Open your Bibles to Ezekiel chapter
12. Now the title of the message
from this chapter is God's message to sinful men. God's message
to sinful men. And that message can be summed
up in the command of the gospel in totality. which is repent
and turn to the Lord, God of salvation, the God of grace,
the God of promise. For there is none else. There's
no other way of salvation, but that which he freely and fully
provides for his people in and by the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
the summation of God's message, but there are details and I want
to just read through this passage. I'll make a few comments as I
read through it, but I want to draw it all to a conclusion that
I believe is so significant, not only for the generation that
Ezekiel is preaching to, but for our generation, because it's,
it's an everlasting, eternal, universal message in the sense
that it needs to be preached to all without exception, needs
to be preached all over the world. And you have to understand the
mindset of the people as Ezekiel is prophesying. He just finished
a segment of his prophecy where he was taken up in a vision and
taken to Jerusalem and to the east gate of the temple. And
it was made clear through that vision that God revealed to him
and to the leaders of the people And as Ezekiel came back, you
remember it said in the last chapter, chapter 11, verse 24,
look at that. It says, afterwards, the spirit
took me up, brought me in a vision by the spirit of God into Chaldea.
In other words, in the vision, he was brought back to Babylon
to preach to the people there and by the river Kedar, that's
where his location was. It's where his house was or his
dwelling. and to them of the captivity."
That's who he's preaching to now, those who are in captivity.
He revealed things about those who were still remaining in Jerusalem,
about their false peace and their false ways. And he says, so the
vision that I had seen went up from me. And he says, then I
spake unto them of the captivity, all the things that the Lord
had shown. And so what happens here, the first thing it says,
verse one of chapter 12, the word of the Lord also came into
me saying, son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a rebellious
house, your family. That's what he's talking about.
The house is the household. That's the family. And what he's
talking about there is the children of Israel, the Jews. And you're
dwelling in the midst of that. But now those words, which apply
to rebellious Israel are words that apply to all of us by nature. How do we know that? The Bible
tells us so. The Bible tells us that this
is the state of all men and women by nature. Not just one, not
just the Jews, not just the Gentiles, not just one segment of the Jews
or one segment of the Gentiles, but all by nature. And so the
first thing, the first thing in God's message to sinful men
is the fact of our sin, the reality of our sin, the total depravity
of man. And he says, Ezekiel, you dwell
in the midst of a rebellious house, which have eyes to see
and see not. Now that's common language describing
the total depravity of man there, isn't it? In other words, we
have physical eyes. Now, even physical eyes means
that we have understanding of some things, mental understanding
of some things. I mean, even the heathen can
tell you that this world's in a mess. Even lost religious people
can tell you that. They'll agree with you. We live
in a sinful world, and it's in a mess. And he says, they have
ears. Listen to this. They have ears and hear not,
for they are a rebellious house. He's not saying this and he's
not telling Ezekiel this as if Ezekiel was better than the rest
of them. You see, Ezekiel was just like
Isaiah. You remember back in Isaiah chapter
six, Isaiah made this statement in verse five. He says, I dwell
in the midst of a people of unclean lips. But what did he say before
that? Remember? He says, woe is me,
for I am undone, because I'm a man of unclean lips. And Ezekiel
knew that, too, about himself. But he's delivering God's word
to the people. And I thought about this, too,
back when the Bible begins to reveal things about Noah and
the flood. And that begins in Genesis chapter
6. It says in Genesis 6, 5, it says, and God saw that the wickedness
of man was great in the earth and that every imagination of
the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And you
know, at the conclusion of Noah's episode and the flood and the
ark, it says the same thing. You read that tonight in Genesis
chapter eight. That man, in other words, the
flood itself didn't really change the heart of man. And, but when
God makes those statements, he's not singling out certain individuals
and say, now they're better than the rest. I mean, even the first
thing there's Genesis six, five, it says, it says that the imagination
of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And
then if you look down at verse eight, it speaks about Noah,
the first words that are said about Noah. And what does it
say? But Noah's heart was better. or that Noah lived a better life,
or Noah was more cooperative and less rebellious than the
rest. No, it says Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. And that sets the tone for the
whole thing. If you wanna know the meaning of Noah and the ark,
my friend, it is not the courage and the power and the goodness
and the faithfulness of Noah, even though those things are
included, But everything that can be said
about Noah that's pleasing to God can only be traced and founded
upon one thing, grace. And that's the story. And that's
the story here. God said that I'm going to destroy
Jerusalem. I'm going to destroy the leaders.
