Beloved congregation, there is never a time when the Church of Jesus Christ does not need to be reminded of her eternal focus. Political fortunes come and go. Personal circumstances change for better or for worse. But through it all, this world is not our resting place. This world is not our home. And on this side of eternity, there is never a time when God's people can let down their guard or breathe a final sigh of relief. For there will always be enemies of the church of Jesus Christ. The wicked set themselves in array against the Lord and against His Christ. And the Apostle Peter is well aware of that in the epistle that he is writing here from which our text chapter is drawn. If you would look only at chapter 2, he speaks at length about false prophets who would bring in damnable heresies, who will try to win over many followers. He refers in verses 15 and 16 to Balaam. And the children will remember the prophet Balaam. who tried to lead the people of Israel astray into great wickedness and sin, and they succeeded. And in a similar way, the prophets around us today, speaking words of vanity, alluring the people of God, promising them liberty, while they themselves are the servants of corruption. God's people must always be on their guard against those who speak or teach evil. And in chapter 3 of this epistle, Peter goes on to mention another group of people that the church of Jesus Christ must constantly deal with, and that is scoffers, mockers, people who walk according to their own lusts. And how many don't do that in our own day? And they mock the hope of the church of Jesus Christ. They say, where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, All things continue as they were from the beginning of creation. In other words, where is this coming of Christ you've been talking about? So long, things are going on as they always have. And this scoffing can be discouraging for believers, and it's also tempting. Because it feeds our tendency, doesn't it, to live for this world. rather than the next. But over against this, the Apostle Peter writes to the church of all times and places to be a people who lives in all godliness and holy conduct. There will be scoffers, says Peter, but don't be mistaken. The final day will come. It will come as a thief in the night when you don't expect the world will finally come to its end because this world on which we now live is not here to stay it's doomed to destruction so the Word of God says Peter says in this chapter specifically in verse 10 that this planet along with everything else around it will be destroyed everything on it as well There will be a catastrophic fire of judgment that will melt the elements of this world with fervent heat. Verse 10. And even the heavens, the skies, outer space, the galaxies around our planet, the sun even, the moon and the stars, they will pass away with great noise. Congregation, do you hear what Peter is saying? everything will burn. Everything we see, touch, taste, handle, our houses, our properties, our money, our belongings, all has destruction written over it. And this is because of sin. The world would not need this were it not that we had sinned in paradise in the face of God's commandment. Because of our sin, everything will face the judging fire of God's wrath. Shouldn't this remind us this morning of the heinousness of sin, all sin? Departing from God, living apart from God is not innocent. And shouldn't this discourage us this morning, too, of setting our hearts on this world and anything in this world? Samuel Rutherford, a Puritan, said it like this. He said, don't make your nest in the trees of this world, because the Lord has given the entire forest over to destruction. But not only will the things around us that we see be destroyed, but this fire will reach everyone who is not in Christ. Body and soul will be affected by this fire, and those outside of Christ will go into outer darkness, the place prepared for the devil and his angels. These are solemn things, aren't they, that meet us this morning? And they are here in order to give us, in this time of grace, an eternal perspective, by grace, an eternal perspective that we see in verse 13 and 14, the words of our text, which begin with a glorious nevertheless. Let me read with you verses 13 and 14. Nevertheless, we, according to His promise, look for new heavens, and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot and blameless." So this morning, with God's help, we want to focus on this new heaven and this new earth. We want to see how this, first of all, helps us to have an eternal focus in our hope And secondly, an eternal focus in our lives. New heavens and a new earth. An eternal focus in our hope, or if you will, our look. And an eternal focus in our lives. Well, many people in our world have some vague nebulous hope for a brighter and a better day, some utopia perhaps to come on the scene at one or other time. And there are other people who do believe that there will be some inevitable doomsday, some inescapable dark event, perhaps some nuclear disaster or something when some star from outer space collides with planet Earth. But most people in our world really don't give much consideration at all to the future, because the present has all of their attention. But Christians think differently about these things. They