Things to Look Forward to

Well, I repeat what Brother Eric said and your pastor. Thanking you for everything. It's just been so good and you've been so good to us. Mindy, I speak for her. We're just been good to be here. Thank the Lord for you, your pastor. And I mean this, I've heard a lot of preaching. I mean, I, I heard a lot of preaching. I grew up going to Bible conferences, hearing message after message. You will never hear a better message than what you just heard. And never hear a more needful message than what you just heard.

Right, Clay? Boy, do we need that. At a time, these last days, there's so much strife and division. If the Lord would impress those words that we just heard upon us, write them on the tables of our heart, we would have no schisms, no divisions, no separations, no fights. We'd lose no church members. Our buildings would be full. We personally would have more peace and joy and contentment. Do you remember, your parents were probably like mine, and if your kids were fussing and fighting, my dad was angry.

Boy, you didn't want to make him, you don't want to make a man mad. Right, Johnny? Boy, if you and Tommy were fighting, what would your dad do? Doesn't matter who was to blame, you're both going to get it, aren't you? Right, Jeff? Be at peace among yourselves. Didn't he say that? It's not advice or counsel to forgive one another. It's a command, isn't it?

Thank you, Eric. Man, man, man. Freely forgiven, completely forgiven, lovingly, unconditionally, eternally, continually. That's great. We should have just gone on home. We're eating first. 2 Peter chapter 3. Go there with me. 2 Peter. Thank you, Eric. I thank the Lord for you so much. So thankful he put you in Wheelersburg. 2 Peter chapter 3. This is the last message of this meeting. Final words. Parting words. These were Peter's parting words. 2 Peter 3. These are Words so needful in these last days.

Warnings and promises. My pastor used to say this, that the scriptures are full of warnings and promises, aren't they? Isn't that what Paul said? I cease not to warn you day and night with tears. And he said, I preached, I kept back nothing profitable from you.

A whole counsel of God and repentance toward God and faith in Christ. Warnings and promises. My dad used to say, warnings lest we presume. This whole world is presuming that there's no God and no judgment. Let us not presume upon his mercy and forgiveness. Full of promises lest we despair. Promises lest we despair. Full of them. Warnings and promises.

If I had a title, it would be verses 12 through 14. Look at this. Seeing we look for such things. Verse 12, looking for, hasting under the coming of the day of God, when Christ returns, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, the elements shall melt with fervent heat. Nevertheless, there's that word again.

We, the blessed promise, We, according to his promise, look for new heavens and new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Boy, that sounds good to me, doesn't it? We live in this present evil world, that's what the Lord calls it. He doesn't love this world, everybody in it. He's gonna burn it up, that's what this chapter says, and every other. Wherefore, verse 14, beloved, seeing that you look for such thing, be diligent that you may be found of him in this, Go away with that message.

In peace. Without spotting blameless. You know, that's in Christ. But looking forward to and waiting for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Those who love Christ, truly believe Christ. He's promised, he said, I'm coming. Lo, I come. And in the volume of the book, it's written of him. He's coming. And we're looking for and waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Are you? Most people are waiting for their ship to come in. Aren't they? We're waiting for ours to go out.

Most people want to win the lottery. What do you want to win? Seriously now. Paul said, I want to win Christ. He's the prize. You don't do anything to win him. And he even gave you that. Are you really? Is that your real desire? If it is, he's coming for you. He's coming for you. This final chapter in Peter's letter is for the final days on earth, the coming of Christ. His people are waiting, they're hoping, they're looking for the Lord Jesus Christ. Look who he's writing to, 2 Peter 3 verse 1. This second epistle, beloved.

You see that? That's important that you know who he's writing to, who is speaking, to whom he's speaking, and what the subject. Or you will not understand God's word, at least in your head you won't, okay? You write a letter to someone, you address it, don't you? and everything in it is to them.

But if somebody picks it up and says, look, and I've used this before, I write my wife a letter. And I used to write her love letters. I need to write, well, I write her cards. I need to write you another poem or letter. I used to do that. She's still got them. But I say, my dear beloved, my wife, I love dearly. I'm yours and you're mine. Everything I own belongs to you. I'm for you. I would lay down my life for you. And on and on it goes. Who's that to? Her. What if another woman picked that up and said, look, Paul loves me. He said everything he has belongs to me. I'd be angry.

