Love Never Fails Radio
How Should We Live?
everything man has done, everything man has created, coveted, murdered far, killed far, fought wars far, everything that that man today considers sacred, a treasure is gonna be gone. Are you running from the love of God? God's love never fails. Welcome to Love Never Fail, the Radio Ministry of Calvary Chapel Fort Worth with Pastor Bill Quinn. Good morning and welcome to the Sunday broadcast of Love Never Fails. Pastor Bill is currently teaching an in-depth study from the New Testament epistle of Second Peter. Now here's Pastor Bill. I've got to talk to you this morning as we conclude with Peter's last words, by the way, we're privileged to be able to see the last words of Peter. Now we know that the Jewish believers, they're facing, again, Nero's persecution. They're also facing false teachers and Peter himself and they, they all know that his departure is soon. He's going to be martyred. He's going to go back home or rather he's going to go home. He's going to be with Jesus again or he is already with Jesus, amen? What a word that is. Now with all that being said, it's interesting as Peter, he turns, he shifts away from the false teachers even though he's going to talk about scoffers, which are mockers, which are false teachers, but he turns away really from that and he turns his heart as a pastor would to the sheep. Four times in just this one chapter, 18 verses, four time Peter uses one of my favorite words that you hear me use over all these many, many years. And that is the word loved ones or the word is actually beloved and in the Greek apostos, which means divinely loved ones. So he uses them four times here. And that word beloved always speaks of a Christian, the ones who are born again who who are united with Jesus as their Lord, amen? It's never used of unbelievers. Now with all that being said, if someone told you, if they came up and said, you know what, it's the end of the world. I'm not talking about the guy with the sign on the street corner. The end is near. No. It's just the end of the world and told you exactly how the world was going to end. How would you live? Well love what we already know, amen? And we're going to learn that again in God's word. And here's what I want you to see in verses 7 and verse 7 and 10 and in verse 12. Did you know those are the only places in the New Testament, if you will, that describes the future destruction of the world by fire, by fire, okay? Very interesting that Peter is going to conclude with this. So with all that being said this morning, we're going to talk about how we should live in this world. All the 18 verses beginning in verse 1 and he starts off with that word beloved ones. He says, I will now write to you the second epistle in both of which I stir up your pure minds. Everybody's mind here is pure this morning, right? I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder. Now he says, I'm writing to you this second epistle, again this shows us that first Peter and second Peter, that Peter is the author and it's written to the same recipients of first Peter, which is the Jewish believers that are undergoing the fiery trial from Nero's persecution, okay? Now with all that being said here, he writes and he says, now here's the purpose that I'm closing out this letter with, that I need to stir up your pure minds. And the word stir up means to wake up. It means to be alert. It means to arouse your thinking. It means don't go to sleep, amen? There's a lot of sleepy Christians today. You know what happens to sleepy Christians? Well, if you're a euduchus, you know what happened to euduchus when Paul was preaching until midnight, don't you? He fell from the third floor of the window and did he die? Yeah. Well, if you do that and die, I can't raise a dead butt, okay? But Paul could do it. I don't have that gift. So he says here, a pure mind. The word pure means sincere, sincere, sin-a-seer-off, without wax, that's a Latin expression. In other words, it's not a phony. Your mind is pure in your thinking and the only way to be pure and sincere in your thinking is to know the word of God, amen? Is there anything pure than the word of God? No, so a sincere mind is a mind that is free from false teaching and the falsehoods of this world. A sincere mind is a mind that has been renewed and continually is renewed to the living word of God, amen? And not only that a sincere mind is a mind that is literally loved one, if we think about it, that is filled not with the world but is filled with the word. Oh, that's a good mind to have. Remember what Paul said in Philippians 2.5, let this mind be in you which is in Christ, Jesus our Lord. Is there a pure mind in Christ? No, is there a more sincere mind than Christ? No. We have the mind of Christ, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2, 16. We have the mind of Christ. Now, with all that being said, he said this in verse 2, I'm writing to you by way of reminder and here it comes, that you may be mindful of the words or literally that you may recall the words of which were spoken before or literally in the past spoken by whom? By the holy prophet. So what did Peter just tell us to do? He's telling them, he's telling us, he says, "Don't ever neglect the old covenant." You know, go through the whole Bible, don't neglect the Old Testament, amen? Yeah, we interpret the New Testament a lot of the old, don't we? Yeah, we understand it. And he's saying, "No, don't, whatever you do, don't do that." He says, "And the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior." So the commandment that from Jesus to the apostles, the 12 or whatnot, is probably the upper room commandment in John 13, 34 and 35, the new commandment where Jesus told them that you're to love one another to the same degree that I have loved you. And so Peter, knowing that his departure was at hand, he's going to be martyred. He says, "Don't forget the word, keep the word alive in your mind, keep the word alive in your heart." And he says something again, he says, "What was spoken in the past by the prophets? What was spoken in the past goes for them and for us as well. What was spoken in the past is not only valid, but it is true for the present." What a word that is, it's so important. Now, the reason Peter's saying that is we've already learned, the only defense that a Christian has then are today against false teaching is that you have to know the word of