Which world?

Thank you one and all. Yeah, just express appreciation to you, Caleb, for all the hard work behind the scenes and everyone else who's involved in the Refuge series. Brother Barber too.

And thank you to everyone who's tuned in today. Now we're going to read the scriptures and we're going to pray and then we will consider what we've read together. So let's turn in our Bibles to 2nd Peter, 2nd Peter, 2nd Peter chapter 3, 2nd Peter chapter 3, and we will take our reading from verse 8. It reads, But beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day with the Lord is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day.

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness, but is long-suffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat.

Nevertheless, we, according to his promise, look for a new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Let's pray. Our Father, we would give thanks again, first and foremost, for the Lord Jesus, and we bless thee that we've ever come to know him.

What a change he brings to not only these little lives here below, but to the great eternity that awaits each one of us. We thank thee that he was prepared to suffer in order that we would be benefited. Oh God, we stop, we pause this very moment to thank thee for ever sending thy son.

We have read thy word, we're thankful for it. It stabilizes us, edifies us, instructs us, comforts and guides. We pray for help by the Holy Spirit to understand something of what we've read together.

Bless each and every one that has tuned in today. Encourage thy people, strengthen we pray. We ask these things in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ.

Amen. Whenever we read the word of God or study the word of God, it is essential that we keep the context in mind. And so with that opening statement, we want to bear in mind some of the context that we have considered in these verses that we've read together today.

Peter is writing to believers who are being assailed by false doctrine and he looks ahead in the dispensation and sees to our present day that we need to be fortified against the plethora, the multiplicity of false teachers that abound on every hand. You know and I know that you only have to walk into a so-called Christian bookshop and you're faced immediately with a multiplicity of teachings. One of the mainstream teachings of the present day in which we live is to focus the minds of people upon the present world and by doing so taking the minds of the people off the world which is to come.

And what Peter wants to do in the verses that we've read together and in fact in this whole epistle is not only to identify false teachers and to warn us against them and to fortify us in the face of them but he wants us to understand that our real focus is not on the world in which we live here but it is on the one to come. And that's what I want this afternoon for us to do just for a few moments but I pray that it won't be just for a few moments but that as a result of reading these words together in 2nd Peter we will be edified and strengthened and built up in our most holy faith so that we too will consider greatly this world to come. And so the title for this message is Which World? Which world am I focused on? Which world am I thinking about? Which world am I really immersed in? And I trust by the end of these few verses just these six verses we will be strengthened and able to think of this future world.

Peter in his first epistle he writes the believers particularly about suffering and he writes concerning encountering fiery trials. In his second epistle as we have outlined already as we glean something of the context he writes concerning false teachers. In the first epistle it's persecution from without that which rages against the believers.

Satan is depicted for us as a savage lion seeking whom he may destroy. In the second epistle however where we've read together today it's pseudo teachers from within. It's Satan depicted for us as a subtle liar seeking to deceive, to distort, to delude.

In the second epistle in chapter one Peter writes to immediately fortify the believers. In the first four verses of chapter one he writes concerning God himself and the family that we've been brought into like precious faith. He writes the great privilege for all of us as believers to be brought into the family of God and all that God has done for us enabling us to live lives of godliness, life and godliness.

Everything has been enabled by the Holy Spirit having been brought into this family that we might live to please God and that we might understand something of the great future that lies before us. And so in chapter one Peter speaks of various ingredients that we are to add to our faith that they may strengthen us to face the plethora of false teaching that particularly abounds now. He had this view in chapter two he has the view the vision of false teachers.

He speaks about their verdict, the vulgarity of their lifestyle and the victims that they claim, the tragedy of what it is to be caught up under false teaching only to perish, so many to perish. And so Peter wants us to be warned against such men and such women, individuals whoever they may be. In chapter three he speaks about the philosophy of false teachers, how that they will never speak to you about the great future.

Their message is the here and now, it's materialism, it's to be healthy and wealthy and worldly wise in this present moment in which you live. And in fact it's interesting, I wouldn't really encourage you to go on YouTube and look up these individuals, but for those who may have done or may have been caught up in it or may have read their books, in fact there's one very famous false teacher who wrote a book and it was titled something like this, Your Life, Your Best Life Now. And what you will notice that is absent from their teaching which fits completely their philosophy is they never speak to you about the great future.

