But the heavens and the earth,
which are now by the same word, are kept in store, reserved unto
fire, against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day
is with the Lord as a thousand years. A thousand years is one
day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count
slackness. but is longsuffering to usward,
not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will
come as the thief of the night, in which the heavens shall pass
away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat, the earth also, and the works that are therein
shall be burned up. seeing then that all these things
shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in
all holy conversation and godliness, 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 dwelleth
Now, Peter says that we know, we are convinced, we are very
aware, we know this up front, that in the last days, scoffers,
mockers, ridiculers of the gospel, walking
after their own lust, following the devices and the desires of
their own hearts and affections. These mockers are going to be
saying this, Where is the promise of His coming? Actually, what
they are saying is, We think that the Lord you preach is a
liar. That is what they are saying. We don't believe you. Where is
the promise of His coming? We think He is a liar. In preaching
the false gospel, this is the essence of their message, any
man, any woman that believes not the gospel of God's free
grace. What they say is, we believe
that the God that you're preaching is a liar. We don't believe you
and don't believe Him. mockers. They willfully, the
Scripture says, forget. Or this is what that phrase actually
meant. They possess a spirit of forgetfulness
as opposed to the spirit of remembrance that the believer has. You know,
when the Lord said, when Paul says, that which I delivered
unto you, which the Lord gave me in the last day in which he
was betrayed. He said, this do in remembrance
of me, possess a spirit, a mind of remembrance, remembering who
he is, what he said, what he's done. Now, he says they willfully
forget. It's not that they've decided,
all right, I'm going to just will myself to forget that. Well,
you can say all day long, I'm going to forget something. But
in saying you're going to forget it, you're still remembering
something. But this phrase means that they possess a spirit of
forgetfulness. They just don't have it, don't
possess it. And this is what they forget.
They forget that by the Word of God, the heavens were of old
and the earth standing out of the water and in the water. willfully
forget. They forget that God is sovereign. They forget that God is sovereign
in power, in creation, in salvation, and in providence. They just
forget it. They just don't know it. Someone says, Well, I believe
that God is wanting desires I believe that God is wanting to save everybody. Well, I tell you what, you have
a spirit of forgetfulness. That's what you possess. He speaks and it is. The earth,
by His Word, was compacted, just standing out of the water and
in the water. Literally, this is what that verse says. It says,
ìA heaven and a earth formed out of water, and by the means
of water, by the appointment of God." Turn to Genesis 1. This
is why you turn, Genesis 1. A heaven and an earth formed
out of water and by the means of water, by the appointment
of God. Genesis 1.1 says this, ìIn the
beginning God created the heaven and the earth, and the earth
was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of
the deep, and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters."
Look at verse 6, and God said, ìLet there be a firmament in
the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from
the waters.î They forget that Almighty God sovereignly spoke
and made everything. And here they are also willingly
ignorant in that the world, that is, the order that then was,
being overflowed with the water, perished. The Scripture says
that God Almighty destroyed, saw that every thought, the imagination
of man's heart was evil continually. And all of the people that was
in all of the earth, there was one man that found grace in God's
eyes. One man that God looked upon
in favor. One. Noah. Noah found grace in
the eyes of the Lord. For Noah's sake, God Almighty
told him to prepare an ark. And you know what God did with
the rest of them? He killed them all. He killed every one of them.
Noah, his wife, their sons and their wives, that was it. For
Noah's sake, his family was spared. Everybody else died. Is that
fair? Was God fair to do that? Sure
He was. Sure He was. Why? Because every
thought or imagination of their hearts was evil continually.
But God chose to show mercy to Noah. and the rest of them perished. Men willfully forget that. Men
and women today treat the gospel like it's nothing. I'll just
take it or leave it. That's no big deal. I just don't
have time. Well, in that day, they willfully forget. Likewise,
verse 7, but the heavens and the earth, which are now, by
the same word, the word that spoke everything into existence,
are kept in store, reserved under fire against the day of judgment
and perdition, ungodly men. This present earth is maintaining
its stability, and it exists only according to the good pleasure
of God at His Word, all that we are, all that we see, all
that we know according to this world, the way you see it right
now is going to be absolutely destroyed. I'm going to deal
with this a little bit more fully in a New Heaven and a New Earth
in this next sermon, but for right now, this is what I'm telling
you. Everything that you see, everything
that you behold, the way you see it, is going to be absolutely
destroyed. Peter says in verse 8, ìBut,
beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day for the
Lord is a thousand years, a thousand years is a day.î Donít let the
mockers who doubt Godís Word and questions the fact that all
things are remaining at this time since the day of old according
to God's purpose. Don't be fooled. The Lord's long-suffering. God, verse 9, says the Lord's
not slack concerning His promise. Boy, you talk about an abused
passage of Scripture. I've heard men quote this. It
says, The Scripture says that God is long-suffering, not willing
that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Well, the only problem with that
is that if they'd quote it exactly the way it's written, then you'd
understand it. You see, they misquote it. The
Scripture says the Lord is not slack concerning his promise.
God's promised something. As some men count slackness,
but as longsuffering to usward. I'll tell you this, if you'll
ever figure out who Peter's writing to, you'll figure out real quickly
whose God's promise is to. To God's elect, to God's chosen,
to God's people, the Lord's longsuffering or his patience, interpreted
by mockers to be slackness or tardiness. Where's the promise
of His coming? Everything's just like it is.
