A Place Where Righteousness Dwells: Part Three - 2 Peter 3:9-13

The pastor's message is about the truth of God's promises. He talks about how God is faithful and will never abandon His people, even in hard times. The pastor also emphasizes that God is the ever-present help in times of trouble. He then reads a passage from 2 Peter that reassures believers that God will fulfill His promise and that a new heaven and earth will come. The pastor encourages believers to find comfort and assurance in the Gospel, reminding them that they are justified and sanctified by the work of Jesus Christ alone. He warns against false teachers and emphasizes that salvation is all about Jesus. The pastor concludes by reminding believers that God is not slow in fulfilling His promises and that they can find comfort in knowing that their spiritual warfare has already been won by the Lord. The following message is brought to you by the people of Redeemer Church of Piketon, Ohio. For more information, please visit RedeemerPiketon.org. And now, here's Pastor Jason Booth with the message. The title of my message this morning is, God's Promises Are True. So, as we look back, and I can look back on the notes, we've talked about scoffers and naysayers. We've talked about those who deny the promises of God concerning His return. And today, having put them to rest, to put the naysayer to shame by the Word of the Lord, today we turn our attention to a reiteration of the truth that God's promises are true. God's promises are true. I love what the Old Testament tells us about the promises of God and about His faithfulness. It says, I have been young and now I am old, and I have never seen the righteous forsaken or his seed begging for bread. That does not mean that hard times won't come, but it does mean that the Lord will accompany His people through those hard times. And so, no matter what you may go through, and not to diminish the hardships of life, no matter what you go through, God is there. And He will be there. The Bible says to the believer that God is the ever-present help in time of trouble. The ever-present help. He is the shelter in the time of storm. So when you have need of anything, you can ask your Father. He inhabits the praises of His people. He delights in our prayers. He calls us to make our requests known to Him. And His promises, beloved, are true. We say Amen, which means let it be so, or may it be so. We say Amen. He is the Amen. He is the one who can speak those things that aren't yet as though they are. He is the one who could create with His own mouth. By the words of His mouth, the universe was formed. Don't you think He's got you? The Lord's got you! Now for the believer, that is a statement of absolute hope and assurance. But to the unbeliever, let me tell you, it is a fearful and dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. And so today, as we quiet our hearts and we prepare to hear from God's word, we consider 2 Peter chapter 3, verses 5 or verses 9 through 13 this morning. 2 Peter chapter 3, verses 9 through 13. The reading of the word of the living God. The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a feast, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. 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. And we trust the Lord will add His own blessing to the public reading of His infallible word this morning. Amen. Amen. The last three weeks have led up to the crescendo that is this sermon, this message, this hope, that there is coming a day when God is going to make all things right. There is coming a day when all the trials, all the worries, all the heartaches, all of the burdens we carry in this life will come to naught, because we are going to see our cares melt away at the appearing of His righteousness. And we are going to see God make all things new. We're going to see God take all the things that are wrong and make them right in His sight. Praise the living God, and it's all going to be okay. This, the Bible says, is His promise that we can hope in and for the new heavens and the new earth in which righteousness dwells. And the Scripture tells us that even though God seems to tarry His coming by our standards, you know, the scoffers, they said, where is God? He hasn't come back yet. In all the days of my life, I've heard someone say that God is returning, that Jesus is coming again. The Bible reminds those folks that they are not God. The Bible says a day with the Lord is like a thousand years. And in other words, we talked about this last Sunday, God is looking at the naysayers saying, who do you think you are to dare challenge me? I am not you. Remember, we talked about how God is different than we are. He's higher. He is infinitely more holy, infinitely more knowledgeable, for He is knowledge. He is, and we are, but His creation. But the Bible here tells us in verse 9 that He is not slow to fulfill His promise. What does this mean? Well, the scoffers, they've been put in their place. The church has been given the tools to combat their foolish error. Peter turns his full attention now to comfort us. And so he reminds us that just because God is on His own time and His own schedule doesn't mean that we can't have comfort and assurance in the here and now. We can. God is not slow to fulfill His promise. God is right on time. There's that old appellation hymn that He's an on-time God. He may not come when you want Him, but He'll be there right on time. Sometimes