They never warn you about the great future that awaits unbelievers. Absent from their teaching is the glorious millennial reign of Christ and beyond as God opens the door into the vast eternity. No, they want you to think about here and now.

And as Peter says, what actually is happening is they are making merchandise of you. You attribute, you contribute to the coffers, you contribute to the purse that they hold. But beloved, I want us to stop and consider the great world that's to come.

This will help us no doubt in the midst of this pandemic, COVID-19. But you may have questions arising in your mind like I do, like many others do. Why then is God seemingly so slow in his actions? Has he been unexpectedly held up in the great program of God? Is he out of touch with my reality as I linger maybe in a particular suffering? No, we want to consider just these few things together.

We want to see something of the comprehension of time. I want us to comprehend time in some measure as God sees it. That's what Peter speaks of in these following verses.

We want to see something of how God calculates time and how he considers us within the capsule of time. And then finally we'll see the conclusion of time really as we know it. Peter begins with a statement that is used a number of times in the New Testament, but beloved, be not ignorant.

In fact, Paul uses this statement on a number of occasions and the Holy Spirit of God desires us to be Christians with knowledge. In fact, if you from the very opening statements of this epistle, Peter is encouraging the believers constantly to go in for knowledge. Now we know the apostle Paul, of course, says we could have all knowledge and void of love and it would profit us nothing.

We would be nothing. But Peter wants us to go in for knowledge. In fact, he closes the epistle in the same way about growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

So knowledge is essential that we might come into some understanding. And of course, as we have already made comment on, knowledge alone is not enough. We must put this knowledge into practice as we come into some comprehension.

But he says, I don't want you to be ignorant. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians chapter 10 and he says, I don't want you to be ignorant of things that are past. In relation to the nation of Israel, in relation to the Old Testament.

And we take up our Bible as we have it. And we see and learn practical lessons from the history of that great nation. He writes again and he desires that we wouldn't be ignorant of things present.

Spiritual gift in 1 Corinthians chapter 12. In 2 Corinthians chapter 2, that we might not be ignorant of Satan's devices. Of the great mystery of what God is accomplishing, having set Israel aside and bringing in the church.

In Romans chapter 11, he again makes this statement, I don't want you to be ignorant, brethren. And so Peter writes and he says, really, I don't want you to be ignorant about this present time or how God calculates time. Is God out of touch with your reality? No.

Has he come up against some unexpected delay in the course of events? No. His program is perfect. It's running to his schedule.

COVID-19 did not catch God by surprise. And right where you are, beloved, maybe in your living room, in your bedroom, in your home, gather around a screen somewhere across this globe. God sees you.

He has intimate, meticulous care concerning your circumstances. Peter says that one day, one 24-hour day with God, with the Lord is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. Now, I don't know about you, but myself, I've often focused on the second part of that great verse.

But I want us to just think about these statements that Peter has made. Really two sides to this coin that we want to think of. Number one, God is slow but not slack.

Number two, God is sometimes very swift, but he's not hurried or rushed. And we want to think about that in the consideration of what Peter speaks to us. He says one day with Jehovah is as a thousand years.

You know, beloved, it is evident that we are limited in our three-dimensional world, length, width, depth, the one dimension of time. But it is equally evident that God is above these dimensions. I know that there are all kinds of possible theories that are put forth as to how many dimensions there might be above this little sphere that we find ourselves in.

Well, that's not really my business. But what we must understand is God having created time, he's beyond the capsule of this universe. He is exceedingly great.

And what might take us 10,000 millennium, he can do in just one day. The greatness of God's ability. I want you to think of the meticulous care and interest that God has in every sphere.

You think of the heavenly sphere of which he dwells and all that is taking place in the angelic world. Every saint that is in his presence. You think of the celestial heaven, the moon, the stars, the sun, and the terrestrial heaven, the weather patterns.