think on the basis of the Scriptures, and they have a true hope. Not a hope that's based on the present, but a hope that is bound up with God's promises literally verse 13 of our text reads this way in the original it says new heavens and a new earth nevertheless according to his promise we are expecting and the order of the language there is important because it puts before us first of all what new heavens and new earth that's as if Peter wants to picture them here before us despite everything else that is happening in our world This world be consumed with fire, new heavens, and new earth. Nevertheless, according to His promise, beyond the flames of judgment, there is something glorious. There is new heavens and a new earth. But what will this be like, you ask? Well, we're not sure of many of the details. The Bible gives us pictures of it. It tells us that from the ashes of the new creation, from the old creation, there will be a new creation. Will this have mountains and rivers and forests and animals, children, cities? Well, the Bible does use all of this language. We don't know how much of it is symbolical, but it will be an earth. new heavens and a new earth we will recognize it as an earth and the people on that new earth they will have bodies recognizable bodies for we believe in the resurrection of the body god made this material earth on which we live The future is not some nebulous future where people's souls are stringing harps on some clouds, so to speak. No. New heavens and a new earth the Lord has prepared. The Lord delights in His creation and He will make all things new. But this new heavens and new earth will also be significantly different than the world that we know now. Revelation 21 gives us a very clear picture of that. It tells us about all the things that will be so very different. There will be no more any pain. What a day that will be. No more any sorrow. No more any sickness or disease. No more any sighing. For the former things will have passed away. The Bible says, He that sits on the throne says, Behold, I make all things new. And especially, And this is a great comfort to God's people. There will be no more any sin. The people of God, we will serve God perfectly, without sin, without stain. Now we don't do that. Even our best works are stained, horribly stained. But then, no more sin, no more Satan. This will be a transformation on a massive scale. And we have signs of that transformation, don't we? For example, in regeneration, when God regenerates a sinner by His grace, there comes a transformation. The person remains the same person, the same individual, but what a change from the inside out. His thinking, her talking, Their actions are all changed in principle from the inside out through the new birth, which God works by His grace in our hearts. Or you can think of the Lord Jesus Christ, who was already perfect in everything that He said, did, or thought, and who yet had taken to Himself a body, a frail body, from after the fall through the Virgin Mary, And yet after the resurrection, he was glorified. And he had a glorified body when he rose from the dead. It was recognizable to the disciples as it had been before, but it was changed. He was clothed with immortality, with glory, and with splendor. And that's how it will be, congregation, also with the new heavens and the new earth. There will be a glory, a radiant, splendid glory about it all. Notice the order that Peter uses here. He doesn't say there will be a new earth and new heavens. He says we look for new heavens and new earth. It's as if he wants to lift up our eyes as high as possible. Our focus should be on heaven, first of all, the heavens, the various levels and layers of heaven that we think of the sky, outer space, the galaxies, and also the place where God himself dwells. That itself will be new. The Lord will create a new habitation for himself, glorious in everything. New heavens. Is that your focus this morning? New heavens upward, outward, beyond where God is. That's where our hope comes from. There would not be new earth, except that there was a heaven in which God is, and a God who says, lo, I make all things new. And remember, congregation, this is based all on the promises of God, a God who cannot lie. Peter says here, according to his promise. You say, how do you know these things? How do you know these things will really happen? He has promised. God has promised. Peter was obsessed with the promises of God. He speaks in the first epistle general of the great, the many great and precious promises. Peter was often at those promises, drawing comfort, instruction, encouragement from these promises of God. Believers live off of the promises of God. They're more weighty than anything they see, than anything they know around them. They're more solid. than the world's unshakable truth so called. What are a few of these promises regarding a new heaven and a new earth? Well, the Bible speaks about it in at least three places. Isaiah 65 verse 17, listen. Isaiah 65 verse 17, God says, for behold, I create new heavens and a new earth. And the former shall not be remembered nor come to mind. You know how it is sometimes when you get something new, maybe a new house or a new car and it's so wonderful for the purposes that it suits you. You can't even think and you don't