Breaking Up Camp and Moving On

What Peter is saying in principle is all of the truth that is found in the Scripture, whether it's the Old Testament prophets or the words of Jesus as recorded, or it's the words of Paul. They provide for us a compass. They do something for us.

First of all, they motivate our will. Verse 11. Okay, if the material universe is going to be destroyed, what kind of a person should you be?

The wrong answer would be a materialistic person. You ought to be a spiritual person. Did you know you can get more inspiring teachings from Skip on his TV show? Here's how. Or, call 800-922-1888.

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Visit connectwithskip.com slash offer to give online securely or call 800-922-1888. Now, we're in 2 Peter chapter 3 as Skip Heitzig gets into today's message. Dr. Lee Chestnut in his book, The Adam Speaks, writes this, consider the dilemma of the nuclear physicist when he finally looks in utter amazement at the pattern he is now drawn of the oxygen nucleus. For here are eight positively charged protons closely associated together within the confines of this tiny nucleus. With them are eight neutrons, a total of 16 particles.

Eight positively charged, eight with no charge. Earlier physicists had discovered that like charges of electricity and like magnetic poles repel each other. And unlike charges or magnetic poles attract each other. And the entire history of electrical phenomena and electrical equipment had been built upon these principles known as Column's law of electrostatic force and the laws of magnetism.

So, what was wrong? What holds the nucleus together? Why doesn't it fly apart?

And therefore, why do not all atoms fly apart? The quick answer, the Sunday school answer is Jesus Christ holds them, makes them cohere together. So imagine what would happen if he let go. And that's what he will do.

He who holds it all together will let it go. He will uncreate his creation and it will all be destroyed. Now somebody's going to say, yeah, but didn't God promise Noah that this earth would never again be destroyed?

Well, you've got to read the fine print in the contract. He said he'll never destroy it by water. But over and over again he says he'll destroy it again, this time by fire.

So the campground that we live in, it's temporary, it's going down. But our calling is timeless. That's verse 13. Peter says, nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. What promise is he talking about? The promise in Isaiah 66 where the Lord says, I will make new heavens and the new earth which will last forever says the Lord. Remember what Jesus said, I'm going to prepare a place for you.

This is the place he's going to prepare. New heavens and new earth. Now it says it's new. It's new. The word new here in our text as well as in Revelation 21 is a word that is not the typical word for new. The typical word in Greek for new would be the word naos. It means new in time, new chronologically.

The word used here is the word kinos. It means new of a different sort or a different kind. New in quality. Unlike anything previously known. In other words, it won't be like the millennium which is a renewed, recreated this earth. That'll be gone. It'll be a completely new environment. Something totally different. Now I'd like you to turn to Revelation chapter 21 which I told you to put a marker in and that we would look at.

And we can only look briefly at it. Again, I spent several weeks with you here, not too long ago, and so I'm just going to peruse this with you in light of 2 Peter 3. Revelation 21. John said, Now I saw a new heavens and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.

Also, there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they will be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain.

No need for ibuprofen. For the former things have passed away. Then He who sat on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.

That's the summary statement of this section. Behold, I make all things kinas, completely new of a different sort that has never been before. I've always loved the story of the arrogant scientist who kind of looked up toward heaven with a doubled up fist, and he said, They say that you created the world.

You must feel outdated now that we can do everything you can do. And God said, Okay, I tell you what, I challenge you to a contest. Scientists said, Deal. God reaches down, gets a handful of dirt.

He blew on it, and out of his hand flew a flock of exotic white birds. Turn to the scientist said, Your turn. He took in a deep breath, knowing that he had mastered all of the principles of soil manipulation and biological cloning. He reached down and got his handful of dirt and God stopped him and said, Ah, get your own dirt.

Don't just assemble things out of existing materials. God created things ex nihilo, out of nothing. And then He will uncreate it. And He will create out of nothing new heavens and new earth. Now there's something troubling in the verses that I just read to you out of Revelation 21.

Can you guess what it is? It's what it says in verse one. And there was no more sea. That's heartbreaking.

That's very troubling. Because it says in verse four, there will be no more sorrow. And I'm thinking, How is that possible to have no sorrow and no sea at the same time? I don't get that. I've wrestled with this for four years, because I'm thinking a brand new world with no ocean.

Are you kidding? Listen, if I was doing the creating, it would read and there will be no more cities. There will be no more deserts blowing windy deserts.