And again, the Lord Jesus would teach us that not a sparrow would fall to the ground without God seeing and knowing and caring. And you think of the earth in which we live, the botanical sphere and the animal sphere, the realm of humanity, every Christian. I wonder just as we've been on this Zoom call, how many Christians have prayed millions of prayers ascending to God at exactly the same time.

And yet he's able to take care of everyone. Oh, the greatness of who God is, creation, the marvelous, creatorial work of our God. Imagine if you could have sat with the Lord Jesus on a Galilean hillside, you would be sitting there and the Lord Jesus, imagine him turning to you and looking up to the stars, a starry night in the Northern Hemisphere of which you are.

I enjoy the stars of the Southern Hemisphere and I often love to look up at the Southern Cross. One thing about that is I love to look and see that cross is empty. They're in the starry night sky.

But in the Northern Hemisphere, where I guess mainly the viewers are from today, you look up to the starry night. Imagine if you could have sat next to the Lord Jesus on a Galilean hillside and he points out the multiplicity, the innumerable number of stars, the galaxies and beyond. And he would just say to you, I created those in half a verse on a Wednesday, the fourth day.

It just simply says this. He made the stars also. Oh, the greatness of our God.

Truly one day is as a thousand years. Our God can accomplish so much. He can move quickly.

He can move slowly. We often reflect and no doubt you have today concerning Calvary itself. In six hours, Christ exhausted the unmitigated wrath of God, which would have pursued you and me for eternity.

That which we could not exhaust in eternity's day to the very satisfaction of our God. He exhausted on our behalf. In six lonely hours.

How great is our God. You remember the promise of his coming. A number of times in the book of the Revelation as the scriptures closes.

Behold, I come quickly. I come shortly. But then on the other side of the coin, if God is able to accomplish what might take us a thousand years in one day, if he is able to do so much, why seemingly is he so slow? A thousand years are as one day with the Lord.

A thousand years for us. It's just like one day with the Lord. We know that in the history of so far, there have been six thousand years.

Six thousand long years. And yet with God, it's as though it was just six days. When time and circumstances seem so unnecessarily extended, let us learn this lesson that God is running to his timetable.

And I guess that when we really, I guess it will be that when we're in eternity, we will have a greater understanding of the program of God and just why he seemingly took so long. I want to consider some examples from the scriptures with you. Let's think of Abraham himself.

Twenty-five years he had to wait. Seventy-five years old when he was given the promise of the seed that shall come and twenty-five years that man waited. We know, of course, he began to take things into his own hands.

And maybe I can be a little bit like that at time. I think that God is moving too slowly. I want to hurry things up.

Maybe I take things into my own hands, but I'm not really focused on that. What I want to highlight here is Abraham, he waited twenty-five years. And when finally, this promised seed, the promised son arrived, he was asked to sacrifice him.

Maybe your circumstances are difficult. Maybe for you it's loneliness, sickness, depression, jobless. Maybe this pandemic, it has rattled you and you're just wondering if God is still in control.

I know that there are various believers who I know personally, and you're passing through times of difficulty, of bereavement, maybe in a wheelchair, confined with certain sicknesses. I want to remind you, my God knows all about you. He understands if seemingly this time seems to be extended and maybe you're tempted to think unnecessarily so extended.

Be reminded that God is in complete control. His purpose. Do you remember the words of the apostle? He says, knowing that tribulation worketh patience.

James, he says, counted all joy when you fall into diverse temptations, knowing that the trying of your faith worketh patience. Paul the apostle again says, our light affliction, which is but for a moment, it worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. Beloved, don't jump to rash conclusions when God allows time to linger.

Isaac, he was 40 years old when he got married, and of all the women in the Middle East, he married a barren woman, and he had to wait 20 further years. You think of Jacob. Do you know how old Jacob was when he was married? I'm not seeking to set a precedent here, but maybe there's hope for someone on this call.

But he was 84 years old when he married. Amazing. 77, when he left home, a fairly short distance from his house to Laban's house, about 800 kilometers, approximately three months journey.

77 years old when he arrived at Laban's house, and he worked those seven years, and he obtained his bride. Well, he thought he had obtained his bride. Leah, and then Rachel, 84 years old, and seemingly sometimes God moves so slow.