I'm going to destroy the temple. They're going to be taken into
captivity. And then Ezekiel cried out, ah, Lord God, are you going
to Are you going to destroy the remnant? And God said, no, I'm
not going to destroy the remnant. There's a remnant according to
the election of grace. And that's the issue now. So
here's the depravity of man. And then here's the paradox of
man's total depravity and man's responsibility and his accountability. He has eyes to see, but he won't
see. He has ears to hear, but he don't hear. He won't hear.
Well, man cannot see spiritually. with spiritual eyes and understanding,
and he cannot hear spiritually with spiritual ears and understanding
until something happens to him. And that's by the grace of God
through the Lord Jesus Christ. And you know what it is, that's
the new birth. He's got to be born again or he can't see the
kingdom of heaven. He's got to be born again or
he can't enter the kingdom of heaven. Until he's born again
and given spiritual eyes and spiritual ears and new heart,
what Jeremiah spoke of in the New Covenant, Jeremiah 31, what
Ezekiel will speak of, what he's already spoken of actually in
chapter 11, when he says, I'll give them, put a new spirit within
them, I'll take away the stony heart, that's the rebellious,
stubborn, unbendable, self-righteous heart, give them a heart of flesh,
humble heart, broken and contrite over sin. And Ezekiel will speak
about it more, especially in chapter 36. Christ spoke of that
to his disciples. He said, seeing they see not,
hearing they hear not, but blessed are your eyes that they see,
blessed are your ears for they hear. I'll never get over that.
I hope you don't either. If you're sitting there tonight
and you can see the glory of this message, not because I'm
preaching it, the glory of Ezekiel's message, the glory of God's message
through his preachers. Don't ever take that for granted.
That's an amazing miracle of grace. You've been born again
by the Spirit. How do you know? You rest in
Christ for all salvation. And so how do you resolve these
paradoxes, you know, when you think about that? Well, what
does God say? He says the secret things belong
to me. They're none of your business, none of my business. We can't
explain these things. But he says the revealed things
belong to us. That's why I had Brother Bill
read Isaiah chapter 45 there. You know it says there in verse
17 that Israel shall be saved. Now we can sit around and we
can argue and we can study and we can write books on who is
Israel there. Tell you exactly who Israel is.