God, amen? What's coming from the pulpit? If you don't know the word of God, if you're not learning and growing in it, you don't really know, am I telling you the truth? Am I teaching God's word? Is it right? And so forth. And now he breaks away in verse 3, and he says, "Knowing this first or above everything else," he says that scoffers will come in the last days and look what they're doing, walking according to their own lust. These scoffers are not walking in the spirit because they don't have the spirit. They're walking in the power of the flesh because they're not born again. These are those ones that we learned about last Sunday that they cannot cease from sinning, having eyes full of adultery and covetishness and so forth. And so the scoffers, of course, are the false teachers, but the word scoffer literally means mocker, remember how they mock Jesus at the cross, you know, if you be the son of God, come down and save yourself and we'll believe in you. They were mocking the one dying for them, amen? And so mockers here, it's very important. So in our context, what do mockers mock? Well, in the word that we're learning this morning, they mock the living word of God. In verse 4, they're going to make fun of, they're going to mock the sure certain promise of the second coming of Jesus Christ, our Lord, look at it. It says in these mockers, what do they do, Peter says? And they say, or literally, and continue to say, where is the promise of His coming? Now that's not the rapture. The word coming there is paracia, which means the second coming of our Lord, that means His presence, okay, the visible bodily presence of Jesus Christ returning to earth, the second coming of our Lord. And so he says here, he says, come on, where's the promise, Peter, where's the promise of His coming? Come on. I mean, Jesus has been gone in Peter's day, you could say, Jesus has been gone over thirty years, Peter. Where is He? Where's He coming back? He told you He was coming back, over and over, He said He was coming back. Matter of fact, Peter, what did He say to you? Did He say to you and all the rest of the disciples, you know, that I'm going away to prepare a place for you? If I am going away, then I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, you may be also. Where is He? I haven't seen Him? He's not showing up. Listen, where is the promise of His coming? You know what mockers do? Mockers, that's very important about a mocker. They don't mock things that are not true in Christianity, okay, meaning in the Christian realm. Mockers always mock the revealed truth in God's word. I mean, when we were growing up, people mocked, that you've heard people mock God. I don't believe, oh, come on, come on. You know, a bunch of drunk Jews wrote the Bible, hello, hello, you know, just mocking the Word of God. Well, let me tell you something, the Word of God is true. It says in Revelation 1, 7, behold, He cometh with the clouds, and every eye will see Him. See Him. Can you imagine that moment when He comes, the second coming, man, the heavens roll back like a scroll, and all of a sudden you see the king of kings and the Lord of lords, and it says, even those who pierced Him, meaning the Jews will see Him, and then it goes on, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn, that word means "whale" and "horror," because of Him. Why? Well, you can't be saved now. It's over. Do you understand? When He comes back, it is done. You know, God has a great way to deal with mockers. He has a word for every mocker. You know what that word is? God says, "Do not be deceived." Do not be deceived. No one's going to get away with mocking God. Amen? Galatians 6 verse 7 and 8. No one's going to get away with it. They may think they're getting away with it, but they're not. They're deceived. Well, I'll tell you what a word that is. Now with all of that being said, he goes to verse 4 again there at the second part, talking about when they say, "Where's the promise of His coming, that Jesus is coming to earth again? Where is it?" And then they use, look what they do, "For since the fathers fell asleep," meaning the Old Testament patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, "since they died, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation." So the mockers, what did they do? They go to the old patriarchs, but that was, "Now let's keep going." And they go back to the very beginning of creation. And boy, do they make a huge mistake. And they look at Peter and they say, "You know what? All things, everything on the planet, everything in the universe, all things continue, just like they were from the very day they were created," at the beginning of creation. What are they saying? Nothing is changed. Sun comes up. Do you see the sun this morning? Not the second service, never mind. First service, maybe. Yeah. Boy, I mean, my wife and I were driving in and it just, we saw, it just started coming up. Man, it was huge. Fireball, you know, and my wife goes, "How many earth do you think can fit in the sun?" And I said, "One point three billion?" She said, "Really?" I said, "Yeah." [laughter] I said, "Have you know that instantly?" Well, I just googled it, you know. [laughter] Now, so they say, "Everything's the same. Sun comes up. Sun goes down. You know? Spring, summer, fall, winter, the whole, the seasons, everything has remained the same and continued since creation. All this time. But you know what? Here we are. Where's Jesus now? Coming? He's not going to judge sin. He's not coming back. A generation cometh and a generation goeth year after year after year. What does Peter do? Look what he does now. He says, "For this they, the mockers, the scoffers, they willingly forget." The word "willing" means they deliberately are in, conveniently if you will, forget something. They forget the truth of God's Word. Look at it. That by the Word of God, or literally by the spoken Word of God, the heavens were of old. And the earth standing out of the water and in the water. So what does Peter do? He goes back to Genesis 1-9 to the third day of creation. When the earth came out of the waters and so forth, and God called the dried land, it says earth. So what did Peter do? The same thing we have to do always. He met the mockers' argument with the living Word of God, amen? He went all the way back to creation. He said, "You know what, boys? You guys have willingly forgot who the universe belongs to. It belongs to God. The