Brother Scott, I wish you would have recorded your reading of the psalm and brief exposition this morning. That way we could have had a three-minute version of this 45-minute sermon. But hopefully I'll have something else to say this morning. It is my task this morning to address a biblical worldview, specifically in regards to the end of the story, if I can put it like that. We will be in 2 Peter. I will read in just a moment from 2 Peter 3 11-13, but we will actually traverse most of 2 Peter 1, 2, and 3. So if you'll open your Bibles to 2 Peter 3, I'll read verses 11-13, I'll pray, and we'll begin. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn. But according to his promise, we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. This is the reading of God's holy and inspired word. Please pray with me. Gracious Father, Lord, we do thank you for your word. We thank you for bringing us here this morning that we might sing the gospel to one another, that we might hear from your word and be reminded of the end of the story. Father, that it might inform the way that we see our present lives in light of that end. And Father, I ask for your help this morning, both in proclaiming this and help for my brothers and sisters in hearing this message, that we might be transformed more and more into the image of your Son, Jesus Christ. And we ask this in His precious name. Amen. So let me begin by asking a simple question. What are you waiting for? What are you waiting for? I mean, of course, specifically in regards to your worldview, the way you view the world, the story that you tell, that you use to make sense of your life. What At the end of that story, are you waiting for? How does the story end? What do you hope is going to happen to bring resolution to your problems and the problems that you see in the world? Maybe stated another way, what is the conclusion of the story? I believe this is a huge question with significant implications. And our task this morning is to make sure that we as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ are equipped to answer this question the way that the Bible does. The apostle Peter answered this very question. So let's see what he says. First thing we see, if we back up just a little bit to the left of what, or maybe up, depending on how your Bible is laid out, we see that this question is not a new question, that every worldview, every story has some version of an end, or even a lack thereof is still an answer to the question. We also see that there have been competing worldviews, I would argue, ever since the fall. And in thinking of the biblical story in terms of creation, fall, redemption, and new creation, ever since the fall into sin, there have been alternative stories, different ways of viewing the world, not simply different perspectives. That's actually a good thing. That is... to be embraced. We all stand in different places with different life experiences and we see the world differently. And that's not what I'm referring to, but instead different grand narratives. different lenses in which we attempt to see the world that distort the world. As our brother said last night, a kaleidoscope lens which distorts and corrupts and perverts the true story. So ever since the fall, there have been different answers to questions about where we come from, what is wrong with the world? What is the solution to the problems in the world? And of course, where is this all going? The very first alternative story told in the Garden of Eden itself introduced or was introduced with these very words, did God actually say? Ever since then, we have had at least two worldviews, a worldview based on God's word, on God's story, on what God has actually said. and a false worldview, views of the world that are built on basic fundamental lies. So we shouldn't be surprised that in chapter three of 2 Peter, we find an alternative story, a way of viewing the world that differs dramatically from that story that God has told in his word. If you look at chapter three of 2 Peter, verses 3 and 4, knowing this, first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation. You see, every worldview offers a version of the end of the story. So whether you think in terms of a predominantly Eastern pantheistic or monistic worldview, which in one sense doesn't really offer an end, that is a version of the story that is really just a wheel that goes around and around and around because all of life is just an illusion anyway. History is cyclical and our goal, if we want to call it that, is the reunification of our soul with Brahman. It is escape from the wheel. Or for most of us, we've been indoctrinated with a Western worldview, a worldview built on a materialistic or naturalistic understanding of the world. And therefore, history is predominantly linear and eternal. Most of us were indoctrinated with this Western modern view of the world. Some of us were told the story that history ultimately is random and meaningless and eternal, stretching on indefinitely, without purpose or end. There is no real conclusion, only change, evolution, progression. Only the constant march from simplicity to greater complexity. And these two I think will suffice to give us a sampling of different ways of viewing the story and its end. But let me add just one slight modification of