Moses, 40 years, 40 years, 40 years, God's training program. You think of the nation of Israel itself, moving seemingly so slowly of all the various circumstances, and then the intertestamental period when God was silent for those 400 years. No voice from heaven.

Surely now God has come up against some unexpected delay. Unforeseen circumstances have taken hold. He is delayed.

He's distracted. No, no. Just at the right time, John the Baptist appears, and the blessed person of God's beloved son, listen to these words.

God, at the appropriate time, sent forth his son, born of a woman. You think of the Lord Jesus. Could you conceive of the excitement of those shepherds? For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a savior, which is Christ the Lord.

And five years passes, and 10 years passes, and 15 and 20 and 25. Maybe the shepherd's wives say to their husbands, are you sure that you saw on the hillside that night the one who was announced as Christ the Lord? And 30 years pass, and he emerges from that silent period to manifest himself in his public ministry. Beloved, God does move slowly, but it's always with purpose.

He has not come up against some unexpected time delay. Listen to what it says in verse 9. The Lord is not slack, as some men count slackness. He is not slack concerning his promise.

You think of what Peter speaks of in the opening of this epistle. He speaks in verse 4 of chapter 1 of the exceeding great and precious promises. In fact, if you want a little tip for this book, look for the promises in every chapter.

Peter speaks of promises in every chapter of this book. Tragically, there are promises by the false teachers, which are empty. They promise you liberty while they themselves are servants of corruption.

They themselves are a slave attempting to promise you freedom. No, no. And yet Peter says here, the Lord is not slack concerning his promise.

The word slack is just exactly what we have made reference to a number of times, coming up against some unexpected time delay. In fact, this actual word is only used one other time in the New Testament, and it's used when Paul writes to Timothy. And he says, look, I'm writing to you because if I tarry long, I want you to know how you ought to behave yourself in the house of God.

Basically, he's saying to Timothy, look, I'm writing to you because just in case I come up against some unexpected time delay, in case I'm in an unusual circumstance, I want you to have this letter. I want you to have these instructions so that you may know behavior in the house of God. Well, here it says, the Lord is not slack.

He has not come up against some unexpected time delay concerning his promise. As some men count slackness. God is not out of touch.

The title here referencing Adonai, the supreme sovereign Lord. Earlier, he had already spoken of as the day of Jehovah. Oh, sorry, the one day with Jehovah.

One who is supreme, sorry, one who is self-existent, self-sufficient, the eternal I am. But now Peter speaks of one who is sovereign, who is supreme. Adonai is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness, but he's long-suffering.

Oh, the patience of our God. Truly flesh would not be so patient. The patience of deity that has lingered with this world.

I tell you, beloved brothers and sisters, I'm thankful that God has waited. I'm glad he waited to the 21st century. I'm a 21st century Christian.

Maybe you are too. Maybe many of you are 20th century, saved in the 20th century, but I'm glad God waited. Long-suffering to us, Lord.

In fact, the first time that that word is used in the New Testament is against the background of forgiveness in Matthew chapter 18, when the Lord is speaking there. And you remember Peter's, Peter's remarks about, if my brother sins, should I forgive him seven times? And the Lord swiftly says, well, Peter, start with 490 times. And then he proceeds to give this illustration of a man that owed 10,000 talents to the king, who said, Lord, have patience with me.

That's the word. And I will pay all. And the Lord had compassion and loosed him and forgave him his debt.

But that, that, that man went out and found a fellow servant who owed him 100 pence, having in crude such great debt himself. He now found a fellow servant who owed him 100 pence. And the fellow servant said exactly the same words, have patience with me and I will pay you all.

But he took that fellow servant by the throat and refused to have patience. He refused to be long-suffering. I suppose the lesson for me, and maybe the lesson for you is this.

If God is so long-suffering to us, Lord, do I reflect that? Listen to the words of the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians chapter 13. And in verse number four, he says this, love suffers long and is kind. Truly God is kind to this world, not willing that any should perish.

Do I believe that? No. But that all should come to repentance. Do I preach that? Really? Do I believe that God is not willing that any should perish? Do I preach that all should come to repentance? Some would suggest that there is a distinction between his desired will and his actual or sovereign will.

