Living in Anticipation of Christ's Return, Part 1 B

The Lord Jesus comes to rapture His church out. Then comes phase one of the day of the Lord, the holocaust of judgment. And then we come back with Him to reign with Him in that thousand years in our glorified bodies.

At the end of that time, He destroys the universe and ushers us finally at the end of the thousand years into the day of God. That's what we're made for. Welcome to Grace to You with John MacArthur.

I'm your host, Phil Johnson. Earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires – disasters like those have destroyed countless homes and transformed many lives. And yet, as devastating as those catastrophes can be, they often come with some warning, even if it's only a few minutes. Well, today John MacArthur shows you a coming event that, for many, will be the ultimate disaster, and no one on earth knows exactly when it will happen. The question for you is, are you prepared? Are you ready for the return of Jesus Christ?

Something that could happen at any time. John helps you answer that question and calls you to action as he shows you what's in store for the world. The title of his current study, Where in the World is History Headed? And now here's John. Second Peter, chapter 3, we're looking at the last section of this epistle, verses 11 through 18. Final words begin in verse 11. "'Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way,' says Peter, "'what sort of people ought you to be?'"

Stop at that point. Having just made it very clear that Jesus is coming, He now poses the very, very important issue. What does that mean to you? What is the answer to that?

What is the answer? The answer flows, starting in verse 12, down through verse 18. What should it be that characterizes us? Let me give you a little list and we'll cover it. Expectation, pacification, purification, evangelization, discrimination, maturation, and adoration.

Now you don't need to get those down, I just want to kind of give you a little feeling for the flow. Those are the things that should mark us out in holy conduct and godliness. Frankly, this implication of the Second Coming takes us back to 1 Peter chapter 1.

I need to draw you back there. 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 13. Peter says, "'Therefore, gird your minds for action,'" that's the outside again, "'be sober-minded,'" that's the inside.

So, you know, get your conduct right and your attitude right. And there we are with that holy conduct and internal godliness again. And he says, "'Fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.'"

There's that same concept. Live in the light of that unbelievable grace that is going to be bestowed upon you when Jesus is fully revealed in all His glory and sets up His eternal kingdom. Live in the light of that and it will impact your action and it will impact your mind or your heart, your inner being. And then he says, his obedient children, 1 Peter 1.14, "'Don't be conformed to the former, lest which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior.'" He's calling again for holiness in the light of living for eternity. Holiness then is to extend to all areas of life, all matters of life. That's consistent with where we're headed.

That's the direction we ought to take. Verse 15 makes this very important point, "'But like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves.'" If we are God's children, if we're headed for His kingdom, we should behave in a manner consistent with that identification. You remember back in Matthew 5, 48 at the very beginning of the New Testament when the first recorded sermon of Jesus is given, it says, "'Therefore you are to be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.'" The Apostle Paul said in Colossians, "'Set your affections on things above and not on things in the earth.'"

Paul said, "'Our citizenship is not on the earth but in heaven.'" In other words, we are to live in the light of glory and that compels us to a level of holiness and godliness that is absolutely pervasive in life. Hope makes us holy. Hope makes us holy. Now since someday we're going to be with Him, how do we begin in this process of holiness?

What are the component parts of making us the kind of people we ought to be? First, let's call it expectation. So he says, "'If you're looking for it, that is watchful, and if you're hastening the presence of that day, that is you're eagerly anticipating it, longing that it come.'" Then he says, "'On account of which the heavens will be destroyed,'" and so forth. He is making a very interesting point.

Follow it. "'If you're looking for and hastening the day of God, in order to bring it, something else has to happen. On account of the day of God, God has to destroy the present universe.'" So we can say then that what he means there is to make way for the day of God, there must be the day of the Lord. If there is to be a new day and a new kingdom and a new heaven and a new earth, if there is to be a new universe in which righteousness dwells, then the Lord is going to have to destroy the old one, destruction of the whole sin-cursed universe. Just as we learned back in verses 5 and 6 that the Lord destroyed this universe once by water, this earthly part drowning all of the people that were in it from waters underneath and waters above the earth, so in the future He will destroy it by fire. And so, Peter is saying, when it comes time for the day of God, the day of the Lord must come first.