that last linear view because it's so popular in our culture today. We have a tendency to corrupt a biblical worldview nowadays with great imagination. For example, it's hard to determine where the line between fact and fiction is when it comes to the apocalypse that is on the horizon and the zombies that will come on the heels of that. And so there are movies that we know are fiction, but there are also weapons that apparently are really to be wielded and preparation to be made so that when the zombies come, we are prepared. Or if you prefer a lighter, more positive spin, the mutation of the human race into superheroes is simply another version of that change in progression, but no real end of the story, no real conclusion. Regardless of whether the storyline is basically Eastern, Western, or the post-apocalyptic version dispensed by Hollywood, most people agree with the scoffing scoffers. All of them agree with the scoffing scoffers. The world is just going to keep on keeping on. That's what the world does, at least until I'm gone. I would argue all the unbiblical views held today of how the story will end are similar to the one expressed in 2 Peter 3, verses 3 and 4. They all view the world as if all things, quoting here, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation minus the creation part. And more importantly, more to the point, there is no personal God who has appointed a day on which he will judge the world for its sin and rebellion. In this distorted, twisted, false view of the world, there was no judge sitting on the throne. That is what Peter is talking about, and that's what we see as we view the landscape of our culture and our society. No future judgment, no day of reckoning, no day of giving an account for every word, every deed. And notice that Peter says in verse five that this is deliberate. This is not simply ignorance. This is the deliberate suppression of truth. And Peter also explains the motivation back in verse three, following their own sinful desires. Listen, nothing puts a damper on me doing what I want to do than the realization that there are real consequences for my actions. It's one thing to think I might get caught, maybe, that can even be enticing and exciting, but it's a whole other matter to know that I will be caught. Certainly, that all will be exposed, every word, every deed, every thought laid bare before an all-knowing, holy, and just God. Search the major worldviews. Study the stories that people tell to make sense of our lives. And you will find that apart from a biblical worldview, the whole day of judgment motif is missing. Strangely missing from all the tales people tell about themselves, about our world, is that day of reckoning. I mean, a specific event, not simply what goes around comes around, but a specific event where one who is able to judge justly judges all of humanity. Not a random, meaningless catastrophe, but a precise and measured response to all the evil committed by each and every person, the type of reckoning that is absolutely necessary, absolutely necessary, believer, if your worldview is a biblical worldview, if your understanding of God is a God who is holy and just. And the reality is, sadly, even many Christians seem ignorant about the end of the story and our true hope. Of course, this blind denial of judgment, and please don't miss this, this blind denial of judgment of sin was introduced at the very beginning of the true story. This isn't new. It wasn't new over 2,000 years ago, two millennia ago. It wasn't new at the very beginning. I'm sorry, it was new at the very beginning. After that, it wasn't new. This blind denial, the judgment of sin was introduced at the very beginning of the story back all the way in Genesis chapter three, the very first alternative story, which I mentioned a moment ago, had this as one of its fundamental pillars. And it is a fundamental pillar of every other worldview, one of its central lies and distortions. And ever since every alternative worldview has had this lie embedded in it in some way, shape or form. There is no just judge. There is nothing to fear, therefore, do whatever you want. I find it fascinating that the introduction to the first alternative worldview by the serpent himself in the Garden of Eden included, you will surely not die. The very fall of mankind depended upon the doubt of this central part of the story that God is just and holy. The message the serpent spoke to Eve was clear, sin will not incur judgment. And you will not surely die as still believed by billions of people today. But Peter explains that there are two things that we can be absolutely positively sure of, and that is that God will judge sin and God will save the righteous. God will judge sin and God will save the righteous. Look at what Peter says here in chapter 3, verses 5 and following. His first premise is simply this. God will judge sin because He's done it before. He's done it before. Look at verses 5 and 6. For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago when the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God. And that by means of these, the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished." Peter takes them all the way back to Genesis chapters one through nine. He takes them back to the very beginning of the story. God created the world