laws of nature belong to God. The universe belongs to God. He owns it. Not only did he create it, he sustains it, amen? And so he gives him the Word of God. Listen, it's amazing the planet that we live on. You know what it says in Hebrews 11-3 by faith, we understand that the world, the world's the universe, everything, were framed by the Word of God or by the spoken Word of God. So that the things which are seen, the visible universe that we see, like the sun, a minute ago I was telling you about coming up, you said the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible are things that we can see. And you believe that we live on a planet spoken into existence by the Word of the living God. He just spoke. Remember when it says, "Lifter be stars." Five words. Is there a little bit more of a Lord you want to share? No, that was it. Just let it be. Have you, I mean, look at the stars out there. Think about that. His Word farmed all that. The Bible says in Psalm 33-6, "By the Word of the Lord, the heavens were made in all the host of them by the breath of his mouth." Verse 9 of the same chapter 33 of Psalms says, "God spoke. It was done. He commanded. It stood fast." Man, when God speaks, something happens. Amen? And he says there in verse 6. And he also continues, Peter doesn't know. He says, "By which the world, the cosmos," okay? The world, the universe, everything that we see. But also the word cosmos speaks not only of the universe and all of that, but the inhabitants of a people who live on planet earth. So by which the world that then existed, what happened to it? It perished. And look how it perished, being flooded with water. So that was God's judgment in the days of Noah. Did Noah, the preacher of righteousness, warn them over and over and over, but the world didn't believe? Okay. What did Peter do? Again, he attacked the false teaching of the mockers and he did so with the Word of God. You don't want to love about that scripture? Did Peter, from what we just read, did Peter believe in the flood? The universal flood. A global flood, yes. Did he believe then in Noah? Of course. Did he believe in the ark? Absolutely. He believed all those things. And so Peter does something. He tells those mockers right here in the living Word that we're reading. He tells them, he says, you know, you've made a big, big mistake. He says, because all things that you said continue, they don't. All things do not continue as they were from the very day of creation. He says it doesn't work that way. He says, God created the world, God warned the world, and God judged that world. Amen? And you know what? Did he destroy the earth? He certainly did. He saved Noah and his family. And then he made a promise to know, remember what it was? He said to Noah, I will never again destroy the earth with water. Never again. He made that promise. But look at verse seven now. He said, but the heavens and the earth, which are now preserved by the same word, meaning the spoken word for God created the world and God judged the world and warned the world. He said, they are reserved for what? For fire. How long? Until the day of judgment and the perdition of ungodly man, perdition means destruction. It means that day that they're destined for eternal misery and hell. What a word. That's what's going to happen to them. So what did Peter just tell us? He says, God, not man, determines not only the beginning of the world, but he determines the end of the world. No one's going to push a button and destroy the world and all of it. Do you understand? I mean, I know that we're armed to the hilt. We got missiles pointing everywhere all over the world. But God says in this word, no, that's not how this earth is going to end. Not at all. It's not going to happen. Now he says here that our earth and our heavens, he said they're preserved. Isn't that amazing? That word preserved literally means they are laid up or they're stored up with fire and they're also reserved or they're guarded being kept for fire until it says the day of judgment. Now, when we look at the day of judgment, it's easy to say, well, we're talking about the day of the Lord, you know, the seven year tribulation period and the wrath of God is poured out in the last half. That's not what the Scripture is saying. Let's look at it again. He says there until the day of judgment and the perdition of the judgment of ungodly men. Okay. That's what he's saying there. What is the day of judgment? Well, the day of judgment that's going to happen to this world, it takes place after the rapture. It takes place after the great tribulation period. It takes place after the battle of Armageddon. It takes place after the second coming of Christ, after the millennial reign of Christ on this earth, okay? It takes place after all of those things. So at the close of the millennial reign, the thousand year reign of Christ on earth, at the second coming, at the close of the thousand year reign, then it is the day of judgment. And that is the great white throne judgment, which I'll talk to you about in a moment. Look at verse eight with me. But beloved, there's that word again, loved ones, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord, one day is a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. So the mockers were, where's he coming? Come on, look at all this time is being wasted. He says, oh, you don't understand. God's time is not like our time, amen? God is eternal. God is not effected by time. He works in time, but where he is is timeless, he has no time. God is eternal. You can go back 50 trillion, trillion, trillion, I don't even know what the next one is, all the way back. You know, think about it. You can put a marker 50 trillion years back and drive a stake in the ground. And guess what? God's already been there. See, he has always been. He's the alpha. He is the omega. He is the beginning and the end. God is the eternal God, and he counts time much differently than we do, amen? Now, so God is not only eternal, but God is also the faithful God. Now it doesn't matter if it's a, when he makes a promise, it may be a thousand years before that promise comes to pass, or just one day, it doesn't matter. But God's promises always come to pass. God cannot lie. Amen? All his promises are true, okay? So the scoffers, the mockers, you know, they were saying, well, he's got to be late, man. And Peter goes, he answers that argument, look at it again in verse