Please note this. The day of the Lord is not the result of any natural process. It is not the result of any natural calamity. It is not the result of some nations using nuclear weapons. It is not the result of any man or any natural event or natural cataclysm. It is a divine judgment by Almighty God through the power of Christ to whom He has committed the judgment. It is the work of God.

I hear people trying to explain it as a nuclear war or some scientist who hits the wrong button and sends a chain reaction that destroys all the atoms. It is not some man's doing, it is God's doing. And then just to emphasize the horror of it, Peter repeats what he said in verse 10. Look then at verse 12 again, on account of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning and the elements will melt with intense heat. That's almost identical to verse 10 and very close to verse 7 as I read a moment ago.

Now there are some previews to this. Now keep in mind now, the day of the Lord comes in two parts. It comes when Jesus returns in the Second Coming at the end of the time of the Tribulation, and then He sets up His thousand-year kingdom. At the end of that thousand years, the second phase of the day of the Lord comes. God sees it as one day because a thousand years with Him is as one day, as it says in verse 8. But the first time that Jesus comes, at the beginning of the thousand years, there are some previews of what's going to happen at the end of the thousand years when the full fire of the universe takes place. Let me show you the previews that happened a thousand years earlier. Let me make it Revelation.

This will be a little...a little taste of what it's going to be like. In Revelation chapter 8 verse 7, the trumpets are blown to pronounce the judgment at the end of the Tribulation time. And as the first trumpet is sounded, there came hail and fire mixed with blood and they were thrown to the earth. A third of the earth was burned up. A third of the trees were burned up.

All the green grass was burned up. And a second angel sounded and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea and a third of the sea became blood and a third of the creatures which were in the sea and had life died and a third of the ships were destroyed. It's unimaginable to think that a huge, huge ball of fire coming out of the sky could hit the seas, destroy a third of the seas without creating a tidal wave that would be absolutely beyond imagination, a flaming ball of fire plunging into the sea to be added to the other fires that come down to the earth that burn up a third of everything on the globe. That's only a preview of the devastating fire of the universe that will consume everything at the end of the thousand years when the Lord sets up the new heaven and the new earth. Chapter 9 of Revelation, another preview is coming, chapter 9 verse 17, there comes a great army at the sounding of the sixth angel trumpet and this army comes. The horses and those who sat on them it says the riders had breastplates, the color of fire of hyacinth and of brimstone and the heads of the horses are like the heads of lions and out of their mouths proceed fire and smoke and brimstone and a third of mankind was killed by these three plagues by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which is like lava which proceeded out of their mouths. This is some kind of graphic, figurative description of a great fiery force, maybe God just opens the earth and turns loose the guts of its volcanic capacity which as you know now goes to about 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit and consumes a third of the world.

That's just a preview. That's just a little taste of what's coming at the end of the thousand-year kingdom. Chapter 16 of Revelation and verse 8, and here you have the final judgments. First you read about the seal judgments, then you read about the trumpet judgments which come more rapid fire, and then you read about the bowl judgments which are the most rapid of all, happening very, very rapidly at the end of the Tribulation just before the Lord Jesus comes. And it says in verse 8 of chapter 16, the fourth angel poured out his bowl upon the sun and it was given to it to scorch men with fire and men were scorched with fierce heat and they blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues and they did not repent so as to give Him glory.