But there will be lots of beachfront property and palm trees and waves and surfing. It says there will be no more sea. So in trying to figure this out, I've been comforted by the fact that sometimes in the Bible, the word sea refers to nations that strive against God that are not in covenant relationship with God. So Isaiah 17 says, the uproar of many peoples who roar like the roaring of the seas, the rumbling of nations rush on like the rumbling of mighty waters. The Antichrist comes out of Revelation 13, the sea. Revelation 17, it is described, the waters which you saw where the harlot sits are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues. It could be, and I have taken comfort in this, that when it says there will be no sea, it perhaps refers to that metaphorically, no groups of unbelieving nations striving against God.

And I go, whew. Or it could simply mean there literally will be no sea because there will be no more need for sea. There will be no more need because we live in a water-based environment.

It's going to be something new, it says. Our bodies right now, our flesh is 65% water, your blood is 90% water. If you don't have enough water, you'll dehydrate, you will die. But in saying there will be no more sea simply could mean that the world will not operate on the same principle, principles that it has in this one. And if there are no more seas, by the way, there are no more barriers that divide us from one another.

So either way, have at it, enjoy whatever solace you can find in its interpretation. But there will be a new heaven, or new heavens, and there will be a new earth. And that is what we are hoping for, that is what the Bible promises, that is our timeless calling. Something else you should know before we get back, and that is there's a capital city to it. You saw it in verse 2 and 3, it says, New Jerusalem.

There's not a lot of details about the new earth, but one detail with great detail is in the very next chapter, it's all about this capital city called New Jerusalem. He said, verse 2, I, John, saw the holy city, new environment, new order, it's holy. I can't imagine a holy city, can you? I mean, we don't even have a block in our city that's holy, let alone an entire city that is.

Righteousness dwells in it, Peter said. But he said, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Verse 10, he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God.

Talk about a different capital city. This one comes from the heaven down toward the new earth. And it seems to indicate, as I read, that it like orbits the new earth. Don't have time to go into detail here, but if you read further, it gives you the dimensions of this new city. It's 1,500 miles cubed, about the size, just slightly smaller than our moon.

Coming toward the earth and orbiting around it, hovering around it. That's a sizable city. According to one scientist, Henry Morris, there's enough room in that city to house, get this, 20 billion people, each having 75 acres cubed in that city. And that is presupposing that only 25% of the new Jerusalem will be used for dwelling, while the other 75% are for parks and public places, et cetera, et cetera.

It's enormous. And that is the capital city. And it is a holy city. I have people all the time saying, I want to go with you to the holy land.

I'm thinking, well, that's going to be a while. Because Jesus looked over Jerusalem and he wept over it. He said, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one that kills all the prophets and stones, all who are sent unto her. It's not holy right now. It will be one day. It will be a holy city, new heavens and new earth.

So our campground is temporary. Our calling is timeless, new heaven, new earth. Go back to 2 Peter and let's look at our third and final and we'll close the book together. Our compass is true. Our compass is true. Did you notice in verse 13, he says, nevertheless, we, now watch this, according to his promise, look for the new heavens and new earth.

You know what he's referring to? Promises made in the, in the comic books? Promises made in the Bible, in the scriptures. One of the things that we see Peter does throughout all of his writings, he's always pointing back to the scriptures. This is what the prophet said. This is what Jesus said. And now in this last paragraph, he talks about this is what Paul the apostle said and how people twist what Paul said like they do with the rest of scripture. He is equating Paul's writings currently at the time with the rest of scripture. But what Peter is saying in principle is all of the truth that is found in the scripture, whether it's the Old Testament prophets or the words of Jesus as recorded, or it's the words of Paul, they provide for us a compass. They do something for us.

First of all, they motivate our will. Verse 11. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved.

Now, it's a very logical question. What manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness? Okay, if the material universe is going to be destroyed, what kind of a person should you be? The wrong answer would be a materialistic person. You ought to be a spiritual person.

You ought to be a person that lives for what's beyond the material. In fact, the word manner in verse 11 means foreign or otherworldly or exotic. Because he just got through saying, if this earth is going to be destroyed and you look for a new heavens and new earth, what otherworldly person ought you to be?

Not a person of this world, but of that world. It motivates our wills. Second thing it does, it settles our hearts. Verse 14, notice the word peace. Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found in him or by him in peace without spot and blameless. I don't know about you, but when I read this, it's a little contradictory at first. See, he says, everything here is going to be burned up with fire and destroyed and we, now he says, are looking forward to that with peace.

You go, what? Who in their right mind would look forward to that with peace? So, I want you to understand, he is not eager nor should we be to see massive destruction and death that will be part of the future scenario. John is thinking what's coming after that or Peter is thinking what's coming after that.