I wouldn't conclude that for a moment. No, this is the will of God that none should perish. He does not desire any to perish.

Will some perish? Tragically so. Do you remember Peter has already spoken? He speaks about the willful ignorance of the scoffers earlier in the chapter. Willfully choosing to ignore the great fact that God has already deluged this planet, submersed it in water in a global judgment.

And the same planet is reserved by the same word from the same God under fire, perdition, judgment, the day of judgment that is fast arriving. And so Peter says here in the meantime, God is patient. I remember being in New Zealand, actually, on one occasion preaching the gospel.

And a gentleman answered the door. His name was Peter. I prayed for Peter for a long time, but I wonder whether Peter is in eternity now.

He had cancer. And I remember him saying to me, Clive, if your God is so great and big and wise as you say he is, why doesn't he just come down and clean away the suffering and sin and sorrow from this earth? With one vast swoop and swipe, can't he just cleanse this earth? But I said, Peter, if God was to do that, the first thing he would have to do is remove the perpetrators. And the first perpetrator he would have to remove would be me.

But the second one would be you, Peter. But he is patient. He's long suffering, not willing that you should perish.

But it says, the day of the Lord will come. God works in distinct epochs of time. I think there needs to be a revival of dispensational truth and teaching.

And in fact, this is a bit of a plug for Truth and Tidings. But there is a number of articles presently in Truth and Tidings in relation to dispensational truth. So you can read them, and no doubt you'll enjoy them.

And you'll find that various dispensations of God's working in the history of mankind, the dispensation of innocence and conscience and government, promise, law, the church, and what is yet future millennial glory. And God works in distinct periods of time. And you will notice that each one of those dispensations has concluded in failure and judgment.

Dispensation of innocence ended in expulsion from the Garden of Eden and conscience, submersion of this whole world in the deluge of the flood, and in government, confusion at the Tower of Babel, as God confused the languages. And the dispensation of promise with incarceration as the nation of Israel were carried away into captivity. And the dispensation of law and the rejection of Christ and the setting aside of Israel, the dispensation of the church period, which also will end in terrible judgment with tribulation, great tribulation.

And sadly, even the millennial reign, when Satan is loosed from his pet, will end in judgment for many who are deceived. There are various days. Here we have read of the day of the Lord.

I want us to consider that the scriptures speak about man's day, the day of salvation in which we live. It speaks about the day of Christ. And we're not going to go in any detail into those particular spoken days.

But we want to think about the day of the Lord. This, what Peter refers to, it commences once the church is gone. When the church goes, it enters into the day of Christ, the day of the Lord Jesus Christ, which seemingly is from the period of the rapture to the revelation.

But simultaneously, we understand that the day of the Lord begins. It begins with the time of Jacob's trouble. And it ends with what Peter speaks of as the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

It begins and ends with a distinct period of judgment. In between, of course, is the millennial glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, that 1,000 year reign of righteousness. Paul, interestingly, he speaks about the day of the Lord at its commencement.

And he uses very similar terminology to Peter about it being a thief in the night. Peter, as you will understand the context from what we've read together, speaks about the day of the Lord at its conclusion. He goes on to speak about it will come as a thief in the night in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, etc.

So Peter refers to the day of the Lord or Peter's focus on the day of the Lord is right at the end of it. Paul's focus on the day of the Lord is at the beginning of it, but both refer to them as being a thief in the night. And we want to understand something of what they mean by that.

He says it will come as a thief in the night. The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night. Basically, what Peter is teaching us is that when this next dispensation, the day of the Lord, the millennial day, when it concludes, it will conclude unexpectedly for some.

You and I know, of course, that a thief takes something from someone. They rob people of something. You remember that Peter of Paul, when he speaks about the opening of the day of the Lord, he says it will come as a thief in the night too, because he says in 2 Thessalonians, oh sorry, 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, he says the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.

When men shall say peace and safety, sudden destruction shall come from the presence of the law. And men, mankind will be robbed of apparent peace and safety. It will suddenly be fleeced from them and judgment will appear.