I don't know what the Lord does. It's almost as if He has the angel pour gasoline on the sun and it becomes hotter than it's ever been and it begins to literally incinerate people in the world. Chapter 18, another preview of what is to come. Here we get the description of the dissolution of man's world, his enterprise, his economy, Babylon the Great. Verse 8, in one day her plagues will come, pestilence and mourning and famine and she will be burned up with fire for the Lord God who judges her is strong. Then lastly, chapter 20 and verse 9, here we find at the end of the thousand years Satan released from prison.

He comes out to deceive people who have lived through that thousand years and rejected Christ. They came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and all the rebels from out of the kingdom are going to try to attack the beloved city and fire came down from heaven and devoured them and the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. And that is the starting point of the final devastation of fire that consumes the whole universe. That's how it's going to end.

And the Lord has given us ample warning, Old Testament, New Testament, very descriptive previews coming at the end of the seven-year period of Tribulation just prior to Jesus' return to set up His thousand-year kingdom and then a taste of that furious fire is going to come upon that great rebellious army that are going to fight Jesus Christ at the end of His earthly kingdom and then comes the holocaust when all of the universe is consumed and the elements melt with intense heat. Write down to the elements. What do you mean by that element?

That's that word stoicheia again. It means the microscopic components that make up the building blocks of matter. Write down to the very essence of matter. It's all going to be consumed. First John 2, 17, and the world passes away.

The universe, the earth, and the world means the system, social, economic, cultural, religious, whatever it might be, it's all consumed. When God's day arrives, the final destruction has taken place, man's day is over. That's why it's the day of God.

It's not man's day anymore. His corruption of the universe and that of fallen angels is finally judged. And so verse 13, Peter says, but according to his promise, we are looking not for the day of the Lord, we're looking for the day of God, the day of eternity, for the new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. According to his promise, singular, the promise has been stated over and over again that the Lord is going to bring a new heaven and a new earth, paradise regained after the holocaust of fire. And we're looking for it, for a new heaven and new earth. That really is one idea. There aren't two definite articles there.

There are no articles there. We're looking for a new heaven slash new earth, one unit. That is God's promise. But according to His promise who cannot lie, who always speaks the truth, we're looking for a new world, a new universe.

That promise goes way back. That promise goes way back to the Psalms. In Psalm 102, for example, in verse 25, of old thou didst found the earth and the heavens are the work of thy hands. Even they will perish, but thou dost endure.

All of them will wear out like a garment, like clothing. Thou wilt change them and they will be changed, the new heavens and the new earth. The prophet Isaiah saw it again, Isaiah 65, 17. For behold, says the Lord, I create new heavens and a new earth...listen to this...and the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind. Listen, one of the great realities of eternity is you will have no memory of time. You will be consumed in the new heaven and the new earth and the former things will not be remembered or come to mind. Be glad and rejoice forever, He says, in what I create. And then in Isaiah 66 and verse 22, He says it again, just as the new heavens and the new earth which I make will endure before Me, declares the Lord, so your offspring and your name will endure.

Yes, Peter says, according to His promise, there's a new heaven and a new earth. The word new is the word kairos. It means new in quality, not new in chronology. Not just new in order, but new in quality, different, not like anything we've ever known. And how does He sum up the character of its newness?

Beautifully. Verse 13, in which righteousness dwells. The word dwells just doesn't do it, folks, just doesn't do it. There's a Greek word oikeo, which means to be at home...to be at home. This word is katoike. Whenever, as I've told you, you add a preposition to a verb in the Greek language, you intensify its meaning.

Katoikeo means to settle down and be at home...to settle down and be at home, to take up permanent, comfortable residence. And so He is saying that new world is a world in which righteousness is no longer a stranger, a world in which righteousness is no longer a wanderer, a world in which righteousness is no longer a foreigner, a world which is the home of righteousness, permanent, perfect existence. That's the world we look forward to. That's the world that has been promised to us in Jesus Christ. That's where our history is going. That's what's prepared for those who love Him. In Isaiah chapter 60, verse 19, Isaiah writes about that world, listen to what he says, no longer will you have the sun for light by day, nor for brightness will the moon give you light.