It's the ones who are going to be saved. Doesn't it say Israel
shall be saved? And it's the ones who are going
to be saved, it says here, in the Lord. Now what does it mean
to be saved in the Lord? That means to be saved by the
grace of God through the Lord Jesus Christ. According to the
terms, not of the old covenant, but the covenant of grace. That
Lord, there's Jehovah, that's the God of grace. They're going
to be saved. They're going to be washed in
his blood, clothed in his righteousness. And then it's Israel who shall
be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation, not a
temporary salvation. Now, if you think that that's
the ones who are going to occupy Palestine on this earth, I can
tell you right now, whether they do or whether they don't, that's
still temporary. And I'm going to show you that
here in just a few minutes. Because this world is going to
be burned up. There is no heaven on this earth. Now there's not
for anybody. All right. The future glory of
the kingdom is in the new heavens and the new earth. And then he
says, yet shall not be ashamed. You shall not be shamed or nor
confounded world without end. That's eternal language that
flows right through the judgment. That's what that is. You shall
not be ashamed. When, when do people stand ashamed
before God in the Bible? At the judgment when they're
found there without Christ. That's right. How many times
do we see that? You know, I repeat it a lot in
Matthew 7. Lord, Lord, haven't we done this, done that? And
they'll be ashamed. Because you see, without Christ,
we don't have anything to boast of, be proud of, or have confidence
in. Without Christ. But in Christ,
we have everything to be proud of. Proud of Him. That's what
I'm talking about. Not ourselves. Not anything in
us, through us, or about us. But all of Him. And to have confidence
in. So that's who it is. And so what
does he say? Well, now Israel is going to
be saved. You can't do anything about it and I can't do anything
about it. You can't stop it. I can't stop it. That's what
he's telling Ezekiel to tell the people of his day. You can't
stop the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. So what are you
going to do? Well, just give up and say, well,
if I'm elect, I'm elect. No. No. Who is the Israel here? He says in verse 22, look unto
me and be ye saved. All the ends of the earth, for
I'm God. You look to Christ. That's what you're to do. That's
what I'm to do. Somebody says, well, man can't
look until God gives. That's right. That's right. You look to him if you can, if
you will. That's what it says. In the Lord
shall all the seed of Israel be justified. Who's the seed
of Israel? All who are going to be justified. What does that
mean? They're not guilty. They're righteous in God's sight
through Christ and they'll glory. What are they gonna glory in?
Well, Paul described the Israel of God this way in Galatians
6, 14, God forbid that I should glory save in the cross. That's
the glorious person and finished work of Christ. Go back to Ezekiel
12 now. So what happens here now in beginning
of verse three, God says to Ezekiel, he said, I'm using you for a
sign. That's interesting, isn't it?
That's not the first time God did this. You remember, he told
Israel, he told Moses, and he told the prophets that the priesthood,
the Levitical priesthood, the high priest, and all the Levitical
priesthood, they're signs for the people. Living, walking,
talking signs. Well, here's Ezekiel, and look
what he does here. He says in verse three, he said, therefore,
thou son of man, prepare these stuff. You've got the word instruments
in your concordance. What he's talking about is his
possessions. Prepare these stuff for removing. In other words, get prepared
to move. And he says, and remove by day
in their side. You're going to move in the side
of the people. You're gonna relocate in the
sight of the people. And thou shalt remove from thy
place to another place in their sight. I want them to see what
you're doing. It may be they will consider
though they be a rebellious house. Now think about that. What's
he saying? Well, Ezekiel's a preacher. He
doesn't know who's going to repent. He doesn't know who God's going
to bless with the regenerating work of the spirit. He doesn't
know that. And I look at it this way through myself. I don't know
when I preach the gospel, I don't know. I don't know who's going
to believe it, who's not. It just may be somebody here
tonight might believe it. That's my view. And God knows
who, doesn't he? Their name's been written in
the Lamb's book of life and before the foundation of the world.
God's known it all along. He didn't learn anything about
you or about me. He knows it already. But I don't.
And you don't. till it happens. And that's what
he's saying. Verse four, he says, he says,
then shalt thou bring forth thy stuff by day in their sight and
stuff for removing, and thou shalt go forth at evening in
their sight. In other words, in the evening
in their sight, as they that go forth into captivity. So pack
your things, Ezekiel, leave your place of dwelling as one who's
going into exile and never return. Look at verse five. Dig thou
through the wall in their sight, and carry out thereby. In their
sight thou shalt bear it upon thy shoulders, and carry it forth
in the twilight. Thou shalt cover thy face, thou
shalt not see the ground, for I have set thee for a sign under
the house of Israel." And I did so, Ezekiel says, I did what
God told me as I was commanded. I brought forth my stuff by day
as stuff for captivity, getting ready as people who are leaving
it to go in exile. In other words, you're not going
to return. That's what he's saying. You pack it and leave like somebody
who's going in exile and you're not going to return. That's why
he says don't look at the ground. You're not going to see it again.