It's always been like this. It's always going to be like
this. No, it isn't. God Almighty is maintaining this
earth. Let me just interpret this in
the way that everybody can understand what I'm saying. Do you know
why this earth is still here? is because Almighty God has an
elect. He has chosen a people, and if
we had time, I'd go back and show you, and I'd be glad to
show you. God has a people that he's chosen out of every nation,
kindred, tribe, and tongue. An elect that he has loved everlastingly. He has always considered them
in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ their surety. He's always
looked upon them in favor. He has never looked upon them
in wrath. Never. He said, I've loved you
with an everlasting love. I love righteousness and I hate
iniquity. He's always considered them in
his son. Every one, the Lord Jesus Christ
said in John 6, 37, all that the Father giveth me, that is,
in eternal election, shall come to me. And him that comes to
me, I will in no wise cast him out. Do you know why this earth
is still here right now? Because I can tell you this,
God Almighty still has an elect that He's going to call out.
And when all of God's elect that He's everlastingly loved are
called out of darkness. It's over. And those that remain
will stand before God in their rebellion against God. And they will then hear Him say,
ìDepart from Me, you workers of iniquity. I never knew you.î I tell you, the ones that you
can just write this down, God's people They love Christ called
out of darkness. They love Christ. They love His
gospel, faithful, dependable. They love it because they love
Him and they love His people. They are faithful, faithful,
faithful, faithful people. And when God calls them out,
you will know them how? By their fruit, by their fruit. But the day of the Lord, verse
10, will come as a thief in the night in which the heavens will
pass away Great noise, the elements shall melt with fervent heat,
and the earth also, and the works that are therein shall be burned
up. The day that God has appointed, in which He will judge the world
in righteousness, is going to come as a thief in the night,
in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye." That was that word
we looked at, moment. That meant a time that cannot
be divided. I just can't, I can't even imagine
anything that quick. I mean, they talk about computers,
you know, and they'll throw out a number here, you know, that
long. They said, now, we can divide that. This word means
undividable. Now, that's fast. A thief in
the night, suddenly, without warning as to its exact date
and without notice of the wicked, what will they be doing? They'll
be saying, it's peace. Peace, everything's fine. Everything's
peaceful. Everything's fine. No big deal.
He is not coming anyway. Everything is going to remain
just like it is. The heavens shall pass away,
perish with a great noise. I looked up that word, great
noise, and you know what it means? A whizzing. A whizzing. Just a noise that is so great,
so fast, so quick. And the elements shall melt with
fervent heat. The earth also and the works
that are therein shall be burned up. Everything that has been tainted
with sin, which is everything, everything, everything that has
been spoiled, the animals, the vegetation, man's works, cities,
books, money, everything, you know, everything. It will be
over. The works that are therein shall
be consumed wholly, completely, seeing then that all these things
shall be dissolved. What manner of persons ought
ye to be in all holy conversation in godliness? See that all these
things, these elements, shall be burned up, dissolved, melted. What manner or what possible
sort of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and
godliness. Someone says, well, I just, you
know, I'm just a sinner. I just, you know, just excuse
it all. There is a nature in a believer
that does not sin. And that nature strives against
that old nature. It hates it. There is a nature
in a believer that loves God. There is a nature. I've heard
people say, well, you know, nobody's perfect. In Christ, God's people are.
They don't sin. Some might say, well, I heard
Marvin Stoniker say that believers don't sin. Let me tell you something. That which is born of God, that
which is born of God, That new nature. There's a new nature.
And that new nature does not sin. Paul says, in this flesh,
I serve the law of sin. I bow to it. But he said, in
my new mind, the law of God. Can you grab hold of that? There's
two natures in a believer. One of them loves God Almighty,
bows, believes Him, trusts Him, rests in Him. And there's an
old nature that he was born with in Adam. And it hates God. Somebody
says, you mean to tell me there's a nature in a believer that actually
hates God? Yes, I am telling you that. That
which is flesh is flesh. It will always be flesh. That's
why it strives. It's going against their opposites.
They hate each other. They hate each other. Paul said,
O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body
of this death? looking for and hastening unto
the coming of the day of God wherein the heavens shall be
on fire, dissolved, elements melt away with fervent heat.
God's people are watching and anticipating, desiring earnestly
the coming of the day of the Lord, the day in which God Almighty
will be manifest in power and glory wherein the heavens being
on fire, that is, ignited and glowing shall be dissolved, melted
away, and the elements shall be burnt up." Melted. Melted. Melted. In verse 10, there's
a word. I'll stop right here. It says
in verse 10, But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in
the night, in which the heavens shall pass away with a great
noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. That word melt there means to
loosen. In verse 12, looking for and
hastening unto the coming of the day of God wherein the heavens
shall be on fire, shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with
a fervent heat. That word means to thaw or to
waste away. I am telling you that for the
next message. It is going to be melted with
a fervent heat. Nevertheless, we look Nevertheless,
we, according to His promise, look for a new heaven and a new
earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. Next service. We're going to
take a little break right now. In the next service, in about
ten minutes, I'm going to pick up with that thought, verse 13
out of verse 1 in chapter 21 of Revelation. So let's be dismissed
for a few minutes.