even think of what you used to have and you can't even think outside that new situation of yours. That's how it will be. The former things will not come to mind. Isaiah 66, verse 22, another verse. For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make will remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. But not only in Isaiah 65 verse 17 and 66 verse 22, but Revelation 21 verse 1 says, And I saw, John saw it, new heavens and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea. congregation, God tells his people of these things in order that we might expect them and hope in them. Peter says here, nevertheless, we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and new earth. And the word in the original Greek is much stronger than just what we think of as look. We're not just looking for it. The word here actually means that we're stretching ourselves forward towards it, We're eagerly and fervently expecting it. It's a lively hope. This new heavens and this new earth is not simply a box that we tick off as we recite our creed every week. We learn in life, don't we? Especially in the struggles that God gives us to endure, we learn to long for it, to hunger and to thirst for it, to really need it in our lives. And we're looking for it, especially in the midst of our pain, in the midst of our sorrow, in the midst of our sighing, in the midst of our sin. We look We expect, we stretch forth our hearts, our souls for this new heavens and new earth. Stories are told of old Dutch fishing villages on the North Sea. I'm sure this is true of all fishing villages, especially in the past. where fishermen would leave for long fishing trips usually two weeks at a time and their wives and children who stayed behind knew that they would be back at some point but they didn't know the exact day and the wives in the midst of the struggle of life would go to the coast or send their children to go are the mass of the ship visible yet? Oh not today maybe tomorrow go soon as you can in the morning to see if they're there That's a picture of what it should be in the Christian life to look expectantly. Is it going to be today? Is it going to be this year? Is it going to be soon? Lord, come quickly. Is that how you look for new heavens and new earth? Shouldn't the emptiness of the world around us make this hope a living hope? The only ungodly world around us scoffs at God's promises. The political process, the education of our world, the economical game that people play, all these vain bubbles are going to pop at one or other moment. And the sooner and earlier we're confronted with the emptiness of the here and now, the more the new heavens and the new earth will be something that we will stretch ourselves out towards. Friends, do you long for a sinless heaven, sinless earth, under the rule of God, as God has promised? But speaking of sin, there are not just pressures around us that make us long for this new heavens and new earth, but there are pressures inside the Christian that make him or her to groan for a new world. We become tired of sinning, don't we? Weary of the body of this death. It's true, if you are in Christ, then God has forgiven you all your sins for the sake of Christ's blood and righteousness, but you will still grieve and grieve very much that you still find so much sin within you. As you go on in life, you discover that the root of sin lies more deeply in your heart than you thought possible. And you long for new heavens and a new earth wherein dwells Righteousness. That's what Peter says here. New heavens and new earth wherein dwells righteousness. There is so little righteousness here. There's so many things that are out of order. There's so much need that things be set right. But there's a world in which righteousness will dwell. It will dwell. Well, it's true, if you are a Christian, then God has justified you by the blood of Jesus Christ. You are clothed with the robe of Christ's righteousness. But then you will also long for a new world in which there will be nothing other than righteousness. Sin will be gone. And as one has said, the glorified saints in the new heavens and the new earth will have the full deployment of the righteousness of God. They will eagerly perform the will of God. Righteousness will not be some passing thing like it is here on this earth. but it will dwell. That word means it will stay. It will remain. It will be housed here. Righteousness here occasionally shows up, shows itself, kind of like a stranger who passes through, and then it's gone. But then, righteousness will have an eternal home. It will be fixed. It will be founded. It will be grounded. and it will never, ever leave. You know why? Because Christ, our righteousness, will be there. The reason why righteousness is not reigning here in our world is because we lost our original righteousness in paradise. There, our righteousness was bound up with our federal head, Adam. He represented us. And he lost that righteousness. And so too, as a consequence, our whole world lies in unrighteousness. Except for that which Christ has done and the difference that he has made. But congregation, this new heavens and this new earth will no longer be bound up with the old Adam, with the first Adam. but it will be bound up with Christ, the second Adam, and His is an altogether