New heavens, new earth, new Jerusalem, eternal state, that in and of itself settles our hearts. It's not unlike John in the book of Revelation. If you've read the book, you know that in chapter 10, an angel gave him a little book to eat. He said, here, put this in your mouth and eat it.

And as he ate it, and by the way, the book was all of the future things that were about to happen on the earth. He said, it was sweet to my taste, but bitter when I swallowed. It was bitter because of the day of the Lord judgments that were coming before. It was sweet because of the Lord who will return after and all that he'll bring.

It was both bitter and sweet. But peace is the state of mind that is one of the first byproducts every believer enjoys when there is a commitment to Christ and that person is born again. There's a peace that passes all understanding. And no matter what, because you know this scenario, it settles our hearts.

Third and finally, it stabilizes our minds. Look at verse 17. You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked.

He says, you know this stuff. You have read the prophetic scriptures. I have told you the prophetic scriptures. And knowing this gives you a level of steadfastness, sure-footedness. It keeps you from falling off the path. When you and I are able to see how the scripture predicts certain events and those events have come to pass, then we logically should say, then everything else he said is going to happen.

It's going to happen. And that causes in me a real steadfastness. It stabilizes my thinking.

It keeps me from falling into doctrinal instability, losing confidence in the truth. Well, Sherlock Holmes and Watson looked up at the stars and they discovered somebody had stolen their tent. Watson discovered that the world was beautiful. Peter also looked up at the stars and said, ah, they are beautiful. God made them.

Jesus made them. But they're not going to last. Just like I, Peter, in breaking up camp and moving on, you will one day do the same. In fact, this entire created universe will do exactly that. Knowing that should make you live a godly, holy, confident, expectant, peaceful life. For the last 30 years, I have, at funerals, read a little thing at the end that I found many, many, many years ago. But it's based on this whole idea of our body being a tent and we're going to die one day, take down the tent and move on. So I'm going to close with this.

It's essentially a prayer of a human to God and then God answers that person back. It goes like this. Mr. Tentmaker, it was nice living in this tent when it was strong and secure and the sun was shining and the air was warm. But Mr. Tentmaker, it's scary now. My tent is acting like it's not going to hold together.

The poles seem weak. They shift with the wind. And a couple of the stakes have wiggled loose from the sand. And worst of all, the canvas has a rip. It no longer protects me from the beating rain or the stinging flies. It's scary in here, Mr. Tentmaker. Last week, I was sent to the repair shop and some repairmen tried to patch the rip in my canvas.

It didn't help much, though, because the patch pulled away from the edges and now the tear is worse. What troubled me most, Mr. Tentmaker, is that the repairmen didn't seem to notice I was still in the tent. They just worked on the canvas while I shivered inside.

I cried out once, but no one heard me. I guess my first real question is why did you give me such a flimsy tent? I can see by looking around the campground that some of the tents are much stronger and more stable than mine. Why, Mr. Tentmaker, did you pick a tent of such poor quality for me? And even more important, what do you intend to do about it?

God speaks. Oh, little tent dweller, as the creator and provider of tents, I know all about you and your tent and I love you both. I made a tent for myself once and I lived in it on your campground. My tent was vulnerable, too, and some vicious attackers ripped it to pieces while I was still in it.

It was a terrible experience, but you'll be glad to know they couldn't hurt me. In fact, the whole occurrence was a tremendous advantage because it is this very victory over my enemy that frees me to be a present help to you. Little tent dweller, I am now prepared to come and live in your tent with you if you will invite me. You will learn as we dwell together that real security comes from my being in your tent with you. When the storms come, you can huddle in my arms and I'll hold you. When the canvas rips, we will go to the repair shop together. But someday, little tent dweller, your tent will collapse, for I have only designed it for temporary use. When it does, you and I will leave together. I promise not to leave before you do. And then, free of all that would hinder or restrict, we will move to our permanent home and together, forever, rejoice and be glad.

Look in the mirror. The universe is winding down and you and I with it. We're not living for this world.

We have a better one ahead. And we should live with that in mind because that will motivate us and the scripture will be a compass to us that keeps us firmly on the path. That wraps up Skip Heiseck's message from his series Rock Solid. Now, here's Skip to share how you can keep this broadcast going strong, connecting more people like you to God's Word. God has revealed who He is in His Word, the Bible. That's why studying your Bible is so important.

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Find more information on the broadcast page at connectwithskip.com. Join us next Monday as Skip Heissig begins a series called White Collar Sins, sharing how holiness allows you to live a truly fulfilled life in Christ. Make a connection, make a connection at the foot of the cross and cast all burdens on His word. Make a connection, connection. Connect with Skip Heissig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.