the most profound truth can be encapsulated in the simplistic songs or in the simplistic bit of poetry here and there by Grandma. Grandma got a lot of things wrong about the Gospel. But sometimes they got a few things right, didn't they? All right. The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation. God's people have a right to the comfort such a powerful Gospel affords. And boy, we could camp out here for a few years. Let me tell you, the preaching that goes forth today in so much of what we call modern religion is a weakling, beggarly preaching. It's a preaching that says you can only have comfort in God as long as you're towing the line. You can only have assurance of salvation if you're meeting a certain checklist of one preacher or another's checklist of things that good godly Christian people ought to be doing or not doing. And you can only have assurance, this mystical assurance, if you've got all your ducks in a row. Well, Henry Mahan taught us this morning in our Sunday school lesson commentary that the law cannot justify a man and the law cannot sanctify a justified man. For by the deeds of the law shall no flesh what? Be justified in his sight. I'm so thankful to know that the same Jesus who died for me goes my way now in holiness and righteousness before God and I am clothed in his righteous robes and I am sanctified wholly by the work of Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone and I can have assurance that what he did for me on Calvary's tree goes my way even now. And that the blood will not lose its power. The blood will not lose its savor. But instead, the sweet smelling sacrifice of the perfect, sinless, spotless lamb still rises in the heavens and satisfies God. Forever and always, one sacrifice for sin and God is satisfied in Christ. And because he's satisfied in Christ, we, beloved, have a powerfully assuring of gospel methods to preach that assures our souls when we're down and out, when we're stubborn and wayward, God hasn't left us. When you think you're on the mountaintop, enjoy the mountaintop. God's still God because the valleys are coming. And guess what? He's still God when you're down there too. Oh, I've done too much. I've said too much. I've thought too many wayward thoughts. Oh, you think you're bigger than God's gospel. You think you're bigger than the matchless, beautiful sacrifice of the perfect son of God on Calvary's tree. You think he sweats your sin? If you belong to him, he's paid for it. And now, what does this tell us, beloved? We are free in Jesus. And I don't mean free like so many of the dead religionists preach, where you're free so long as you can do what they tell you to do. I'm talking about being free and having liberty in Christ because he has set you free on Calvary's hill. You are free in Jesus to love your neighbor. You are free to live a life that is peaceful. And you know you're OK with God because God's OK with Jesus. You know that you're OK with the God of heaven and earth because Jesus Christ went your way up Calvary's hill. What are you getting at, preacher? You're always saying it's all about Jesus. Well, guess what? It's all about Jesus. And if anybody tells you different, they're a false teacher. They're a liar sent from hell. Oh, but they're wearing a nice suit. Well, now they're a nice suit-wearing liar sent from hell. Don't believe it. You think Satan's coming at you in a latex red jumpsuit and a pitchfork? The Bible says he appears as an angel of light. It could almost say he appears to you as a TV preacher or as some law-preaching hillbilly down the street at the community church of bondage, first church of bondage. Most of you drove by several of those on your way here. So what about it, preacher? What's this assurance we should have? Well, the Bible says he's not slow concerning his promise. God's not slow concerning any of his promises. So what kind of peace and comfort can you have as a believer in Jesus? Oh, my. Listen to what Isaiah writes in Isaiah 40, 1 and 2. Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins. I want you to know that there isn't a tiered package plan with God. There is no A plan, B plan, C plan salvation. There's no tiers. There's no super deluxe and economy class and coach. No. If you belong to the Lord, the scripture says that I, as a minister of the gospel, need to comfort you in this truth. I can speak tenderly to you. I can tell you that your spiritual warfare, while you will contend with your flesh in God's economy, the war has already been won. The fight is over and the Lord of glory has won. Hallelujah forevermore. You have been pardoned, beloved. You have received double from God. For everything you thought you did wrong, the Lord's done more than double for you. What's this? It's a phrase, a turn of phrase saying that God has lavished his grace and mercy upon you. How do I know that? Because the Bible says of God the Holy Spirit, that out of our bellies, that is the Spirit of God flowing from us, will flow rivers of living water. Hallelujah. Thank God for the rivers of living water that spring forth from the saved heart as they flow from us as the Spirit of God simply and ultimately and always bathes us in the presence and the promises of God. Let the river flow. You know, that's not just a charismatic thing. I grow weary of charismatics telling me that Baptists and evangelical types and sovereign grace types don't believe in the Holy Spirit. I want you