righteousness, a glorious, permanent righteousness. Everything is grounded in Him and in His cross, which was pitched here on this first earth where He bled and died to secure the righteousness for all the people of God of every time and every age and every place. And this new heavens and this new earth has been purchased by Christ on the cross. He shed His blood for that other world, that it might be fixed and founded and secure. He purchased it there in His dying, the shedding of His blood. and the sacrifice that he offered there. And the blood of Christ secures that new heavens and that new earth. And that's why that new heavens and that new earth will be there. God would sooner not be God than for that new heavens and that new earth not to be there. because Christ paid for it. He secured it in his dying and in his rising again. Well, people of God, is this not something to stretch yourself out for? Also this morning, as you hear this promise of God repeated in your ears, when I in righteousness at last Thy glorious face shall see when all the weary night is past of sin and shame and sighing on that first earth. What a day that will be. Isn't this something to get you up in the morning out of bed and to look out over the horizon of this world and longingly to see whether maybe this may be the day, this may be the year in which new heavens and new earth will come to pass. Well, this eternal focus makes such a difference in our hope, doesn't it? But it will also, by God's grace, make a difference in our lives as we see in our second point. Peter goes on to say in verse 14, and you should look at that with me there, verse 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. There is a radical difference between those who have this expectation of which we have been speaking and those who do not in how they live chapter 2 Paul warned against those so-called Christians who are false prophets and he calls them spots and blemishes they are themselves just spots and blemishes he goes on to say in verses 13 and 14 of 2 Peter 2 that they have eyes full of adultery and who cannot cease from sin what a description that is of our present world as well you all know what this is speaking about how much vileness how much pollution is there not in our world and it meets us and some indulge in it and the bible says of you if that is you that you are spots and blemishes Your focus is entirely on that which is unrighteous, unholy. And it is said of you that you cannot cease from sin. Indeed, maybe you feel that in these moments. You are powerless to cease from this. It has a grip on you. Oh, my friend, there's only one thing that can cure you, one thing that can help you, and it is the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ. And unless you have that, my friend, you will face together with all the world this fire of God's judgment, which will consume all that which is stained, all that which is blotted, all that which is blemished. And if you don't think that this world will soon face the fire of God's judgment, or that there is no heaven and earth to be gained, My friend, no wonder that you live for the here and now, for your own pleasure and for sin. But think for a moment of how the fire will reach all the elements of this world and burn them all up. Oh, how much better is it to live for new heavens and new earth, aware and confident that they are coming Because when we live in that awareness, then we will put off the deeds of the flesh. We will mortify the deeds of the body that we may live. In other words, what Peter is saying here is that holy living is proof of a living hope. Holy living is proof of a living hope. If you have no eagerness, no desire, no earnest striving after holy living, you're living for this world and you have not this hope, no matter what you think, no matter what vague aspirations may be in your mind. J.C. Ross said it this way, we must be holy because this is the only sound evidence that we have. that we have a saving faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. We must be holy because this is the only sound evidence that we have a saving faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. If by grace you are living in line with this living hope, my friend, then you will be diligent. You will be a diligent person, a diligent people. That's what the Lord says here. Be diligent. Give it your all. Use every opportunity. Seek constantly, continually, that you may be found of Him in peace without spot and blemish. What a convicting call to holiness we hear from God's Word this morning. Is your life a testimony of the fact that you look for new heavens and new earth? Peter sets a high standard, doesn't he, here when he calls believers that they might be found without spot or blemish. When I hear that, I think of all my spots and all my blemishes. How can this be true for me? Oh, how often and continually we should be seeking the cleansing power of Christ's blood, which cleanses from all sin. It is through His blood and His blood alone that believers shall be presented without spot or wrinkle in the assembly of God in eternity. He guarantees that. He will not do a half work. The work he has for me begun shall by his grace be fully done. But that also makes us a careful and a circumspect people. And we ought to be continually making our calling