That's the sign. And he says, as stuff for the
captivity and in the even, I dig through the wall with mine hand.
I brought it forth in the twilight and I bear it upon my shoulder
in their sight. Now, why was he going to dig
a hole? Well, that's actually the way they left. You remember
when Zedekiah, the last king of Jerusalem, the last king of
Judea, when they left, they dig through the wall and they tried
to escape. And he's being assigned here to show that that's the
way they're going. They're going to leave in shame. They're going to try to
leave and spare their lives. What's going to happen? Well,
how do you know? We'll look at the meaning of
the sign. Look at verse 8. He gives the meaning of the sign.
He says, in the morning came the word of the Lord unto me,
saying, son of man, hath not the house of Israel, the rebellious
house, said unto thee, what doest thou, what are you doing? Well,
here's what you say to them, verse 10. Say thou unto them,
thus saith the Lord God, this burden concerneth the prince
of Jerusalem. Now that's the king. Zedekiah,
who's still back there, and all the house of Israel that are
among them. And he says in verse 11, say, I am your sign. I'm delivering a message in sign
to you. Like as I have done, so shall
it be done unto them. They shall remove and go into
captivity, the ones who are left in Jerusalem. And the prince
that is among them shall bear up on his shoulder in the twilight
and shall go forth. They shall dig through the wall.
And they did that. I think you can read about that.
You may have it in your concordance there. 2nd Kings 25 read about
all this To carry it off thereby. He shall cover his face that
he see not the ground with his eyes He's never going to see
that earth again never going to return to that place again
and He says in verse 13 my net also will I spread upon him and
he shall be taken in my standard. He's trying to escape But God's
gonna throw a net on him and you know what that net is. That's
the army of Babylon. They're going to capture him
He says in verse 13, I will bring him to Babylon to the land of
the Chaldeans, yet shall he not see it, though he shall die there.
Now he's not gonna die until later. That's what he means.
But he's not gonna see it. Well, you know what happened
to Zedekiah, don't you? Nebuchadnezzar blinded him. He didn't see it,
but he lived on in captivity. Nebuchadnezzar kept him alive.
Now this is God working. Isn't this amazing to you? This
is God doing all this. And listen, God's no crystal
ball gazer here. This is God working all things
after the counsel of his own will. Look at verse 14. He says,
I will scatter toward every wind and all that are about him to
help him and all his bands and I will draw out the sword after
him. Anybody who tries to help him is going to be scattered.
And they shall know that I am the Lord. They're going to know
that God means what he says and says what he means. That's what
that is. God said it, and God will do
it. And he says, they'll know it,
that I am the Lord when I shall scatter them among the nations
and disperse them in the countries. And look at verse 16. But I will
leave a few men of them from the sword, from the famine, and
from the pestilence, that they may declare all their abominations
among the heathen, whether they come. And they shall know that
I am the Lord." So, a few of them are going to be spared and
carried to other nations to tell the tale. God's not going to
leave Himself without a witness of what went on here historically.
And they're going to tell the tale both of the greatness of
their sins, and they're going to tell the tale of the judgment
of God that they deserved. They are going to tell people
that God is God. And like I said, He means what
He says and says what He means. He carries out His threats. And He is faithful to do so. Now that is the meaning of the
sign. That is what is going to happen. Well, look at verse 17. And what He says here is this.