You're lying on me, and you're lying to yourself, because I didn't say that to you. Isn't that important? We need to learn pronouns. Forget math. Caleb, forget math. Don't need that. You need to learn English grammar. Pronouns, I, you, or us, and them, we, And they, you need to learn that. That's about as basic English as you can.

It goes all the way through here, us. God's long suffering to us. Who's the us? Who's he talking to? His people. The beloved. Says that four times in here, doesn't it? Look at second Peter three, verse one. Beloved, beloved, verse eight. Beloved, be not ignorant of this one Verse 14, beloved, wherefore beloved. Verse 17, ye therefore beloved. You see that? And your pastors dealt with this, I know, Eric has too. This is one, verse nine is one of the most abused verses of scripture in all the Bible. Misused, abused, misapplied.

God doesn't want anybody to perish. He's not willing anybody to perish. That's not what that's saying. He's talking about his people. All right? Beloved, beloved. Look at verse one. Let's start here. I won't keep you long. I write this to you, beloved. God's foreloved. predestined, chosen, elect people. In both, that is the first and second epistle, I stir up your pure minds, purified your mind, your soul by believing Christ, haven't you? Or unmixed minds, by way of remembrance. We need to remember, don't we? We need to not forget God's mercy and forget where he found us and forget the word of God. We need to remember.

So this is to keep reminding that. that you be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets and the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. What words did the prophets and apostles preach? What does the word of God say? What is it all about?

I sang it. Three words sum up the whole Bible. Christ is all. Three words sum up the will, the mind, the purpose, the word of God, the reason for creation, the reason for sin and everything is Christ, Christ is all, to the praise of the glory of God's Son, the grace of God that's in Christ, Christ is all. The Old Testament says, from Genesis to Malachi, someone is coming. That's what it says. God promised it.

He's typified in verse, The first three verses, the light, the word, all right? But Genesis 3, 15, I believe it was, do you believe it was Jesus Christ talking to Adam and Eve in that garden? The voice of God came walking, do you believe it was? I'm just certain that it was.

That he took that lamb right before their eyes and slid its throat and poured out that blood, huh? He's the great high priest. He did that. For the first sinners on earth. And here's the promise he made. Someone's coming. The woman's seed. The virgin born son of God. Made of a woman. Made under the law to redeem them. Is that important? Virgin. You know this thing. The world. They don't believe it and they don't. But you do, don't you? You see that. So glad. Someone's coming.

And then the gospels say, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, he's here, of whom the prophets spake. And that's who we're preaching everywhere we go to whomever will hear us. He's here, the Son of God, the Savior, the Redeemer, the Christ, the Messiah, the one of whom all the word of God speaks, of whom all the creation declares and typifies and portrays. He's here. And then the epistles and the revelations say, he's coming again. He's coming again. See those clouds? The dust of his feet. He's stirring. He really is. But the world, no. We don't even believe he, when he came, that's just a man that came. And we don't believe he rose from the grave. And we don't believe he's God. And we don't believe he's coming again.

Right? That's what they say, verse four, where's the promise of his coming? Everything's the same, nothing's changed. Yes, according to the good pleasure of God. It's amazing, God's continual providence to all of mankind, though they rebel against him, bite the hand that feeds them. He said, while earth remaineth, seed, time, harvest, cold, heat, summer, winter, and day, and night shall not and shall not see it. And he sent a rainbow to show that he's not gonna destroy the world by flood again. God's so good, a man is so evil and so wicked and so vile that they don't believe there's a flood, they don't believe God created this world, and they take that rainbow, which is a picture of his blessed covenant in Christ, meant for God's people, and to show the world God is merciful and gracious, and they pervert it and make it a filthy and vile thing.

Boy, Barnard used to say, you better be glad I'm not God. Isn't it good? Oh, he should have burned this place up a long time ago. And he did. Johnny, he did. He did destroy this place by flood, didn't he? And this they're willingly ignorant of, he said. Refused to believe it. No God. We don't believe God. We don't believe he created this place. We don't create it. He didn't create us. He didn't destroy this world by flood. If there is a God, he's not that holy. He's not that just. He would not destroy mankind. He loves us all so much, because we're such good boys and girls. And nothing could be farther from the truth. And that's all of us, isn't it? Told you I can't preach without saying these two words. But God. Why does God have mercy on anybody?