nine. He says, oh, no, God's not late. The Lord is not slack or tardy. That means late or slow or any of those things are off schedule. The Lord's not slack concerning his promise. And look at the next word, as some, that's the scoffers, the mockers, as some count slackness. But his long suffering toward us, saint and sinner, by the way, not willing that any should perish, but all should come to repentance. So God is eternal. God is faithful in here. God is merciful. Do you ever think about the long suffering of God? I mean, I think about that. His love, his long suffering, his patience, he's not willing that any should perish. He's not willing that any person should perish, but all would come to repentance. All would be saved. And people, they don't come to the Lord. You know, people say, why does God send people to hell? And I'm going, well, God doesn't send people to hell. Really, you do. You send yourself to hell. If you don't want Jesus, you won't help. Does that make sense? See, what did Jesus tell us about hell? Matthew 2541, hell, it was prepared for the devil and his angels, amen? That was the purpose there. So this long suffering of God, man. I mean, think of how long did God wait for the most wicked, evil generation, the pre-flood people? I mean, every thought and every person was always evil continually. And God waited. And warned and waited through the preacher of righteousness, Noah, 120 years. Did anyone believe? No. Think how long God waited, I mean, not a long time, but think about, you know, remember Abraham, when the Lord and the angels, they came and appeared to him and they were going to destroy, or they did destroy, Sodom and Gomorrah. Remember what Abraham did? Did he intercede? And he would go, and our Lord just told him to live there, if there'd be 50, and then he would go and remember how he did, and the patience of the Lord. And finally he says, okay, yeah, if there's this many righteous, then I'll spare the place. Well, there wasn't, okay? Think about the long suffering of God with you, with me. I mean, I heard people, I had so many people in my life witness to me come and tell me about Jesus. I don't want anything to do with him, but God wanted a lot to do with me. He wants a lot to do with you. Think about that before you were saved, the long suffering of God. The longing of God keeps knocking on your heart until that one day, something sparks by the Holy Spirit in your heart, and you receive Jesus as your Lord. Man, God is so good. Look at the world that we live in. The good news has been proclaimed for over 2,000 years. Why are so many unwilling to come to the willing God to be saved? Why is that? Jesus told the most religious people in the world of that day, the Jewish believers. He said in John 5.40, you're not willing. Well, you know the Bible backwards and forwards. He said, but you're not willing to come to me. Matter of fact, the scripture before that, 39, he says, you search the scriptures daily and you dig, thinking that you have eternal life, but they all testify of me, and you're not willing to come to me, that you might have life, meaning eternal life. Why is that? Why do people just say, I don't want to think, I know, I don't need the Lord or what not? Well, number one, we know the devil's blinded their minds, amen? We know that they're fallen, nature, and so forth. But you know why people, you know the main reason, let me give you the scripture, Romans chapter 2, verse 4, let me read it to you. It says, or do you despise, or literally, do you think lightly of the riches of God's goodness of God's forbearance, meaning when God holds back, he wants to save people. He doesn't want you to go to hell. He goes, are the forbearance of God? Are the long-suffering God just keeps waiting and waiting? He says, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance. Did you know dangling people over hell? That doesn't do the trick. But they know the goodness of God leads into repentance. It's the goodness of God. Repentance is a beautiful word, isn't it? I mean, think about it. It's a gift. You can repent, and God will save you. It's amazing. And you think about that. So what is God's judgment really? God's judgment is man, the direct result of man refusing the goodness of God. And why do the lost whom God wants to save despise God's goodness? Let me give you the reason, verse 5 of Romans 2. It says, because of the hardness of your impentant heart, or your unrepentant heart, he says, you're storing up in your own life wrath for the days of wrath. You're treasuring it up. One pay day after another is building and building and building. And he goes on and he says, that in the day of wrath and in the revelation of the righteous judgment of God, meaning the day of judgment after the millennial reign of Christ, what a day that's going to be. And then in verse 10, Peter says something, but the day of the Lord, look out comes, will come as a thief in the night. That means that the world is going to be totally caught off guard. They don't have a clue, just like it was in the days of Noah. They did not know until the rain came and the doors were shut. You know what I mean? And so here, this is not the rapture, the second coming. So the king of kings, our Lord and our Savior, he returns at the conclusion of the great tribulation period. Now listen, and here's so cool. And we come back with him. The rapture has already occurred. We've been in heaven for seven years. You follow me? Now we come in Revelation 19, 11, and following the leader, we come back with the Lord, Zachariah 14, 7. Is this his saints come with him? And what's going to happen? Where are we going to touch down? Let me read it to you. Jesus says in Zachariah 14, 1, "Behold, the day of the Lord is coming. The Lord will go forth and fight against those nations as he fights in the day of battle," meaning the nations at the end of the tribulation period that are surrounding Jerusalem and that remnant remember will be saved. It says, "And in that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives." Can you imagine we leave heaven and you know we're going to be on horses if something, you know? I mean, hello. And I don't know if we come back and there we land right on the Mount of Olives, that's the place he ascended to heaven from. Man, Bethany, there at the Mount of Olives. And it says, "And the Lord," listen, here it comes, "and the Lord," verse 9 of Zachariah 14, "and the Lord shall be king over all the earth," all of it. That means here the millennial reign of Christ. Now listen, when the thousand year reign of Christ and we reign and rule with him, now when it comes to an end, that is then the day of judgment, the day of judgment. And that is Revelation chapter 20. Matter of fact, I want to read that to you. Revelation chapter 20, let me just read that to you this morning. In verse 11, "And then I saw a great white throne, and him who set on it, and from whom whose face," watch what happens, "the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, small, great, standing before God, and the books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged according to their works by the things which were written in the books, plural by the way. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them, and they were judged. Each one according to his works, then death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone found not written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. Now listen to me. It says there in verse 11 again, John writes and he says, "I saw a great white throne, and him who set on it, whose face the earth and the heavens fled away." They fled. They passed away instantly. Why? Well, there was no place found for them. Can you imagine? There is all the unbelieving dead from all ages. They are in resurrected bodies, not eternal, not like we would have, not glorified, but resurrected. They're in their bodies. They come out of the sea. They come out of Hades, the place of the wicked dead. They've been waiting. There are people waiting there right now for the great white throne judgment. They're being held now. What a word. When all of a sudden they are pulled out of all those places and the unbelieving, they're standing before God. They're standing before Jesus, actually. The books are opened, but it says everything familiar to him is gone. It says whenever the face of the Lord appears, it says heaven and earth, they were gone. They fled away. For there was no place for them. Now listen, if heaven, if all the universe is gone and the earth, everything is gone, where are they? Do you understand? In other words, what dimension is the throne of grace resting on? I believe I'm not adding to Scripture. I believe it's the great white throne judgment. What dimension? If everything is gone, the great white throne. Here they're standing. What are they standing on? Are y'all following me? You have to remember I'm simple. Okay? I'm thinking about that. They're in a dimension that we don't understand, and I believe that dimension right over in that dimension is what's called outer darkness. And there is the lake of fire because that's where they're going, God. So the books were opened and everybody, they were judged and if they weren't found written in the book of life in which they won't be, they were cast into hell. Now listen, Peter's doing this because he's saying this, the mockers, they're going to meet their maker. Amen? And they're not going to be saying where's the promise of his coming then? So after the great white throne judgment, something happens. Whenever the final events of human history, as we know it and understand it, is over, look at verse 10, the second part, it says the heavens will what? Pass away. They're going to vanish. They're going to disappear. The entire universe is going to be gone. It says, and the heavens will pass away and look how it happens with a great noise. That is a mysterious word. I believe, matter of fact, that word noise is only found right here, the Greek word for it in the New Testament and it means like the hissing of a snake or like when an arrow is fired at, some people say that's what the atomic blast sounds like, I don't really know. And it says that great noise is going to be gone and look what's going to happen. And the elements of the earth, all of the building blocks of the universe, the water air and all the stuff, everything here, it says will melt and look how it melts with a fervent heat, both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Now, there's two schools of thought. This fervent heat, some believe, is the earth is going to be purified by fire and then the earth is going to be restored like Eden or something. Now that may be so. I believe it says burned up and I'm going to just take it. It's going to be burned up. Is that a deal? Now, it doesn't really matter who is right because it's going to be dissolved. You see, we can argue that point all day long, but the fact of the matter is, man, it's going to be gone. Think about it. The heavens are gone, the earth is gone, the works are gone, the only reality we ever know is this, isn't it? That's the only reality we know. It is gone. Now listen to me, everything man has done. Everything man has created, coveted, murdered for, killed for, fought wars for, everything that that man today considers sacred, a treasure, is going to be gone. It will never, no never, no never, no never be seen again. We have to ask ourselves, what are we really living for right now? What are you really living for, Christian? We have to be honest with ourselves. Are you living for what's perishing or is temporary? Are you going to be living for what is eternal, amen? Amen? You know, out front here, there is a lithograph of a painting that's very dear to my heart. I hung that there about 25 years ago, I think. It's a famous painting. It's called the sower, you know, the parable of the sower. Well, you know, they just unveiled the original masterpiece of the sower. They're letting the public see it again for the first time in many, many years. But you know, it's a treasure, and I agree with that, but you can't even hang it. If you're going to see it, you can only see it flat laying down because it's so cracked, the little pieces, the fragments fall out and they can't hang it. You know, and that's wonderful, the Mona Lisa, all the things that if you've ever seen, those are treasures, because I'm not putting premium on any of it. Everything you've created is not first-class. Everything we've done, man, listen, he says, no, it's all going to be gone. And then Peter asked this great question and you've got to remember, he's getting ready to go home. He says, therefore, based on everything we've just learned, since all these things, the earth, the heavens, the works, everything we know of is going to be dissolved or burned up. What manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness? Now you say, well, boy, that's a big charge. No, it's not. We've already learned all the way back in chapter 1, verse 3 that we are partakers of the divine nature of God and that he has given, it's a past tense, it's already a present reality. He has given unto us all things that pertain to life and to godliness. So we don't have an excuse, do we? No, not at all. So we can do those things. So here we go, we know the world or we know what's going to happen in the world. The world doesn't know it. The world doesn't even believe it. We know the future of this planet. How should we live? Well, we need to be set apart from this world and we need to be set apart unto God. We need to be fishers of men, we need to be ambassadors for Christ, we need to be the salt, we need to be the light, and we don't have anything to do with the world because this world is not our home, amen? That's why John the Apostle said in 1 John 2, 15, he said this, do not love the world. Do not love the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, lust of eyes, pride of life, it's not of the Father, it's of this world and the world is passing away and the lust therein. But he who doeth the will of God abideth forever and ever and ever and ever. You know, we're closing out this year, loved one. We're closing out what we tried and believed was going to be a revolution and we don't know what's coming, but what does that really mean? It means that the body of Christ, if you truly want revolution, the word revolution means to revolve around. That means that we need to revolve around the throne of grace, amen? That's so important. And not only that, Jesus told us to do something that he didn't say to do in any other part of Scripture. He said in Matthew 633, he says, seek first, he didn't say seek first, anything else but it, seek first is the top priority, seek first the kingdom of God, his righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you, amen? What did Jesus tell us in Matthew 11 verse 12? He says, from the days of John the Baptist, the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence and the violent take it by force. What does that mean? We're going to arm ourselves? No, that's all. It means it all. It means that we consider the kingdom of God as a prized possession. We belong to the kingdom, amen? What did Jesus say? He said, oh, my little children, it is my father's pleasure to give unto you the kingdom. We pray thy kingdom come, thy will be done, amen? Are you seeking the Lord like that? That's the way that we need to be living. And not only that, look at verse 12, we're need to be looking for something. Looking far are literally expected, excited, looking far and hastening. The word hastening means earnestly desiring the coming of the very specific phrase. Watch this. The coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved being on fire and the elements will melt with fervent heat. So Peter here in verse 12, looking far, when we get to verse 13, it'll say look far. When we get to verse 14, it's going to say look forward. What does that mean? It means our attitude right this minute, then and today for the Christian is one of expectancy, that Jesus could come at any moment, meaning the catching away of the church. We call that the rapture level one. So very important. Verse 12 now concludes the day of the Lord, and look what it commences, the day of God. There's a big difference there, okay? The day of God. Now when the day of God comes, the rule and reign of man is completely over. And look what happens in verse 13. Nevertheless Peter says, we, according to his promise, God's promise, look for a, look for new heavens, plural, new earth in which righteousness dwells. Man, what a city, what a place that's going to be. Is there any sorrow there, any pain, any death, any crying, any tears? No, none of that. And you know why it's, man, the righteous one is there though, our Lord and our Savior, he is there and listen, on the day of judgment, okay? The great white throw, when the books are closed forever, when it's closed, suddenly something's going to happen. Suddenly we're going to enter timelessness and then we're going to be an eternity forever and ever and ever. A brand new day, a brand new world, the city of God, that's Revelation 22 and 21 of course. I love on listen. Do you know that we're going to witness what's happening right here? See, we come back to the earth with the Lord, amen? We're going to see this. I mean, we will, we'll probably be right next to one another, don't you? Hello. And your turn goes, I didn't like you back then, but I love you now. No. No. And listen, and I say, oh Lord, we're going to see it. John saw it, let me tell you what John saw, right after that, when you went into the day of God, Revelation 21, now I saw a new heaven, I saw a new earth for the first heaven, the first earth, they passed away and there was no more sea. So that which Peter proclaimed, that which John the apostle, what he saw, that which Isaiah predicted in Isaiah 65, 17, and what Jesus promised, what Jesus promised is going to happen. Remember Jesus' promise about that? Matthew 24, 35, heaven and earth will pass away, Jesus said. But my words will never pass away. This is not our home. Everything that you have, everything that you have, love on everything that you have, it's not here. This is all going to burn. Do you understand? It's all going to pass away. Did you buy a million dollar home? Is it going to burn? I'm sorry. You know, you could have, you know, somebody told me last Sunday, oh Bill, I wish you had been with me. I was in Glen Rose and they had a Carvat show because he knows I love Carvats and he said there was 150 Carvats there. You couldn't, from every year, I went, don't tell me that. I said, did you know, and I said, they're going to burn, oh God, I mean, do you understand? Everything you have. It says it's worthless. Don't you understand that? It's of this world and everything in this world is falling. He says, oh no, everything you have is going to be found in heaven. You know why? Because Christians don't lay up their treasures on earth. They lay up their treasures in heaven, amen. We are not citizens of this world. We are citizens of heaven. Heaven is our home. Where's our reward right here? No, our reward is in heaven. Where's Jesus? He's with us now, but he's also there, amen. Oh, love one, listen, heaven, man, are you