out of and through water by his word is what Peter is saying. The father through his son by his spirit brought the world forth and the first scene of creation begins, of course, with the with the spirit hovering over the waters. And the rest of Genesis one is a story of God speaking his word and the water giving way to order and to life. And so Peter says by these same means water and his word, he uncreated the world in judgment. six chapters later. Now there are all sorts of things that aren't said that are assumed as common knowledge by Peter's audience. For example, the flood itself, the flooded world had become increasingly, I'm sorry, the world before the flood had become increasingly corrupt and sinful. So that by the time we get to Genesis six, we read that every intention of thoughts of man's heart was only evil continually. And so this flood judgment was the first consequence of sin. It was a type of a future judgment. It was a temporal, historical judgment of the sins of humanity against a just and holy God. And this is the first premise of Peter's argument. He says, no, no, no, no. Things have not always continued as they have from the beginning. Peter says, in essence, do not forget or ignore that God has done this before. All things haven't been continuing as they were from the beginning of creation. Actually, there was this really very inconvenient discontinuation back in the day of Noah. This wasn't simply a localized event, this was a worldwide judgment, and Peter says that by the same word, by the very same word, that perfect holy word of judgment, the heavens and the earth are now, even at this very moment, stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. So his first appeal is to redemptive history. His second is to prophetic promise. God has not only done it before, but he promises that he will do it again. For this premise, we'll have to turn back, or for this argument, we'll have to turn back to chapter one. But look at chapter one, verse 19. Chapter one, verse 19. And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. And then again in chapter three, after warning them of false prophets, first reminding them of the prophetic word more fully confirmed and then warning them of false prophets. In chapter three, Peter writes, I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of a reminder, verse two, that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets. So Peter has been appealing to the Hebrew Bible throughout his letter saying, listen, you need to pay attention to what the prophets promise would happen. Many of the prophets spoke of the coming of the day of the Lord, the day of vengeance, when God would judge the nations for their sin and rebellion. We heard that very prophecy through the Psalms this morning in Psalm 75. We could go to most of the prophets, if not all of them, to find a warning of an impending judgment, sometimes a very specific temporal judgment coming against Israel, for instance, but often then pointing towards a final judgment. And Peter has been saying, remember what the prophets have said about the story, how the story ends. If you haven't seen it yet, that is the end of the story. That doesn't mean it won't happen. It means it hasn't happened. And there's a huge difference, folks, between won't happen and hasn't happened. A huge difference. So look at verse seven again. Peter's argument is this, God has done it before. That's verse seven of chapter three. God has done it before and he has promised to do it again, but this time it won't be water. It will be the same word, the word of perfect holy judgment, but that word will bring forth not water, but the fire of judgment, the fire that will destroy the ungodly and their deeds from the face of the earth. Water, of course, is often used in the Old Testament symbolically to portray judgment, but fire is often used in the New Testament to portray that very same thing, a purification of sin from the world. Flood was temporal, it was a type pointing towards something greater than itself, and that something is yet to come, but there is a day appointed when it will come. Now, let me insert here that it is not necessary that God use a literal fire. I'm not saying that He won't, but I'm certainly not saying that He will. That's not really the point. The point is that sin will be judged and that the heavens and the earth will be purified of all sin and corruption. That may include some pyrotechnics, and if that excites you, great, but that's not the point. The point is purification. The point is judgment. And Peter's point here is that that day is coming. It's coming. The day is coming inescapably, undeniably, and certainly that day is coming. Notice that Peter anticipates the question, though, and he anticipated this over 2000 years ago. Can you or a little under 2000 years ago? Can you imagine? He anticipates the question. What's the hold up then? What's the delay? Where is it? In fact, I think it's very telling that so many of us don't struggle with that question. I mean, if we didn't struggle with it merely because it reflected, if it reflected our desire to reflect the very mercy and patience of God, then amen, praise God, that would be understandable. But I think if we really evaluate our hearts, too many of us are really okay with the delay. We're really okay