Sermon Berean Baptist Church 4th October 2009

2 Peter 3:10-14
2Pe 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the
heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
2Pe 3:11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of
persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
2Pe 3:12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the
heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat?
2Pe 3:13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a
new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
2Pe 3:14 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that
ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.
How many of you are looking forward to Christmas? I know its very early to ask the
question. But most of us do look forward to Christmas. Its something we take time
preparing for. Its a time for us to rest, eat a lot, spend time with loved ones and
give or receive gifts.
And in the same way we look forward to Christmas, Peter reminds
us that we have something even better to look forward to. We have an eternity in
heaven to look forward to. And it is something that is so fabulously out of this world
that we cannot even really imagine it.
Many people cling to this world and proclaim its wonders. Many false teachers talk
about how we can use God or the universe as a personal vending machine we just
put in our good attitude, our intentions and faith and out pops our perfect lives of
health, wealth and love. On the other hand the world is becoming a darker and
terrible place. We have had the global financial crisis, we have more natural
disasters than ever before just look at the last week alone with floods,
earthquakes and tsunamis. We have wars, crimes, poverty, hunger, incurable
diseases, relationship breakdowns, depression need I go on.
Either way the devil makes sure that our focus is on clinging to the world. Either to
exalt it, indulge in it, fear in it or suffer in it. And worse still, he tries his best to
make heaven sound like a dull place that makes earth and its pleasures all the
better. And nothing can be further from the truth.
But God wants our focus to be on Christ and our heavenly home. We have
wonderful and terrible things on earth. God has blessed us not just spiritually but
physically as well. The wonderful things are the God made bits and the terrible bits
show the effects of sin in the world.
And we shouldnt lose sight of the fact that this earth in its present form is passing
away. This present world and everything in it, including our original natures, is
infected with sin.

Its not going to get better, its not going to go away. The only cure is purification.
The first purification was by the flood in Noahs day. But this last purification will be
by fire. All will be destroyed and then made new
2Pe 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the
heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
How does that sound to you? How does that make you feel? Do you feel sad that
everything will be gone completely or does it make you excited for the future
eternity.
It wasnt just Christians that were looking forward to a new heaven and earth, but
Jews in Old Testament times also looked forward to it.
Isaiah 65:17 says
Isa 65:17 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall
not be remembered, nor come into mind.
Isa 65:18 But be ye glad and rejoice forever in that which I create: for, behold, I
create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.
Isa 65:19 And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of
weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying.
Revelation also mentions this:
Rev 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the
first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
Rev 21:2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out
of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Rev 21:3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of
God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and
God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
Rev 21:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no
more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for
the former things are passed away.
Rev 21:5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And
he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
The new heavens and the new earth will be even better than what Adam and Eve
had in the Garden of Eden. It will be so good we will not even remember the earth.
Everything is new. Satan will be destroyed. There will be no possibility of temptation
or a return to sin. Everything will be absolutely perfect. It will be the home of
righteousness, for everyone and every thing will be completely cleansed, purified
from any of the effects of sinno sinful nature, no temptations, no sickness, pain,
disease or death-- just absolute perfection in the presence of the Lord.
For some, the idea of all this perfection makes heaven sound boring, but I believe
we wont be in an eternal church service. It will be so exciting with an infinite
wonders and activities each of which show something of who God is. We will have
fellowship with Christ himself.

Just like the beginning of being in love, where you delight in your beloved,
discovering everything about them and having joy in learning every detail about
them. It could be a bit like that but times that feeling by a billion and we may just
get close to describing it. Now this is all just my opinion and not scripture, so dont
quote me on it.
But the point is Heaven is going to be so fantastic, so fabulous, so exciting that we
should look forward to it and keep our hope in being there with Christ. This is what
Peter encourages us to do. In keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a
new heaven and a new earth.
We are to be very aware that everything is going to be destroyed so that there can
be a new heaven and a new earth that will be perfect.
We are advised to 1Jn 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the
world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
Not only are we not to cling to the world, but we are to consider ourselves strangers
here, and consider ourselves as heavenly citizens.
Heb 11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but
having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that
they were strangers and exiles on the earth.
Heb 11:14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a
homeland.
Heb 11:15 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out,
they would have had opportunity to return.
Heb 11:16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one.
Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for
them a city.
When we truly have our heavenly eternity stamped in our heads, then we will
automatically become less attached to things of this world.
When we really consider ourselves as citizens as heaven, and consider heaven as
our home and our earth as a poorer country we are enduring before going home,
then that gives us hope and peace.
When you are saved and you have truly believed in Christ, by Gods grace, you
know that you can be sure that you are going to heaven.
We are not going to heaven because we are good, or have stopped sinning.
By Gods grace you know that Jesus has taken your place. He has done all the good
things you failed to do. He has lived the perfect life you failed to live. He went to the
cross, never having sinned in his life, so that he could be punished for all the times
that you have sinned. You know that you can look forward to heaven because Jesus
has purchased the entry for you.

Your trip has been paid for and he has given you the ticket as a gift, no strings
attached. When God looks at you he sees Jesus. He sees you as spotless and
blameless, holy and righteous. He sees you as an heir of eternal life in Heaven.
Looking forward to heaven is like Christmas in this way. Christ has bought us a gift,
eternal life with Him. Imagine young children looking at gifts to be opened on
Christmas day. They are so excited at the prospect. In the same way, Christ has
given us this gift of eternal life and we get to enjoy it all the more once in heaven.
We just have to wait until the last day to open it.
2Pe 3:14 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that
ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.
Peter says that since we look forward to all this, we should be found of him in
peace, without spot and blameless.
What does that mean exactly? To be found spotless, blameless and at peace with
him is merely to be found in Christ.
This verse has been often used to promote all kinds of legalism and efforts at not
sinning. We know we can never live spotless and blameless lives only Christ has
lived it. We can only live every moment trusting Christ, trusting his goodness.
I attended a conference recently (which your pastor also attended) and the greatest
thing I got out of it was that every instance of us sinning is because in that moment
we are not trusting God to provide for us in some way.
We cannot work at being spotless, but we can work on trusting God. We can trust
God simply because He is trustworthy and not for any other reason. The
trustworthiness and faithfulness of God is an entire sermon on its own, but suffice it
to say God is worth our love, our trust and our very lives. He has given us much.
In conclusion:
The world is a mess and its not going to get better. It will be destroyed by fire. God
tells us this so that we wont get too attached to the world. He tells us this so that
we will be looking forward to heaven.
Looking forward to heaven gives us peace in the midst of the trials and troubles we
face each day. We are not promised a life of earthly joys, health and wealth. We are
told to expect trials and tribulations. A new heaven and a new earth are coming.
Its going to be a place of wonderful perfection. And its already ours, purchased for
us by Jesus.
Since we have such wonderful things to look forward to, we need to live our lives as
though we are strangers here. We should respond to such a wonderful hope with
absolute trust in God and focus on Christ. Let him live his spotless and blameless
life as we continue to trust God in every moment.