In all of this, there is going to be in the people, there is
going to be fear, there is going to be sorrow, there's going to
be trembling instead of peace, joy, and safety. Now remember
in the light of this, remember the false prophets, what they
were telling the people. They were saying everything's
fine, build your houses, peace, safety, you're all fine. You're
Abraham's seed. I mean, man, God wouldn't destroy
that. God made promises to Abraham's
seed, didn't he? Well, he did. You know, that
issue come up in the New Testament. Paul had to deal with it. Was
God being unfaithful to His promises here? Didn't He say, didn't we
read it back there in Isaiah 45? Oh, Israel's going to be
saved. Well, they don't look saved to
me. Look at them. They're scattered. They're destroyed. Well, it has
nothing to do with God's faithfulness because God is faithful. He's
going to do what He says. But He's going to do it His way
and His time and with His means. Look at verse 17. Moreover, the
word of the Lord came to me. You see how he keeps saying,
the word of the Lord came to me, that God's commanding him to
deliver this message. And he says in verse 18, son
of man, eat thy bread with quaking, fear and trembling. Drink thy
water with trembling, with carefulness, that's anxiousness. In other
words, there's no safety, there's no peace, there's no joy, there's
no confidence here. Verse 19, now this is Ezekiel
still being assigned to the people and he says, and say unto the
people of the land, thus saith the Lord God of the inhabitants
of Jerusalem and of the land of Israel, they shall eat their
bread with carefulness, with anxiousness, worry, drink their
water with astonishment, that her land may be desolate from
all that is therein because of the violence of all them that
dwell therein. And the cities that are inhabited
shall be laid waste, and the land shall be desolate, and you
shall know that I am the Lord." Again, you'll know that God is
God. He means what he says, says what
he means. And then in the last few verses
of this chapter, you see the proverbial lie exposed and denounced. What is the proverbial lie? You
know, that's something about lies. Sometimes they come in
the form of proverbs, don't they? Poems, sayings. Well, here it
is. Look at verse 21. Where the Lord
came unto me, saying, Son of man, what is that proverb that
you have in the land of Israel, saying, The days are prolonged,
and every vision faileth? They spoke that like a proverb.
Now, here's the way it goes, and just put it in modern-day
language. Everything goes on the same as ever. All the prophetic
warnings are false alarms. Everything that Jeremiah is saying
about destruction, false alarm. Everything Ezekiel is saying,
false alarm. They made it a proverb. And he says, tell them, verse
23, tell them. Therefore, thus saith the Lord,
I will make this proverb to cease. This proverb is going to have
a short life. That's what he's saying. They say it now, and
they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel, but saying
to them the days are at hand and the effect of every vision,
the power of every vision, the days are at hand. For there shall
be no more any vain vision nor flattering divination within
the house of Israel. You see, no more false visions,
no more false messages of peace and safety from the false prophets.
That's all going to cease. No more. Line Proverbs, for I
am the Lord, I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall
come to pass. It shall no more be prolonged.
For in your days, O rebellious house, will I say the word and
will perform it, saith the Lord God. All God has to do to perform
it is say it. Isn't that amazing? That's all. Isaiah spoke the same language
in Isaiah 55 when He said, God has said it, and God said, so
shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth. It shall not
return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please,
and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. God's word. And so what is the main message
to the people to whom Ezekiel is preaching? Well, here it is. Now. Now is the day of judgment. Not later. Now is the day of
judgment for Jerusalem, for Israel. But also, now is the day of salvation. Listen to it. Verse 26, again,
the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Son of man, behold,
they of the house of Israel say the vision that he seeth is for
many days to come. It's going to be far off. What
they're actually saying in that, in their intimation, is that's
for some sinful, wicked people down the road, not for us good
people. See, all those visions of wrath
and judgment. That's not for us. That's got
to be some group down the road who's just an awful bunch of
people. And it says, and he prophesied for the times that are far off.
Therefore saying to them, thus saith the Lord God, there shall
none of my words be prolonged anymore, but the word which I've
spoken shall be done, saith the Lord God. You see, these things
wouldn't be far off into the future as if it will not touch
us. God is telling them. Paul wrote
of this in 2 Corinthians 6 and verse 2. He says, now is the
accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation.
Turn to 2 Peter chapter 3 with me. The message that Ezekiel has
for his day is the same message that Peter preached in his day. 2 Peter chapter 3. In fact, I think this chapter
here is a pretty good commentary for the people of God concerning
the message that God has for the people back then through
Ezekiel. Now is the day of judgment. People think God is delaying.