because we would like to live our best lives now, at least for a little bit. And heaven is merely the cherry on top. We're not waiting for the day of the Lord anxiously. We're waiting for our upcoming vacation or for our marriage or for Lord-willing kiddos. a vocation, all sorts of things that we believe will make us complete and whole and happy, but... Older saints, are there older saints here? I know this is really risky, and you know what, you don't even have to, you don't have to respond, but I mean older saints chronologically, like if you're, older. And if you've already experienced your vocation and you've enjoyed a marriage and you've had your kiddos and and you're maybe even now enjoying grandkiddos, would you not testify? Would you not testify to the fact that on the backside of that, you're still not whole? You're still not complete and you're still not happy because you won't be until Christ returns. Back to Peter, he anticipates the struggle for those who are waiting and he offers an answer. God will do it in his perfect timing. Peter assures them that God is not slow. He simply uses a different watch than we do. And his watch is, or appears to be, seems from our perspective to be slower, but we must also remember it is perfect. Peter goes on and says that God's watch is slower because, precisely because, he is far more patient, loving, kind, merciful, and compassionate than we can Recognize the delay is a reflection of his compassion, mercy, and especially his long suffering. Continuing day after day, month after month, year after year to pour out, think about this, to pour out his love and kindness on his enemies. That is what he is doing this very day. We are praising God for a beautiful day, and we should, but you know how many people are actually enjoying this very beautiful day that our Creator made, and they hate Him? And yet, they have access to its beauty, and its enjoyment, the same that we do. Remember, saints, we may hate to see so much sin in the world, at least other people's sin, but we never hate it as much as God does. We never hate it as much as God does. Or to put it another way, every sin and every transgression is aimed ultimately against God, not us. We may be sick about the rampant moral depravity in our culture, but it is not us that our society has rejected. It is not us that people reject, but our God. Remembering this helps us to appreciate that God's delay is really and truly an act of long suffering. a demonstration of His mercy, and yet He waits that all should reach repentance. Saints, do we demonstrate the same patience towards people who wrong us and share our Father's desire to see all people repent of sin and believe on Christ? Back to Peter's point, don't forget, as you are tempted to doubt the day of the Lord, don't forget that that day will come on a very different time schedule. And it's not, if you use the analogy of God's watch, God's watch is not broke. When the day ordained before the foundation of the world comes, the Lord will not be absent. He will not be sleeping. He will come and He will bring the fire of judgment with Him. Notice what else Peter says, the Lord will come like a thief. And Peter, of course, is here simply echoing what he heard Jesus himself say. We might be tempted to doubt it, but don't. The day is coming. God has given evidence through past acts of judgment. God has given promises through the prophets. God's very character is the only reason for the delay. So don't doubt it because it is critical that we remain ready because it will come quickly and it will come without notice, like a thief. I mean, I know that that illustration is so easy to grasp. It really doesn't take much help. It doesn't need much help to communicate the point. But do spend just a moment thinking about it. A thief doesn't ring the doorbell, does he? Doesn't send you a text message or give you a call. I'm going to be by about Saturday, about 8 a.m. or 8 p.m. if you prefer. And so it would help if you go out to dinner. That way you're not home. That's not how a thief works. No, one minute your house is secure and the next minute you've been robbed. The Lord is not, he's not, the Lord is not a thief, but he will come like one. Without notice, except for the notice he's already given in his word. The sure and certain promise of the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. For your worldview to be biblical, it must include the view that our story ends with the day of judgment. The grand narrative of scripture ends with the end of sin. All sin will be decisively dealt with on the day of the Lord. And so, listen, young people, if I can address you specifically, I can almost remember, I'm almost too old to remember, but I can still almost remember what it feels like to be invincible. During the relay races yesterday, I realized it's getting harder and harder to remember that feeling. But I know it seems like your whole life is ahead of you and very well may be. Vocations, possible marriages, Lord willing, kiddos, Lord willing, adventures and challenges and journeys lay stretched out before you like an ocean of opportunities. But the day of the Lord is coming. It is coming. And on that day, it will be too late to repent and believe. The delay is the time of escape. This delay, the Lord's delay, is meant for repentance. As