Peter says exactly the same thing. He says for people, the conclusion of the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night. At that point, the millennium having run its course, it's almost unfathomable, unimaginable to comprehend that having had 1,000 years of a reign of peace, equitable righteousness, justice, displayed in perfection by the Lord Jesus Christ, that the devil having been loosed from his pit for a short season, the bottomless pit that he was confined to, he will be confined to for millennial days, that having been loosed, he goes about to deceive the nations and he manages to gather a number around him.

He deceives a number which is more than the sand of the sea or what is spoken of there as a number that cannot be measured. It's extraordinary to see that there will be many born in millennial days, that having had a profession will display this fact that there was no reality. And the enemy of our souls, the devil himself, he will gather this innumerable company around him and go up against the holy city, says the scriptures in the book of the Revelation chapter 20, and he will seek to attack that holy city.

And maybe at that time, I suggest at least, there will be the seeming understanding by those people, they will think to themselves, we've accomplished this, we can overcome that city, we can remove the Christ, the Lord of glory, but it says this, mark these words, it says, they came down from God, fire out of heaven that devoured them. Peter says, the conclusion of the day of the Lord, for some will be as a thief in the night. It will come unexpectedly.

They will be unprepared. They will be robbed of something. But for you and I, as believers in the Lord Jesus, we're not robbed of anything.

In fact, it's interesting to note this, beloved, that the rapture is never spoken of as a thief in the night. We're not robbed. Let me just make this statement.

When we come to the book of the Acts, the rapture of the church is never set forth as some kind of scare tactic to be preached. It is actually, I wrote this over the heading of the book of the Acts in my Bible, if you're allowed to write on the pages of your Bible, the rapture is a truth for believers to enjoy, not a terror for unbelievers to escape. Now, I want to emphasize that because sometimes I feel that we can kind of be pretty mean to little children at times.

But God wants us to understand that this is a truth for believers to enjoy. And you'll never find the rapture preached in the book of the Acts. What you will find preached is judgment.

In fact, interestingly, the book of the Acts is the only book in the New Testament not to include the word love in any form. But the theme of the book of the Acts is repentance, repentance, repentance. And that's what we've had from Peter today.

He's long suffering, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But what the book of the Acts sets forth is the ultimate judgment of God that awaits those who reject Christ. And there is opportunity as soon as this dispensation closes with the church, the rapture of the church, and the next one opens, what will be preached? Peter tells us in the beginning of the book of the Acts, what we preached.

And he takes this quotation from an Old Testament scripture in Joel. He says this, this is what will be preached. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Thank God for that. And so the rapture is a truth for us to enjoy. The epistles, of course, expand on that truth.

But the day of the Lord, it will commence and conclude with judgment that will be as a thief in the night. And Peter goes on to tell us in the which the heavens shall pass away, not the eternal heaven where God dwells, of course, but this world would be wrapped up. The Hebrew writer tells us, and I quote, as a vesture, thou shalt fold them up, and they shall be changed.

But thou art the same, thy years shall not fail. The great one who brought them into being will disband the elements. In fact, the thought is here that the elements will liquefy, they shall pass away with a rushing noise.

The elements shall melt, shall be disbanded with fervent heat. Oh, beloved brothers and sisters, this brings me really to the climax of the message, which world? This world is to be disbanded. It's to be done away with.

This is not the time to be seeking fame and fortune. This is not the time to be propping up this world or propping up the systems of this world. No, the world and its politics is fast on its way downward.

Even the millennial reign, Peter looks beyond that. While the millennial reign of Christ will be glorious, and all that the scriptures speak concerning that, and we should study it more and enjoy it more, of that which awaits those of us who are linked to Christ to govern this world, the administration of the government of this world into the hands of Christ and his church, Israel at the head of the nations, a completely transformed world. But what Peter wants us to focus on is even to look beyond that.

Look through the doorway into the vast eternal realm, where when the doors of time are closed behind us, the day of God will open. It's incomprehensible. He says, in light of this, that this present world, this present universe will be dissolved.

What manner of persons are we to be in all holy conversation and godliness? Conversation here, I quite like the word that the translators have used. I know that often it has been explained that it can mean manner of life or behavior and whatnot, but I quite like the word conversation. And I think it's actually an appropriate word for the translators to use.