worried about your stuff? Listen, I'm getting rid of stuff. I'm excited to get rid of stuff. It brings joy to my heart. I'm cleaning out my garage. I mean, it's like, take it. I'm giving, listen, like tools I've had for over 50 years and they're older than that. Take it. Take it. Get it out of my sight. I want a clean garage. I'll enjoy something before it burns. No, I look and I say, oh, Lord, love one, listen, heaven is a real place. And we are right now, all of us, we are running the race of faith to our city. Hebrews 12-2, looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith. And while we're here, we need to win the loss because God's not willing that any should perish. Amen. Oh, we need to do our job. Look at verse 14 quickly, therefore, and he uses the word again, beloved, looking forward to these things. Are you looking forward to the new heavens and the new earth and all this burning up? Okay. Well, that's what he says. Oh, man, we are looking forward. We're eager about this. He says, now be diligent or make every effort to be found by him in peace. We already have peace with God, Romans 5-1. This is, be at peace with one another, amen? And then he says also, without spot and blameless, well, we're, thank God, we're cleansed. The false teachers, were they blemishes and spots and all stains? Yes. And consider, watch this now, consider that the long suffering of our Lord is salvation. What does that mean? What right now is giving this world time, if you will, to repent. That's why we have to be fishers of men, loved one. Listen, today is the day of salvation when God is calling out, please, I don't want you to perish. Come to the Lord. We're not in the day of judgment yet. That's at the very end. And he goes, as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, meaning the Jewish believers. Remember when I taught Hebrews, very first introduction, I use this scripture because when it says, when Peter says, have written to you the Jewish believers, I believe that Paul, the apostle, penned the book of Hebrews, okay? And the passage, I believe, proves it, okay? That's for me. Now, you can argue, but I'm just saying what I think. Now, it says, and also all his epistles speaking in them of these things about, you know, and Hebrews does talk about the earth rolling up like a scroll, remember, folding itself up like an old garment and so forth. He said, everything's going to be going away, but Jesus is still standing. When all the dust settles, he's still there. And he says, speaking of them and those things in which some things are hard to understand, he says, which untaught, unstable people twist to their own destruction. In other words, twisting the scripture to say what they wanted to say, to justify their sin or whatnot. And he says, as they do the rest of the scriptures, now, you therefore, beloved, there's that word again, since you know this beforehand, now we know everything now, don't we? We can include ourselves in knowing beforehand. He says this, beware lest you fall from your own steadfastness being led away or led astray by the error of the wicked, which is the false teaching, okay, instead of God's truth or the false teaching. So for the fourth time now, Peter uses the word beloved. And when he does, he issues a command, a military term, by the way, the word beware. It literally means be on guard. It's like you are a soldier at your guard post, keep your eyes open, you stay alert, you keep yourselves on the lookout because of the danger. What danger is he speaking of? He's speaking of two, false teaching. You got to stay away from false teaching because of what may happen if you embrace it. Look what it says, and if you embrace it, it says lest you fall from your own firm foundation or your own steadfastness. It's not talking about losing your salvation, it's talking about losing your security of the position that you have in Christ Jesus by getting off into false doctrine. And that's what he's talking about here. So he wants us to be stable in an unstable world. We don't want to be like verse 14, the unstable souls that were led away from the false doctrine, we don't want that. So how do we do all this? Peter tells us, look at verse 18, which is the theme of 2 Peter. He says, "But grow in the unmerited, unearned, undeserved, divine favor of God, grow in the grace of God." Did you know that's a command to grow, keep growing, be constantly growing spiritually in grace? We are saved by grace and we are also to grow in grace. Look back at verse 11, "Therefore since all these things," everything's going to pass away. He says, "What manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness? Will love one in light of what we know? How are we going to live in a world that's doomed, because it is doomed?" Well, you won't be living the right way unless you grow in the grace of God. The Bible tells us that we stand in the grace of God 24/7, Romans 5-2, you can read it later. Now the grace of God is very important. Remember when Peter, when he wrote 1 Peter, and he says in chapter 5 verse 12, he gives a command how they are to endure the persecution, this fiery trial. And he says, literally in 5-12, he says, "Under them, I have written to you briefly," I've written just a short little letter, "Exorting you, exhorting pericaleo, coming alongside of you to encouraging you," and he goes up and he says, "And testifying," what I'm about to tell you, Peter says, "It's absolutely true," you can trust it, "and testifying that this is the true grace of God in which you stand." In which you stand, meaning he is commanding them, he's commanding us to stand in the grace of the living God. In other words, the unmerited, unearned, undeserved favor of the living God. Oh, love one, and then he goes on and he says, "Therefore, gird up the loins of your mind. You don't live in this, this world is not yours, so you've got to get your mind right to live in this world till you go home. Gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, here it comes, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." What was Peter telling the people in 1 Peter? What was he telling those Jewish believers that were suffering? He was saying, "Listen to me, grace is greater than pardon, grace is also power." And love one, listen, you know, grace, something happens if you really know that no matter what you face in life, is God's grace sufficient for you. Okay, that means whatever you're