Paul put it, behold, now is the favorable time. Right now, this moment, behold, now is the day of salvation. Do not be a scoffer. Do not think that things have continued and therefore they will indefinitely forever and ever and ever and delay your only means of escape. Today, this very hour, acknowledge that you have sinned against the true and living God, the triune God who has presented himself in the scriptures, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and cry out to him for salvation. Confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead. and you will be saved. Saints, we need to get better at telling this part of the story. I mean the end, including the judgment of all of humanity. Too often we obscure the truth of the coming wrath of God because we don't want to be offensive. We shout to everyone that God has saved sinners and that he loves, and this is absolutely true. And then we whisper, God saves sinners. We do, we do. You know, listen, there's only one recorded Pauline gospel evangelistic effort to Gentiles in the book of Acts. And you know how he concludes it, right? The times of ignorance God overlooked. But now he commands all people everywhere to repent because this is why, this is why they're supposed to repent because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed. And of this, he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead because the day of judgment is coming. Paul said, repent, repent. Saints, do we believe that there is a storehouse of wrath that will soon be poured out that, and this is a good thing, even if it is terrifying, do we believe that? St. Peter's audience wasn't offended. As Peter's audience read this letter to them, addressing them and telling them about the coming day of wrath, they weren't offended. Their question was, what's the delay? What's the hold up? The saints in heaven aren't offended by the coming day of judgment. They're crying out, how long, oh Lord, how long? Why do we sometimes treat this doctrine like it's our dirty little secrets? Could it be because we don't really hate sin enough? Or because we don't know God well enough? His holiness, His justice, His majesty, His glory. The truth is we don't even love people enough to warn them with all zeal and urgency, even if it was to cost us our relationships with them. We don't suffer enough at the hands of people who hate the truth and love evil. Or maybe because deep down we don't even really believe it. But saints, the day of judgment is coming and praise be to God that it is because it is also the day of salvation. Peter says that through this judgment, God will actually save the righteous. It is this coming judgment that will usher in our full and complete, the consummation of our salvation. So God will not only judge sin, but God will save the righteous. Look at verses 11 through 13. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn. But according to his promise, we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. The end of the story is actually the beginning of a new one. Praise God. The day of judgment is also the day of consummation, the day of redemption. And how do we know this? For the same reasons that we know that there is a coming day of judgment, because he's done it before. And that's exactly what Peter says in second Peter. If you flip back to 2 Peter 2, verses 4-10. You can look there if you would like. I'm not going to read it, but you flip back over there and Peter is warning his audience about false prophets and he says that they will not get away with their destructive heresies because they are actually bringing upon themselves swift destruction. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, though it might seem like it to them. and their destruction is not asleep. Again, though they are completely unaware of it. And Peter again appeals to God's past deeds to assure his readers that God will judge these false prophets. He gives three examples of past deeds. The angels sinned, Peter reminds them, God cast them into a place where they are being kept for the day of judgment. When the ancient world sinned, that is a reference to the world before the flood. He sent the flood upon the world of the ungodly. When Sodom and Gomorrah sinned, what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah? It was turned to ashes. So Peter asked, what is going to happen to the ungodly world? It will be judged. We've seen this. But notice what Peter inserts here in those verses. If you're looking at them, notice what he inserts. God didn't just flood the world of the ungodly. He also saved Noah and seven others. God didn't just turn Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes, He rescued righteous Lot. That's right, righteous Lot. Has Peter read the account of Lot in Genesis? But he nonetheless refers to Lot as righteous. Righteous is not the first word that I would necessarily use to describe Lot, but Peter was inspired, so go with his version. But Peter's point is expressed clearly in verse nine. This is Peter's point. The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment. Hear what Peter is saying. The Lord knows how to keep the righteous and rescue them through judgment. The Lord knows how to keep the unrighteousness or the unrighteous until the day of judgment. And in that day, both the