanging in space with no visible support. The planets
all revolving around the sun and in their orbits, they all
stay in their orbits, the moons and the stars and all these things.
And I mean, if you could really just look at that, see how all
this is moving around all at one time, you'd have to wonder,
how does all this stuff not come crashing into each other? You
know how? By the power of the word of God.
He holds it all together by His power, by His purpose. Look back
at Colossians chapter one. All this is by the power of Christ
our Savior. Colossians 1 verse 16. For by him were all things created
that are in heaven and earth, visible and invisible, whether
they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.
All things were created by him and for him, for his glory. And
he is before all things. And by him, all things consist. See, it's by Christ that all
things consist. It's by his power, the earth
stays full of air and full of water and full of food and stays
in its orbit. It's by the power of Christ.
Now, this is just Frank's advice. Take care of God's earth. I mean,
doesn't that just make sense? Take care of God's earth. I mean,
don't be polluting it and treating it bad. It's God's earth. But
also don't ever be deceived into thinking that man can do something
to keep it going. You all think, well, now if we
cut down our greenhouse gases, then the earth won't flood again,
or we won't have all these horrible things happen that will destroy
the earth. Man's not the one keeping this earth from being
destroyed. And also don't ever think man's going to do something
to destroy it. Oh, we do all this stuff by,
you know, the earth is going to be destroyed and you know,
we're all going to die. Nothing we can do about it. No, sir.
Man's not going to be the one to destroy this earth. No. Christ
our savior is going to hold this earth together until his purpose
is complete. There's going to be planting
and harvest and sun and moon and stars and all these things
happening right when they're supposed to happen until God
is done with this earth. Christ is the one holding it
all together. And when his purpose is complete, when all his people
have been brought to Christ and whatever other purpose God may
have and you know, things of this earth, then he will return. He will return and he's the one
that's going to burn it up. And he's not just going to burn
it up and be done with it. He's going to burn it up. And then
he's going to create new heavens and a new earth wherein dwells
righteousness, where there's no more sin, no more even hint
of sin. Now that's just so, and I'm not
trying to convince you that that's so, we just read it from God's
word. If you say that's not so, I'm sorry, but you're being willingly
ignorant. But I tell you, I love it. I
love that this is so. I love to think that all of creation,
that everything that happens in it is in the hand of Christ
the Savior and he's working it together to accomplish his purpose. And I don't understand it. We
were talking before the service, you know, when I was a young
man, I used to think I understood something of what God was doing.
Now I know I don't understand anything about what he's doing.
I mean, I don't understand anything about what God's doing, but that's
okay. I trust him that he's doing it
right. And he's doing it to accomplish his glorious purpose. I love
that. I love that. Now don't be willingly
ignorant of this. Don't be willingly ignorant,
because you've been told. You've been told from God's word,
let's not be willingly ignorant. And don't you worry about these
scoffers. Don't you worry about them one bit. And don't you listen
to them. Look what Peter says in verse
nine. The Lord's not slack concerning his promise, as some men count
slackness, but as long suffering to usward, not willing that any
should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Now, These
scoffers, they take this to say, well, you know, the Lord wants
to save everybody. He's not willing that anybody should perish and
people still do perish so the Lord can keep his promise. So
all the rest of his promises are meaningless too. That's not
what this is saying at all. The Lord is not slack concerning
any of his promises, particularly his promise of redemption. You
have to question the Lord's promises. Do you know that's to question
the very character of God? That's pretty serious, isn't
it? The question of the very character of God. And like I
said, I don't know everything there is to know. I don't know
everything there is to know about God and what he's doing, but I do
know this. God will keep his promises. Whatever promises that
we read in his book, I promise you he's gonna keep them. He's
gonna bring them to pass. I know that. And one of God's
promises is that Christ is coming again. I know he is because he
promised that he would. He promised that he'd come again.
And the only reason that Christ hasn't returned yet is all of
his elect have not been brought into the fold. That's the only
reason that he hasn't come yet. Well, then what about these scoffers?
How do you answer these scoffers? They say, well, you know, he
promised that he doesn't want anybody to perish, but people
do. How do you answer that question?
Who is the us, the us word? Who is the any in verse nine?
Well, if you look back at chapter one, We'll find out. See, we have to find out to whom
Peter is writing. It's not just to the whole wide
world. Who is it he's writing to? Well, he tells us in verse
one, Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered
throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect unto
the foreknowledge of God the Father through sanctification
of the spirit and the obedience and sprinkling of the blood of
Christ. Grace be unto you and peace be multiplied. Who is the,
well, let's go on, verse three. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Which according to his abundant
mercy hath begotten us again, and to a lively, living hope
by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance,
incorruptible, undefiled, that fadeth not away, reserved in
heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith
unto salvation, ready to be revealed at the last time. Now, who is
the us? It's verse two, those who are
elect according to the foreknowledge of God, the father. That's who
he's talking to. You know what? I'm so sorry. I was reading from first Peter
that applies to like a second Peter. I was looking for a phrase
I wasn't finding. Here's who Peter's writing to
in second Peter. Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus
Christ, to them who have obtained like precious faith with us. That's who Peter's talking about.