facing, if your circumstances, yes, you see them. Circumstances that were in Latin, the things that surround you, the things that are trying to kill you, hurt you, whatever, that are keeping you from believing the Lord. And you are surrounded by problems. You need to say to yourself, "I stand in the unmarried and undeserved divine favor of the living God 24/7, and His grace is sufficient to me, and those circumstances, they won't remain long." They're here, "I see them, but I see God's grace." And listen to me, God's grace does something if we believe it. It transforms our trials into victories, does that make sense? What do Paul told him, Mic Corinth? Corinthians 2, 14, "Thanks be unto God, our Father, who always," not sometimes, "who always leads us in victory or triumph through Christ Jesus, our Lord, wherever God is leading you in your life." He's not leading you to fail, He's leading you to training for reigning, amen? He's leading you to get to the other side. But you have to believe that that grace is there, so we have to grow in grace. Did you know that grace has power? No, it has incredible power. What did Paul, the apostle, in his farewell letter, 2 Timothy? What did he tell Timothy is his beloved son, if you will? He said in 2 Timothy 2, "You, therefore, my son," he says, "be strong," that word, literally means be strong inside, be strong within, in what? In the grace, now, where's that grace found? It says, "The grace that is in Christ Jesus, our Lord," man. Is Jesus in you, where you have all the grace you need, amen? Yeah. So God's grace, we grow in that, no matter what we face, He'll get us through. So we have a gift that cannot be earned, and we also have a strength that cannot be measured. We have God's strength working in our life right this minute. Adrienne Rogers said this about grace. He said, "This is the best definition he's ever heard." God's grace is both the desire and the ability to do the will of God, to do the will of God. The Bible tells us in Titus 2.11 about grace. He says, "This grace of God brings salvation, has appeared to all men teaching us," meaning that grace is a teacher, "teaching us," that denying ungodliness, wordliness, that we live so really, that means a self-controlled mind. A self-controlled mind can only come from sound teaching. The word sound means healthy teaching. Now, and he goes on that we live righteously and godly in this present age, looking for the blessed hope, which is Jesus Christ, our Lord. Now, with all of that being said, we move, he says, "Grow in grace," and then he says, "and grow in the knowledge," not just any knowledge, but the knowledge of Jesus Christ, our Lord, and Savior, amen? That word there is not gnosis, which means facts, it's epicnosis, which means experience. It means a hands-on knowledge. It means that the way that you have that kind of knowledge is that you travel with the Lord. You follow the Lord and you experience Him. Oh, that is a wonderful, wonderful thing, Levon, listen, to grow in Christ. You know, when growth stops, what happens? Decay or death begins, doesn't it? You know, my sister, I mentioned her a lot. I talk to her every week, sometimes twice a week. She's 90, some odd years old, and you know, we have a very close relationship. And she took me, and when I was 14 years old, and raised me, I didn't have a home. And you know what? The first thing she did, the first month I was there. The first month, back then, there was a big opening in the kitchen. It was, you know, how you trim out a door. There's no doors, but just a wooden jam. And she stuck me against that wooden jam and put a, not a ruler, but a straight edge. Thank you. It was, it flattened my hair. And I combed it like hell, it was back. But anyway, and then she would get a pencil and put a mark there. And she said, "It's your first month here. This is how tall you are." Then she'd get Stevie, who's like my little brother, and her son. And then she did his, and then she, Jennifer, and she did his. She did that all the way until I left, was drafted in the army. You see, God loves to mark your growth. He is our Father. He loves to mark your growth when you grow in the knowledge of our Lord. And there is only one way you can grow in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior. Jesus Christ, you have to open your Bibles. Do you understand? There is absolutely no other way. And as you do that, you will learn of Jesus. What did Jesus, He gave a great invitation, Matthew 11, 28, and through 30, He says, "Take my yoke upon you." He says, "Take it. Yoke up with me right now." You know, and He says, "And learn from me." Can you believe Jesus said, "Come on, let me teach you. Learn from me." And as you yoke up with Him, He does the work, you're not doing the work, He's dragging you along, getting you through this life. It's the best place to be, because you're learning of the Lord. And then you start going from glory to glory into Christ's likeness. You start learning how to forgive like Jesus, love like Jesus, think like Jesus, comfort others like Jesus. Amen? Because you're growing, and you grow out of old things, and all things become new. You no longer talk to your wife like she's a dog. You no longer talk to your husband like he's a dog. You grow up, and grow out of that filth, and that sin. Thank you for listening with us this morning. Pastor Bill will be back next Sunday with another message from God's Word, and we look forward to seeing you once again. Be blessed this week, and so long for today. If you'd like more information regarding Calvary Chapel Fort Worth, Love Never Fails International, or The Love Never Fails Radio Broadcast, please visit our website and see cfortworth.org, or download the CCFW app. Pastor Bill would also like to personally invite you to join us for any of our three services here at Calvary Chapel Fort Worth. For service times and directions, please visit cfortworth.org, or call our toll-free number 866-729-1999. That's 866-729-1999. If you're unable to worship with us in person, our live streaming allows you to join us virtually, via the CCFW app, Apple TV, Facebook, YouTube, or our Roku channel. So until our next broadcast, may we encourage you with these words. Love bears, believes, hopes, and endures all things. Love never fails. Love bears, believe, hope, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love you, keep on, keep on, keep on, keep on, keep on, keep on, keep on, keep on.