unrighteous will be judged and the righteous will be saved. Praise be to God. Listen, saints, God has a track record of saving people through judgment. He has a track record. When you're reading chapter three of 2 Peter, it's really helpful to remember what Peter writes in chapter two. The day of judgment is coming, it is sure, but God has a habit of saving people through that judgment. We have a saying around heritage of grace, that's just like our God, to do something like that. It's just like him. He's done it before and? He has also promised through the prophets that he will do it again. If you look back at chapter one, verse 19, which I read a moment ago, I'll read it again. And we have the prophetic word. more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your heart." You see, the prophets not only promise a day of judgment, the prophets also promise a great salvation, a new exodus, a reversal of the curse. As far as the curse is found, those promises are there that the prophets promised a coming king who would establish a kingdom of righteousness and justice, a king who would rule over the whole earth, a new earth filled with the glory of God. And these are the promises, these are the promises that have been confirmed by the person and work of Jesus Christ. Chapter one, verses 16 through 18, Peter was there, Peter heard it, Peter saw it, and Peter has borne witness to it. Jesus is the fulfillment of all the promises of God. And so there is only one way, only one way to escape the coming wrath of God. That way, the only way is through faith in the one who actually took our wrath upon him." When Pastor Scott read Psalm 75, it spoke in Psalm 75 about a cup of wrath. being full and being poured out upon the world. Just use that and think of it in those terms. With every sin, a cup of wrath is being filled more and more and more. Just think of a giant chalice, if you will, being filled to the very brim with wrath. And there is a day when it will be poured out upon the earth, except for a portion which has already been drank. by our Savior. Remember when James and John were arguing over or were asking to sit at his right and left hand and he said, can you drink the cup that I'm about to drink? And we can drink it. No, you can't. And indeed they couldn't. He would offer them another cup, a cup of his blood. that they would drink, that we will all drink in remembrance of what He has done, and that is taking upon Himself the wrath for our sin, drinking it down to the dregs, emptying it so that there is nothing left for those who trust in Him. And so when we read chapter 3, verse 13, We know that we are waiting for His return, the return of the righteous King and all His glory to judge the living and the dead, to judge all who have rejected His rightful rule. And on that day, the wrath of God will be poured out and the heavens and the earth will be purified and will be made new and the righteousness and the righteous, that is all who have trusted in Christ, will dwell in the presence of the righteous God and His righteous King forever. And so, saints, we are waiting. That's who we are. We are a waiting people. And that has to inform your worldview, the story that you tell that makes sense of your lives. Because God has promised that not only will He judge the world according to sin and rebellion, we'll also be saved through that judgment, a day of judgment according to the promise of God coincides with the completion of the great salvation project of our God initiated back in Genesis chapter three. Is that your story? Do you find your place in that story? Or have you actually been listening to a different story and evaluating your life in terms of a different lens, making sense of the things that happen to you and your dreams and desires, attempting to make them fit with a story that is no story at all. So this is the end of the story, the day of judgment, which is really the beginning of a new story, a better story, a new heavens and a new earth where righteousness dwells. Listen, according to Peter, understanding this, understanding everything that I have just explained, knowing the end of the story, knowing what we are waiting for is a fundamental part of our worldview. Fundamental. Knowing the end, the goal, what is our hope? This is, according to Peter, determinative for how we shall live. That's what he says in chapter three, verse 11. Follow Peter's argument here. Since God is going to judge the world and because God is going to save the world and because this is going to take place on the appointed day, a day that only the Lord knows, a day that will come upon the world like a thief. He then says, what sort of people ought we to be? How shall we live in light of this? Short answer, of course, and this is all I'm gonna say on this. The short answer is we should live holy lives. devoted to God, righteous lives according to the commandment of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. You want to consider that further and you read on verse 14 be diligent to be found in him without spot or blemish and at peace verse 18 grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ or refer back to chapter 1 verses 3 through 11 where where Peter exhorts them to to grow or to be confirmed in their calling by growing in virtue and in love and brotherly affection and