The us are those who have obtained like precious faith. They didn't
earn it, they obtained it. God gave it to them. Verse two
says, grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge
of Christ Jesus our Lord. According as his divine power
hath given unto us all things. that pertain unto life and godliness
through the knowledge of him who has called us to glory and
virtue. The us is all those who have
received eternal life, who have received this goodness and the
godliness as a gift of God's grace. That's who he or Peter's
writing to. Verse four, he says, whereby
are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises that by
these ye might be partakers of the divine nature. That's who
Peter's writing to, those who have been born again. They've
been made partakers of the divine nature. They've been born again.
He's not writing to everybody. He's writing to those that God
chose, elected to save. He's writing to those that God
has given like precious faith. He's called writing to those
who've been born again, born again by the power of the Holy
Spirit. God's not willing that any of
those people should perish. But all of those people, they're
going to be brought to faith in Christ. They're never going
to perish. And Christ is not going to return until they're
all brought to faith in Christ. Now, again, I'm not just trying
to prove to you the fact that Christ is coming. That's not
what I'm trying to do. That's not my goal. What I want
us to do is believe that Christ is coming again and look forward
to it. Look forward to it. Looking forward
to the blessing of it. Oh, there's what blessing there's
gonna be for God's people when he returns. I want us to live
in this sinful world, enjoying a blessed hope. And that hope
is an expectation of what Christ is gonna do when he returns.
Now very quickly, where is the promise of his coming? It's all
through this book. And I'm gonna give you four of
these promises. And then show you four reasons that we have
to rejoice that Christ is coming again. Number one, look at Job,
the book of Job chapter 19. Job 19 verse 23. Job says, oh, that my words were
now written. Oh, that they were printed in
a book, that they were graven with an iron pen and led in the
rock forever. She carved these things in the
rock of my tombstone. For I know that my redeemer liveth
and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. And
though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall
I see God, whom I shall see for myself and mine eyes shall behold,
and not another. He won't be a stranger, I'm going
to know him, though my reins be consumed within me." When
Christ returns, all of God's people are going to be like Job.
They're going to see Christ face to face. You know, long after
I've died, my body returns to the dust from which it was made.
When Christ returns, that dust is going to be raised again in
a body, a body that looks just like this one. That's going to
be without sin. That's going to be glorified flesh. But with
these eyes, glorified eyes, you know, we're all going to look
like ourselves when we're resurrected. We're all going to look like
ourselves in glory. And with these eyes, I'm going to see
Christ. I'm going to see him face to
face and he won't be a stranger. I'm going to know him. And then
I'm going to know him who saved me from my sin. I'm going to
know him. And the word see, it doesn't,
that Job uses here, it doesn't mean just behold him, like I
see you all, you know, I can tell you all here. The word means
to see in an ecstatic state, to be overcome with joy and happiness
at seeing Christ face to face. Now that joy of seeing him face
to face is greater than any of us can ever imagine. It's great
and as wonderful as we think it is, it's gonna far surpass
what we think. Oh, I look forward to that day.