Our lives are a conversation. That's exactly what we're doing every day with one another. We're really having a silent conversation with our lives.

You speak to me by your life, and I speak to you by my life. That's why if you see someone not practicing what they preach, we're very quick to point that out, to highlight that. Your lifestyle is not in accordance with what comes out of your mouth.

Basically, your lifestyle is speaking to me every day. And so Peter says here, in light of the great fact that this whole universe is going to be disbanded and done away with, should we be building up in this present world? Is it for me to be materialistic, to be focused on the here and now? Is it God's will for me to be completely healthy now? Not necessarily, no. It may be that he allows you to pass through sickness.

Is it God's will for me to be rich now? Not necessarily. Quite likely, you will experience some measure of poverty. But remember this, what is important is holy behavior, distinct, set apart.

Is that holy behavior, the determination of that holy behavior, is that left to our own thinking, our own standard? Well, I'm very glad it's not, because Peter goes on to say godliness. We find in the word of God, the standard of behavior. You know, we could make up all kinds of rules about what behavior should, that kind of, that behavior should look like, holy behavior.

In fact, I came from a system that tried to do that. I was born and raised in a system for the first 17 years of my life, in which there were hundreds and hundreds of rules that tried to govern holy behavior. But it wasn't godly.

It wasn't godliness. It wasn't in accordance with this book. It might be man's standard.

So we have to be careful that if we want to determine what holy behavior is, distinct and separate from this world, we don't go to the false teachers, we don't make up our own standard, but we go back to the word of God. Finally, he says, looking for and hastening unto the coming day of God, when the heavens shall be on fire, shall be dissolved, and the elements melt with fervent heat. Nevertheless, we, according to his promise, look for a new heavens and a new earth.

Briefly then, what are we looking for? He speaks about a new heavens and a new earth. Isaiah alludes to a new heavens or speaks clearly of a new heavens and a new earth. In Isaiah 65 and in chapter 66, you will read there in your own time of what the prophet speaks of as a new heavens and a new earth.

But what Isaiah is focused on, as far as I can ascertain, is the millennium. Is then that what Peter is referring to here? No. Peter is referring to the eternal state.

Peter looks beyond everything to the new heavens and the new earth, which is described for us in the first eight verses of Revelation chapter 21, wherein there will be no tears, no sorrow, no sin, no suffering. What a blessed, blessed prospect. When the dispensations of time shall close, and the eternity of God.

We use language like this, but really it's so much more than we can ever conceive, that the eternity of God will open before us. Beloved, the time that you had to endure now will be worth it. Whatever the circumstance you're passing through, as we have spoken of already, seemingly so slow.

Sometimes time seems to slow right down to the millisecond, and you can count it. It did for me last night, lying awake, trying to get to sleep, thinking about the message today. Time seemed to slow right down.

Well, Peter says, listen, there is a new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth, that's eternally, righteousness. One illustration, and I will close. William Kelly, the great expositor of Scripture, he had a son that went to university, who studied languages.

The professor at the university, he spoke to William Kelly's son, and he asked him how he had such ability, really had a head start on the rest of the class. And so William Kelly's son told the professor that his father was a scholar, particularly in Hebrew and Greek languages. And so the professor wanted to meet William Kelly.

They went out for lunch together, and the professor asked William Kelly what he did. Became evident, of course, the professor that this was a man who was of great, great intelligence. And William Kelly told this professor of how that he was a preacher of the word of God and a teacher, and he moved by faith.

And the professor, he spoke these words, he said these words to William Kelly, with the knowledge that this was a man of great intelligence before him, the professor said, you're a fool. You could be someone in the world. To which William Kelly replied, sir, which world? Let's pray.

Our Father, we give thanks for the few verses that we've been able to read together. Our prayer is that we wouldn't just have read them, but we will be transformed by them with the help of the Holy Spirit. Help us to go in for the world that's to come.

Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that where your heart is, there will your treasure be, or where your treasure is, there will your heart be. Our God, we do pray that as a result of this little time together, we may live lives that bring glory to thee, and that we may be focused on that world, which is to come. We give thanks then for every child of God, asking these things in the name of the Lord, who is Jesus Christ.

Amen.