other virtues. But I want to apply this in a slightly different direction and then we'll conclude. First, notice the connection here. This is critical. Notice the connection between our waiting and the sort of people we ought to be. So in other words, if you don't recognize what you're waiting for or even that you are waiting, you will be unable or at least greatly hindered in your ability to live in a manner worthy of the gospel. Notice the connection that Peter makes here between our waiting and the sort of people we ought to be, verses 11 through 12. Since, he says, since this is all going to take place, what sort of people ought we to be while we wait? Verse 13, we are waiting for new heavens and new earth. Verse 14, therefore, because we are waiting, because we are waiting, therefore, beloved, since you are waiting, This is how you ought to live. You see Paul's, or I'm sorry, Peter's way of thinking. So in Peter's inspired, infallible perspective, knowing what we are waiting for, knowing that it could be any time should determine how we live. So in light of this, let me offer us three ways to cultivate a waiting worldview, a right understanding of what we are waiting for, a right understanding of our best lives later. First, and these will be brief, know the promise. Know the promises. That's what Peter writes at the very beginning of this chapter. He wants to recall, he wants to cause his audience to recall, to remember the promises of the prophets. Know the story as it is told in the Old Testament, because everyone's telling a story. Every commercial you see, every show you watch, every book you read, every news report, All of them are communicating a story. Know his story. We need to understand what it is that we are waiting for, not from the news or secular science books or science fiction books or Eastern religions or philosophies, but from God's word. We need to know all that God's word says about where we are at in redemptive history and what we are waiting for. Holiness, growth and grace, comfort, joy, urgency, and a whole slew of other aspects of our lives in Christ are cultivated by understanding what the Lord has promised and how this has been and will be fulfilled in Christ. Second, not only remember the promises, but also meditate on our hope as it has come to light in Christ. Saints, make it your daily vocation Make it your daily vocation to meditate on the new heavens and new earth. How much time do you really spend thinking about the new heavens and the new earth? What it will be like to dwell in the presence of God? Does that increase your heart rate at all? Does that excite you to think about a world completely removed from sin? Not just other people's sin, but your sin. What you wrestle with every single day. to see Jesus face to face, and for the first time, to know who we really are. If that doesn't excite you, you are ill-equipped and unarmed to live for Christ in this world. Meditate on that hope, and in fact, If I might recommend going back to 1 Peter, his first epistle, and read through verses 3 through 15, and just meditate on that. Consider your purpose in light of God's promise. This is the third, third and final. Consider your purpose in light of God's promise. Consider your purpose. So remember the promises, meditate on the hope and consider your purpose in light of God's promise and our future hope. Evaluate the course of your life. In other words, your decisions and your values and your commitments in light of what we are waiting for. We are meant to be productive. Chapter one, verse eight. But that productivity cannot be measured by worldly standards, but must be measured by the gospel and the hope of the gospel, our future, our future life in the kingdom of God. All right. In conclusion, I know we mentally assent to this, but please hear this again. Maybe Scott can redo the three minute version of this and you can just listen to that every day. But we are waiting for a day on which God will judge sin and save the righteous. We are waiting. We are waiting. Nothing short of that, nothing, nothing short of that will satisfy the longing in your soul. We know that this day is coming because God has done it before. God has promised to do it again. And his delay is no contradiction, but a gracious demonstration of his mercy and his kindness. So saints, let us cultivate this view of the world. Let us know that we are waiting for or what we are waiting for. And in light of this, let us consider what sort of people we ought to be. Please pray with me. Gracious Father, Lord, You know the weakness of our frames. You know how difficult it is for us to keep before us that precious and glorious hope of dwelling in Your glorious presence for all eternity. But Father, we ask for Your help that upon meditating on that hope, we might indeed be transformed into the people that we ought to be in light of that precious truth, that we would grow in holiness, and that we would grow in the grace of your son, Jesus Christ, and we'd be transformed more and more into his image, and that we would be a people who are already living into the future. Father, would you help us by your grace, the working of your Spirit here among us, even this morning, I ask, towards this end. We ask this in the precious name of your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.