I look forward to it. And we should live this life,
doing what we got to do, taking care of what we got to take care
of, looking forward to that joy of seeing Christ. This world
is not all there is. I'm expecting a joy to see him
when he returns. All right, number two, look at
Matthew chapter 24. Matthew 24. Verse 29. Immediately after the tribulation
of those days shall the sun be darkened and the moon shall not
give her light and the stars shall fall from heaven and the
powers of heaven shall be shaken and then shall appear the sign
of the Son of Man in heaven. And then shall all the tribes
of the earth mourn and they shall see the Son of Man coming in
the clouds of heaven with power and great glory And he shall
send his angels with a great shout of a trumpet, and they
shall gather together his elect from the four winds, and from
one end of heaven to the other. You don't have to be frightened
of all the mysterious things that are going to happen when
Christ returns. When Christ returns, he's going
to send his angels. He's going to gather together
his people and they're going to take them to be with Christ
forever. He's going to gather together
his people and take them out of this earth before he destroys
it with fire. I tell you the thing that thrills
my heart the most about Christ's return It's who's coming. It's who's coming. We'll see
him and be taken to be with him forever. I say this all the time,
streets of gold and pearly gates and crowns on our head, doesn't
matter to the believer one bit. It's to see him and he's going
to gather together his people, be taken to be together with
him forever. How can we not cry, hasten Lord
the day? Now Philippians chapter three, Philippians chapter three, verse 20. For our conversation, our citizenship,
it's not of this world, it's in heaven. For whence also we
look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change
our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious
body, according to the working, whereby he is able even to subdue
all things unto himself. When Christ returns, when we
see him as he is, we'll be changed and we'll be just like him. Body
and soul made just like Him. Now all we know is sin. All we know is a body of sin,
a world of sin, a nature of sin. So it is far too great for us
to be able to comprehend what it will be like to be sinless. to not have a nature of sin anymore,
to not have thoughts and desires of sin anymore, to not commit
sins anymore, to not even desire to sin anymore, but to be made
just like Christ. Believers have been born again
with a new nature, a nature that's righteous, a nature that's holy,
a nature that cannot sin, but that nature is forced to live
in a sinful body, isn't it? That's the problem that we have
living in this world. We're living in this body that's
being torn apart constantly by a civil war between the new man
and the old man. That's our problem. But then
we'll not have that battle anymore. We'll be made body and soul just
like Christ. And the nature of Adam will be
eliminated. Now the joy of not being like
me anymore. To not be like Adam anymore,
but to be made just like Christ. I mean, just like the Lord Jesus
Christ. How can we not say hasten Lord
today? And then last look at Hebrews
chapter nine. Hebrews chapter nine. Verse 27, as it is appointed
unto men once to die, but after this the judgment. So Christ
was once offered to bear the sins of many and unto them that
look for him, shall he appear the second time without sin unto
salvation. When Christ returns, our salvation
will be complete. Now we are saved, God's people
are saved. We're being saved. And one day
we shall be saved, won't we? One day we're going to be plumb
saved. And that's the day that Christ returns. When Christ returns,
that salvation will be complete. We'll be made just like Christ.
We'll be righteous in both body and soul. We'll be holy. We'll
be sinless. We'll be complete. Complete. Hasten, Lord, the day. Now, since
that's true, How should we live the rest of our life here on
earth? Let me read it to you without making comment. Peter
tells us beginning in 2 Peter 3 verse 10, here's how we should
live the rest of our life here on earth. Verse 11, seeing then
that all these things should be dissolved, what manner of
persons ought you to be in all holy conversation and godliness?
we should be looking for, and hastening unto the coming of
the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved,
and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. Nevertheless, we,
according to his promise, look for new heavens, and a new earth
wherein dwells righteousness. Now you live expecting that.
Wherefore, beloved, seeing that you look for such things, be
diligent that you be found of him in peace, without spot, and
blameless. You be diligent to seek that
you're found in Christ, not in your own self. and account that
the long-suffering of our Lord is salvation, even as our beloved
brother Paul, also according to the wisdom given unto him,
hath written unto you. As also in all his epistles,
speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard
to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable
rest, as they also do the other scriptures, under their own destruction. But now ye therefore, beloved,
seeing you know these things before, you beware, lest ye also
be led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own
steadfastness. But you seek to grow in grace
and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. To
him be glory now and forever. Amen. Let me give you just And
one sentence summary of what Peter's saying there. I got this
from brother Don Ford. I heard him say this one time
and I love it. Since we're looking for Christ to return, we're looking
for the joy of it. We're looking for the ecstasy
of it. Oh, the joy when Christ returns. Live your life, doing
what it is that God gave you to do. Whatever it is that God's
put to your hand to do today, do it with all your might. I
mean, everything you got. Raise your family. Teach your
children. Do a job. Do a good job. Be a
good neighbor. Be the best husband you can be. Be the best wife that you can
be. Whatever, take care of whatever it is that God's given you in
this life, you know, take care of it. It's God's gift to you.
Take care of it. But Don says while you're doing
all that, live on the tiptoe of faith, looking for his return. Oh, he's coming. He's coming. And knowing he's coming and looking
for him to come will be a great help to you as
you're going through this failed two years until the Lord calls
us home. All right. I hope that'll be
a blessing and help to you. Let's bow together. Our father, our hearts are overcome. at the thought of your mercy
and your grace to your people and our Lord Jesus Christ. That
you'd save your people from our sin by slaughtering your own
son, to put away our sin by washing us in his precious blood. by
calling us to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, by calling us through
your gospel, giving us faith. You've given us all these opportunities
to meet together and read and study your word, have Christ
preach to us, to have your word open to us. And we might feed
on your word. We grow in grace and knowledge
of our Lord Jesus Christ. And Father, how we thank you
for the precious promise. That this world is not all there
is. That you're coming again to receive your people into yourself.
Father, we're so thankful. Cause this to encourage our hearts,
to comfort our hearts, to encourage us to press on in this journey
here below, knowing that our savior is coming and he won't
be one second late. Father, it's our prayer that
you come quickly. It's in Christ's name, for his
sake and his glory, we pray.