Why did God reveal the truth to us of who he is and why Christ came, who Christ is and why he came? Why do we believe that God created all things? Why do we believe that God's holy and just and righteous? Why do we believe that God destroyed this world by flood because he's angry with the world? Why do we believe that Christ is the ark, the only hope, the only way, the only truth? Why do we believe Jesus Christ? Why do we cast all our care upon him and believe him? Because by grace are you saved. Because God revealed it. The Son of God came and revealed these things and chose us.

We're no better than anybody else. Willingly ignorant. The world was overflowed. Look at verse six. The world then was overflowed with water, water, water. It keeps talking about water. and the earth standing out of the water, water. God destroyed the water, the world by water. Isn't that so relevant now? People, is there not enough water? God has always judged this world by water, hasn't he? He destroyed the world by water. He promised that water's gonna fall out of the sky because of the wickedness of man, didn't he?

Yes, you did, water. And it never rained, so they thought that's not, that ain't gonna happen. No way. But it did, didn't it? It did. And the wrath, you know, some drops came down, it started raining. Well, that's amazing. It looks like it had been banging on that heart.

Well, God's gonna destroy the whole world by fire. That's what it says, verse eight, or seven, the heavens, kept in store reserved under fire the day of judgment. Well, that's just a silly belief of some silly mountain preacher in the hills of Kentucky. Those ignorant, uneducated preachers, you know, prepare to meet God. That's scripture. Fire and brimstone gonna rain from heaven. You know who said that first? You know who said that? Jesus Christ said that.

And it's to call Jesus Christ a liar. And you don't want to call God's son a liar. You need to believe them. Read on. But beloved, verse eight. Those are the warnings, many of them. But beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing. One day is with the Lord as a thousand years. And a thousand years is one day of the Lord. Time is nothing to God. That's first and foremost what this means. Time is nothing. It's also a prophecy, isn't it? This world was created in six days. Seventh day, God rested. Don't be ignorant of this now. 6,000 years old, isn't it? He's near. The door's still open, the ark, isn't it? Yes, it is. It's gonna shut real soon. I'm just convinced of it. In the last of the last days. Don't be ignorant of this, this is a prophecy.

But this is telling us that time is of no essence to God. And no one under God always works from the beginning of the world. When he spoke it in the very beginning before there was anything, it's done. Time is not gonna have any effect on, right? Son of God has to come in time.

We're creatures of time. We're subject to time. We don't know what the next minute holds. So we worry and we fret and we make plans and all that. This goes right on. There's a big clock in London, England, Big Ben, Big Ben, okay? If you go inside that clock and they'll take you a tour and you go inside that clock and you look at those big gears, those gears are big as this church house, okay?

And the hour hand, If you stand there and watch it, it's not moving. It's broke, it's stopped. No, no, no, it's moving, but it's slow. And somebody said the wheels of God's providence move, but they move slowly. And there's a scripture in Ecclesiastes 8, I think verse 11, it says, because sentence against an evil work is not speedily executed. Therefore, the hearts of the sons of men are fully set in them to do evil. See, lightning didn't strike.

Brother Eric, when you walk through your yard and there's an ant hill, what if some of those ants got together and said, we don't believe him? He don't own this place. Nah. He don't even exist. And a couple of them, would you stop what you were doing? Would you stop what you were doing? Now, please. Please, fellas. I can't do it. I want you to believe me. Come on. Would you? But here's what our God did. I'll destroy every one of you. I'm gonna spare you. I'm gonna spare you. And they're both gone. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. Right? We're plucked as brains from the burner. Election ain't a doctrine. He believed election go to hell. It's understanding that God, for Christ's sake, plucked you out of that anthill and said, I'm going to show mercy to you. Me? Yes, you. Why? Because I did. Ain't that something? Because I love you. Why would you love it? These ants weren't loving. Why me? Because I'm God.

And I do what I will with whom I will. And it was my will and purpose to save you. And you're gonna shout my glory throughout eternity. Not only that, I'm gonna change you from a worm into like my son. and you're gonna be praising me for eternity, for saving you. Our brothers and sisters. Verse nine, God's not slack concerning his promise, as some men can't slack. We can promise some things, can't we? We can promise that we'll show up somewhere And it depends on who you're married to, whether or not you'll get there on time.