and election sure. People of God, isn't this promise of God something that should stir you up? to be diligent, to be found of Him in peace without spot and blemish. Allow me to speak here as we close this morning, especially to you who do not know this grace in your heart and in your life. Your life is nothing of the spotlessness or blemish-free character of which Peter is speaking. But Peter has a word for you. Listen to it. Be diligent, he says. Be diligent. Give yourself to this. Don't waste any time. Don't throw away any opportunity. Don't let this day pass, this service pass, without this diligence which the Holy Spirit is willing and ready to give to any seeking soul who seeks it from Him. What good will it be if you gain the whole world But you do not give diligence for your soul. Remember, Peter has said, the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night. The moment when you least expect it. Thomas Chalmers once asked six theological students, do you think the Lord could come tonight? And he went and asked each of them, and they waited, and they said, well, I don't think tonight. I don't think tonight. I don't think tonight. All six of them said, I don't think tonight. Then he simply said this, at such a time as ye think not, the Son of Man shall come. Be diligent. that you may be found of Him in peace. Now is the time of salvation. Now is the accepted time. Now is the time to give it your all, to seek Him. Now, before the fire that is already kindled burns, and there will be no way of escape. What will it be when in an instant, in the twinkling of the eye, how fast is that? the twinkling of an eye, just like that. This heaven, this current earth will be rolled up like a scroll. And there in an instant will stand before the judgment seat of this righteous Christ. And then there can be no more diligence. No more diligence to be found of Him in peace. No more way of escape. While he proffers peace and pardon, hear his voice today. Be diligent to be found in peace, he says, with God. If you're outside of Christ, you're fighting with God. You're not at peace with God. Whatever you think about life and whatever you think about God, you are fighting against him and you need peace with God. Maybe that's why your life is the way it is. Maybe that's why there's so much tumult, so much commotion, so much strife, so much restlessness in your soul. Have you ever thought about that? You're not at peace with your maker. Isaiah 27 verse 5 says, let him take hold of my strength that he might make peace with me. God comes in his word today and he says, take hold of my strength and make peace with me. That's what God says in this time of grace. And it is at Calvary that he says that because there the God against whom we have been at war from paradise on, he comes down. And there in the stretched out arms of Jesus Christ on the cross, he says, let him take hold of my strength and make peace with me. Be diligent that you might be found of him in peace without spot and without blemish. Some of you know how to keep your houses so spotless, so free of blemishes, but what about your souls? The gospel says this morning, wash and be clean. But someone says, there's no way I can do that. I cannot make myself clean. That's true, but look at our text. It says, be diligent that you may be found of Him in peace. And literally that says through Him, through His mediation. You see, the Lord supplies everything. in the mercy of God in Christ he comes so close he gives it all away freely at Calvary to the most blemished and the most spotted sinner here this morning or wherever he or she finds herself in the world and the Lord says make peace with me through the blood of my son by bowing your knee, abandoning all hope of salvation in anyone and anything else and clinging to this, my righteousness in Jesus Christ. Oh yes, you will feel your blemishes, you will feel your spots. John Calvin says this, the more eminent any saint is in holiness, the farther he feels himself from perfect righteousness and the more clearly he perceives that he can trust nothing but the mercy of God alone. Don't try to get this peace by your works, but hear His voice today. Bow beneath the cross and seek Him diligently. Don't give up. until you know that you know that you have him. Well, congregation, the enmity of the world will become more pronounced. We don't know how long our globe yet has to go. A month, a week, a year or more. But this world, one thing is sure, is headed for destruction. But through the roaring flames of judgment, God's people anticipate something else. They look on the other side of it all. By faith, they see not just this world melting away, but they see a new dawn. They see in the distance new heavens. What will that be? New heavens. And behind that, a new earth. in which dwells righteousness. Oh, friends, this is the promise of God. And in Christ, all his promises are yea and amen. Is this your hope this morning? It needs to be, my friend. It needs to be. Don't just live for this next year. Don't just live for your next job, for the next house that you're saving up for. Live for the next world. And one day there in the presence of Christ, the righteous one, all will be well. All sin shut out. All happiness shut in. Congregation, will you all be there? Will none of you be missing? Amen.