Isn't that something? You won't have the sun for light and won't have the moon for light? You will have the Lord for an everlasting light.

What a state statement. And your God for your glory, your sun will set no more, neither will your moon wane for you will have the Lord for an everlasting light. And the days of your mourning will be finished, then all your people will be righteous.

Great statement. All your people will be righteous. Look at Revelation chapter 21. Here is a New Testament description. Revelation 21, 1, And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth passed away and there is no longer any sea, no separation. I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men and He shall settle down and be at home among them and they shall be His people and God Himself shall be among them.

This is where righteousness is at home because this is where God is at home, where God is the light, the everlasting light. Verse 4 says, He'll wipe away every tear from their eyes. There shall no longer be any death there shall no longer be any mourning or crying or pain.

The first things have passed away. And He who sits on the throne, the Lord says, Behold, I am making all things new...all things new. And He said, Write, for these words are faithful and true.

And He said to me, It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. He who overcomes shall inherit these things and I will be his God and he will be my son. If you want to be in on this kingdom, you have to overcome. You say, How do I overcome?

John said it. What is it that overcomes even our faith? Faith in whom?

Faith in Jesus Christ. Verse 8, But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone which is the second death. Go to verse 23 and hear again what we read in Isaiah. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine upon it for the glory of the Lord has illumined it and its lamp is the Lamb. And the nation shall walk by its light and the kings of the earth, that is those who were redeemed, shall bring their glory into it. And in the daytime, for there shall be no night there, its gates shall never be closed and they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. All the peoples who have been redeemed of all nations will be there basking in this glory.

But verse 27, nothing unclean and no one who practices abomination and lying shall ever come into it but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life. It is the place in which righteousness settles down and is finally at home. It is the place where righteousness is no stranger. It is the place where God dwells. What a world!

What a world! Our response should be that of John. Go to chapter 22, Revelation, verse 8. And I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things and when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship. His heart was right, he just fell at the wrong place. He fell at the feet of an angel who said, get up, worship God.

He's the one that did this. Down to verse 20. He who testifies to these things says, Yes, I am coming quickly. And what is John's response? Amen.

What? Come, Lord Jesus. Come, Lord Jesus. And you see, if we know that we're headed for the new heaven and the new earth, if we know that we'll be delivered out of the day of the Lord, phase one and phase two, if we know that we're going to escape the judgment because we have been ordained unto eternal life, eternal glory and eternal righteousness and that our dwelling place forever will be in the eternal day of God where righteousness is all there is, if that is God's plan for us and that is the reason He redeemed us, what kind of people are we to be? Certainly not like people who are going to spend forever in the burning pit. First of all, we ought to be people characterized by expectation. We ought to be living in expectation . The sequence of events, the Lord Jesus comes to rapture His church out, then comes phase one of the day of the Lord, the holocaust of judgment. And then we come back with Him to reign with Him in that thousand years in our glorified bodies. At the end of that time, He destroys the universe, preserving the already made righteous and redeemed through that destruction and ushers us finally at the end of the thousand years into the day of God. That's what we're made for and that's what we should be anticipating.

We should live in expectation. The best is yet to come. So many rich things in this passage, let's pray. Thank You, Father, again for this wonderful reminder of our future. Thank You that You've written our names in the Lamb's Book of Life. Thank You that You've caused our hearts to turn in faith to Jesus Christ and be saved. Thank You that we're headed for heaven. Thank You that we shall never be condemned but only know eternal glory, not because we're worthy, not because we've done anything to deserve it, but because You loved us and You gave Your life for us, because we simply received the offer of salvation freely given.

May we live in expectation and may we live in eagerness, watching for the coming of the Savior, anxious and eager that He come, that we might enter in to that for which we have been destined, even to be made like Jesus Christ, to dwell in His eternal righteousness in Your presence. For Christ's sake, amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Praise to you.