It's not her fault. I'm to blame. I'll forget my glasses. Anyway, we can make promises. Here's the point. Why did I say that? Forgive me. Please forgive me. We can promise I'll be there at such and such time, and I'll be there. And some things happen beyond our control, and we cannot, we can't control it, and we can't do anything about it. I meant to. I meant well.

I didn't, you didn't show up, but you didn't show up. Well, I didn't want to show you up. I meant to be there, but you didn't show up. That's not our Godhead. Well, he's not coming. Oh, yes, he is. He didn't tell you when, did he? He just said, wait. He just said, wait. I'm coming. And the world said, see?

Everybody here was around in 2000. Well, not everybody. Y'all weren't born then. But you remember when 2000, the Millennium Road, you remember that? You remember that? The whole world, they won't admit it. But they were shaking. Thought, this is a, an epic, this is a once-in-a-lifetime thing. Millenniums coming around, rolling around. All right, and it hit midnight. You know some people, and there were some real religious people. This is it, this is it. You don't know, you don't know nothing. If you said it was it, you don't believe what he said. He said, no man knoweth. It's sure not what you think it. Everybody, all right, 2000 went by. Let's have another drink of champagne. 2001, 2010, 15, it's 2026. Oh, it's like that, isn't it? 26 years, gone, like that. And the whole world is scoffing and laughing.

See? See, we told you. No, the Lord told you. At a time when you think not, that's when he's coming. But here's the thing, God's people, they believe that. So what are they doing? They're waiting. They know he's coming. And we gather together, you know what we're doing here? You know what we're doing here? Waiting on the Lord, don't we? Isn't it? We come here, we're waiting on the Lord. Adam, we come here to wait on a word from the Lord.

We need a word from the Lord, don't we? We need him to speak to us. We need him to tell us these warnings and promises again, lest we be deceived, lest we be taken with the world. We need Lord to be kept by the power, the word of his power, don't we? We need to hear these things again and be reminded again, don't we? Right, right. We need him again and again, so we come and we sit and we wait.

Lord, speak to us. Lord, keep us. Lord, save us again. Paul said, I'm not there yet. I haven't arrived yet. But this one thing I do, it's a pressing matter. Tell me, preacher, tell me one more time the blessed promises of God that are in Jesus Christ. Because I believe him.

Is it true? Like John said to John, who was about to be beheaded, wasn't he, Eric? And he sent word, are you the one we're looking for? Or should we be looking for someone else? You go tell John. Again. Tell John again. And those whom he loves, his beloved, he keeps telling him again and again and again.

I'm coming. I promised you, you believe me, I'm coming for you. I put away your sins by the sacrifice of myself. You're in the ark. You're shut in, you're pitched with in and without. Smile, God loves you. I can say that to you if you believe Christ. I can, I can. Gary, if you believe Jesus Christ and wanna win Christ and be found in him, you already are. And I can tell you, smile, God loves you. He has a wonderful purpose for your life. And that purpose in Jesus Christ. And he's coming for you, and like those ants, You're predestined to be conformed to the blessed image of Jesus Christ, for Christ's sake. Isn't that wonderful? What do we got to worry about? Just wait. Just wait.

David said this, Psalm 27. He said, I would have perished in my affliction if I hadn't believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. But he kept saying, wait, wait a minute, what's the goodness of the Lord? Brothers and sister, what you're doing right now, if you're sitting here right now and loving God's word and believing God's son and waiting on God's son, it's the best thing on this earth. It's the goodness of God to you. This is the goodness of God. The gospel is the goodness of God.

And if you need it. and hunger and thirst for it, and can't get enough of it, and never tire of it, like the children of Israel did about the manna, they got tired of it, and God got tired of them. But if you don't grow tired of it, and you don't leave to go some after the world, and you stay here by his grace, kept by his gospel, and you say, preacher, preach it one more time, yeah, you've got a preacher who's a sinner, yeah, you've got a man who's just like you, forgive him for God's sake, but he's the man God sent.

He shouldn't have sent him. We don't deserve it. That's a fact. Jacob said, I'm not worthy of the least of all the mercies, nor all the truth that I've heard from you. Jacob said that. Lord, I don't deserve to keep hearing the truth. And there ain't a man, woman, or child in this building deserves to hear the gospel, deserves a gospel preacher. And God ought to take it away and burn this place up. but God. Isn't God good to us? Where's the gospel around here? What is ewing? Anything good come out of ewing? Huh? The gospel's here. The goodness of God. It's long-suffering to us. Verse nine, I gotta close. He said, it says he's long suffering to us word.