It's not coming tomorrow. It's not coming. It's all, it's
far off. Listen to what Peter writes here in 2 Peter chapter
3. He says, this second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you
in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance.
Now, what is a pure mind in the Bible? It's not a sinlessly perfect
mind because none of us have that. And the Bible tells us
none of us have that. But it's the mind focused upon
Jesus Christ and him crucified. It's the same as the heart purified
by faith, looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith,
The heart, the mind, the affections that have been washed in the
blood of Jesus Christ. Now that's the pure mind. And
that's the only purity we can claim. Now, looking to Christ,
resting in Him, pleading His blood in righteousness. Do you
understand that? You see, when we talk about our
thoughts, we still have that struggle, the flesh and the spirit.
But we look to Christ for cleansing, for purity, for righteousness,
for holiness. He is the Lord our righteousness.
And so he says in verse two, that you may be mindful of the
words which were spoken before of the holy prophet, just like
Ezekiel. And of the commandment of us,
the apostles of the Lord and Savior, knowing this first, that
there shall come in the last day scoffers. Now what Ezekiel
is dealing with back here is scoffers. Walking after their
own lust. their own desires, preaching
what they think and what they desire, and saying, where is
the promise of his coming? Now, Peter is speaking about
the second coming of Christ. Christ is coming again. There's
a lot of people like this today who say, where is the promise
of his coming? It's the world has been this
old or that old and prolonged this. All right. Well, think
about the people in Ezekiel's day. Where is the judgment of
God upon Jerusalem, the temple? It's not coming. And here's what
they say, here's man's reasoning. Now look at this verse four 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, the first lie is that God is not faithful to his promise.
Here's the second lie. Everything continues like it
always was. Well, that's a lie. Everything's not continuing like
it always was. Look at verse 5. For this they
willingly are 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,
whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water,
perished. God destroyed this world by a flood. Didn't he? He sure did. I see they made a movie about
it now called Noah. And I can just imagine, I've
seen previews of it and I can just imagine what it's gonna
be like. Nothing like the real truth of Noah or the real Noah. It's just a fiction. But now
this flood, Knowing the flood and the ark, that is far from
fiction, folks. It was real and it was truth.
It is truth. So the earth and the heavens,
they don't continue on just like they already were. God has given
man many manifestations of his judgment against sin. The problem
with man is what? He's got ears, but he doesn't
hear. He's got eyes, but he doesn't see. That's us by nature. We'd be in the same boat and
not the ark if God left us there. So he says in verse seven, second
Peter three, but the heavens and the earth, which are now
by the same word are kept in store. In other words, God didn't
totally destroy it. He kept it in store, but it's
reserved under fire against the day of judgment and perdition
of ungodly men. This world's gonna be burned
up. But now look here, verse eight. Now here's God's message
to sinful men. But beloved, be not ignorant
of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand
years and a thousand years is one day. How do you think about
that? God doesn't measure time like
we do. God doesn't think like we do.
I had a fellow over at the Y when I'd go work out, he'd all the
time wanting to argue with me about how old the world was.
And you know what I told him? I said, I'll be honest with you.
I don't know and I don't care. And I said, the thing about it
is, is you all don't know either. You scientists, he was a retired
science teacher. I said, you scientists, you don't
know it either. You think you do, but you don't know. What difference does it make?
God created it. Man fell. And this world has
been under the curse of sin ever since. I've got my own opinion
and my own ideas about that. And it's nothing near what the
ungodly, unbelieving scientists think. But what does it... One
day is as 1,000 years with God. And 1,000 years is as one day.
What if I knew the exact age of the earth? What good would
that do me? Or you? Here's what we need to
know. Look here in verse 9. The Lord
is not slack concerning His promise. Now what is His promise? Look
at it on the negative side. He's promised to destroy this
world and the ungodly with it. Just like in Ezekiel's day, God
has issued a threat. Let's put it that way. He's going
to destroy Jerusalem. He's going to destroy that temple.