Remember who, remember that pronoun? Us, them, us, who's us? God's beloved. Who's them? Those under the wrath of God, condemnation of God. They are of the world. Isn't that what John said? They are of the world. Therefore speak they of the world and the world hears them. We, they, we. We are of God, and he that is of God heareth, say it, us! You all think you're right and everybody else is wrong. No, we think God is true and every man is a liar. No, we think that we have the, we know we have the gospel. This is the gospel, there is no other.

We can say, can't we say, Brother Clay, with Paul, If any man preach any other gospel than what I've preached, let him go to hell. Can you say that? Can you say that Eric? We do. And it's not, we didn't, Paul said I'm preaching the same gospel I received. My dad was an Arminian preacher. A false free will preacher. Like Saul of Tarsus. Injurious, blasphemer. My dad, Henry Mahan. But God, like Saul of Tarsus, Henry, hit your knees.

You don't even know God, you're preaching a God you don't know, lying on the Lord Jesus Christ, you're gonna stop lying now, you don't tell the truth. He has to do that for you, he has to reveal it to you. We have nothing to glory in, necessity's laid upon us, we're apprehended, Said, now, Paul, Saul, now what you gonna preach?

One thing. And that's what your pastor did. And you know it, son. We're not worthy of it. He's not willing any should perish, his people. You know, brothers and sisters, here's the wonderful thing. God worketh all things after the counsel of his will, and none can stay his hand or say unto him, what doest thou? He says, I will, and it's done, right? Okay, if God is not willing for something to happen, it ain't gonna happen. Right? If God wills for something to happen, it's gonna happen. And neither hell or high water are gonna change it. All right? God's not willing that any should perish. Well, whoever the any is, they ain't gonna perish.

Who is it? A swert. Us, us, those of us by the grace of God who believe completely and solely on the Lord Jesus Christ. Ain't that something? The day of the Lord's coming. So verse 11, and I quit with this. Seeing all these things shall be dissolved. What manner of persons ought ye to be? In all holy conversation and godliness. What that means is having your affection Your heart, your mind set on things above. Not on things of the earth, be carnally minded is death. Spiritually minded, I mean thinking on things above. Looking for, what are you looking for? What are you looking for? That's how we started this. What are you waiting for? David said that, what wait I for?

Lord, I'm waiting on you. He said, I'll behold thy face in righteousness, and I'll be satisfied when I awaken thy likeness. I'm never gonna be truly satisfied, fully satisfied, till I awake with thy likeness, in a land wherein dwelleth righteousness. That's what all the people in Hebrews 11 were saying. They looked for these things to come. And if they hadn't, weren't looking for a new, city where in whose maker is God and where Christ is the prize it they would have had opportunity to go back but no they who say these saying declare that that God's their God and Christ is their hope and heaven and earth is their new dwelling place and their longings and their hearts desire and so God's not ashamed to call them his people and they aren't shamed on him so we look looking unto Jesus, looking for the Lord Jesus, looking for new heavens and earth wherein God, which God who cannot lie has promised. So verse 17, it says, you beloved see and you know these things before, you know them, beware. He ends with a warning. Lead away with the air of the wicked and fall from your own steadfastness. Don't be like Israel of old.

They wanted to go back, didn't they? They wanted to go back. What for? What did they? Leeks and onions. What a thing to live for. So grow in grace, but grow in grace in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. How do you grow? Desire the sincere milk of the word. Come and sit while a man whom God has raised up, a shepherd to make you lie down in green pastures and feed you. Does he feed you, Christ? Does this man feed you, Jesus Christ?

Beware, lest you be led away. And you come and sit. Just open your mouth wide. Just open your mouth. Come hungry. Preacher, here's the mouth of the soul. Preacher, fill me up. He's sitting at home cooking a five-point meal. All right, wait. That's the way. He'll be sitting, no study, for hours on end preparing. They're going to love this. Oh, this is good food.

Oh, they're hungry. and you'll grow in grace, appreciation, love, faith, and God's grace that's in Christ, and the knowledge. We just don't know our Lord like we need to, because it would put away all our fears. If we really knew the Lord, it would put away all our doubts and worries and fears, perfect peace whose mind has stayed on him. I need to grow, don't you? I need to grow. Amen. Lord bless you.

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