You got a thousand false preachers out there telling you it's not
true. It hadn't happened yet. And they'll give you all kinds
of reasons. We're Abraham's seed. We keep the law. They're lying
to you. But God's going to destroy this
place. This place is on the way out. This earth that we stand
on and live in, this society, this worldliness, is a goner. And I want to tell you something.
We sit around complaining about how it's getting worse. Well,
God's not slack concerning His promise. Do we expect this place
to get better? Are we looking for heaven on
earth? Are we looking for a utopia? No. That's why we have to and
need to and want to look to Christ. Because our hope is in Him. Our
hope is not in this world. We're not connected to this world. This world is not our home, but
we act like it is. And I'm talking about me too
now. This world is not going to be
built up to some kind of a paradise. I don't care how technologically
improved we get. Whatever technology we build
or invent, we're just going to turn it into something dirty
and filthy anyway, on the whole. There may be some good come out
of it for the glory of God because all things do work together for
His glory. But that's just the way it is.
And the Lord's not slack concerning His promise. Now look at it on
the positive side. Look at verse 9. As some men
count slackness, God doesn't measure time as some men measure
time. But He is longsuffering to usward. That means He puts
up with a lot from us. And that's the usward. Now who
are the usward? Not willing that any should perish.
That's not saying that God's trying to save everybody but
can't. That's not saying that God wants to save everybody but
can't. That's simply saying that God's
not willing that any of his people, his chosen, his church, perish. There's a remnant, a remnant
of grace, but that all, all of this usher should come to repentance. Repentance. Faith in Christ and
repentance of dead works. And idolatry and sin. And he
says now verse 10, the day of the Lord will come as a thief
in the night. Unexpectedly as far as the timing. In the which
the heaven shall pass away with a great noise, the elements shall
melt with fervent heat. What are the elements? That's
the physical nature of this world. 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 kind of people
should we be? What manner of persons ought
you to be in all holy conversation, in a separate walk? That's what
that is. Your life and in godliness, that's
serving the Lord, motivated by grace and gratitude. Verse 12,
looking for and hastening unto the coming of the day of God.
We're to live in constant expectation of Christ's return. Wherein the
heavens being on fire shall be dissolved and the elements shall
melt with fervent heat. Nevertheless, we according to
his promise, we do it because he promised it. It's God's word.
Look for new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. And that's the people of God
who stand before God righteous in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
what that's talking about. Ungodliness. Unrighteousness
will not dwell in that new heaven and new earth. And so he says,
verse 14, wherefore, beloved, seeing that you look for such
things, be diligent, determined that you may be found of him
in peace without spot and with blameless. That is that we're
in Christ. Oh, that I may know him and be
found in him. That's the only way, if I'm alive
when Christ comes, the only way he's going to find Bill Parker
without spot and blame us is as I stand in Christ based on
his righteousness imputed, washed in his blood. Now that's right. And he says, in 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, and also in all his epistles speaking
in them of these things, in which are some things hard to be understood.
Now, I don't know what Peter's talking about exactly there.
Preachers speculate on that. I know what Peter himself had
a hard time with. He had a hard time understanding,
and that was the doing away with all of the elements of the old
covenant and those Jewish distinctions. He had a hard time with that,
didn't he? Read it in the book of Acts. Paul had to withstand
him to the face over it. So I don't know. But he says,
which they that are unlearned and unstable rest or twist as
they do. Also the other scriptures unto
their own destruction. You therefore, beloved, seeing
you know these things before, beware lest you also, being led
away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness.
But grow in grace and in knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ, to whom be glory both now and forever. Amen. You see,
the only hope we have, this is God's message to sinful men. Look to Christ, rest in him,
view all things as it relates to His glory, His person, His
finished work, grow in grace and in knowledge of Him. That's
our hope. That's His message to sinful
men. Look unto Jesus and be you saved.