to know that unless the Holy Spirit accompanies these words, they don't mean a thing. They won't touch your heart. You'll sit there and you'll hear a man talk. You'll hear a man talk loudly. You'll hear a man talk softly. But you're going to hear a man talk. Some sinner just like you. But if the Spirit of God is pleased to take these words and apply them to your heart, hell itself can't raise up a standard against God. He will be heard in your heart. And He'll change you. He'll change your mind. And it won't be the preacher doing it. It'll be the Holy Spirit of God. Don't tell me we don't believe in the Holy Ghost. Now, I don't think you could send me $1,000 and get your back pain healed. And I don't typically lay my hands on people so I can watch them flop on the floor. It's funny how God has the power to knock a man flat on his back in these church services, but he still needs five people to catch him as they fall. Beloved, I'm here to tell you if God is in that mess, that He can catch him Himself. And, oh, I grew up in this. I know what I'm talking about. You got to take and throw those blankets over the women to hide their nakedness as they fall over. Again, if God's knocking women on their backside, He can catch them when they hit the ground, and He can keep their dresses from flying up over their heads. But that's not how it works on the television, is it? But we don't believe in the Holy Spirit. Oh, no. Oh, beloved. Look, the religionists and the cultists in this world, they don't have a monopoly on the Holy Spirit of God. They don't even have an apprehension of who the Holy Spirit is. To so many in the world today, they're not trusting the promise that Jesus is coming back and that He's going to make all things right. They're believing that Jesus is going to give them some sort of a circus sideshow in their church services today. And that's God. He's going to ring our emotional bell, and that's the power of God. What a superficial way to talk about and treat the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God isn't our joy buzzer. He is the crier of the truth of the Gospel. He is the courier. He comes to testify of Jesus Christ. What more powerful message could He be carrying with Him than to say Jesus saved His people, and He has come now in the preaching of the Gospel to reap a harvest even now in time, that which He's earned in eternity. I'm telling you, the Holy Spirit is all over good evangelical preaching. And one need not be an addict to emotionalism to understand that the Holy Spirit is here or we fail. The Holy Spirit moves in the preaching of this Gospel, or it doesn't go forth at all. The Holy Spirit gifts us and empowers us to preach this Gospel with boldness. Let me tell you, if the Spirit of God hasn't filled this old preacher today to deliver this message, it's going to fall on deaf ears. So we know the Spirit of God is here. And how do we know this? Because He is part of the promise that God will give us double for our sins. What'd Jesus say? I will not leave you comfortless, but I'll send a comforter from on high, and He will testify of me. You want to know how I know the Holy Spirit is in a good Gospel church meeting? Because Jesus is being preached. How do I know the Holy Spirit is here? Because He's not testifying to Himself. He's testifying instead to Jesus Christ and His finished work. Thank the good Lord for that. Beloved, the Lord is not slack concerning His promise. So He's coming again, and He's equipped us with the Spirit of God to lead us and guide us into truth even now, to comfort us and to keep us set for the journey. This is an all-inclusive plan that He has for His people. He will hold us fast, and He will come again one day. And we have promise from Him that both are ironclad. The Spirit is here until Jesus returns. That means God's never gonna leave us. How do we know He'll never leave us or forsake us? Did He not say in His Word that He will never leave us or forsake us? Hallelujah forevermore. The Scripture goes on in that verse to say, but He is patient towards you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. Again, He is the all-inclusive God when it comes to His people. How many times have you heard this verse quoted out of context, though? People say, oh, this is the proof that God wants everyone to be saved. He doesn't wish any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. Well, those who quote this verse out of context do so to prove that God is somehow going to fail. That's an interesting thing to find yourself, that's an interesting place to find yourself. You know, you might be listening to me by way of YouTube, or you might be listening to this message on our podcast. Let me tell you, if you think for a moment that God is in heaven wringing out His hands and hoping for the best when it comes to people, quote unquote, choosing salvation or not, you have got the wrong idea about the gospel. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise. That's very true. He's patient. Toward who? Toward you. Who's the letter being written to? It's being written to believers. The Lord is patient toward His people. How do I know He's patient? Well, the Bible tells us all the way back in Isaiah that He commands His prophets to speak tenderly to the people of God, to remind them that their iniquity is pardoned. Yes, He's patient and loving toward us because we're His children, the sheep of His pasture. This verse doesn't preach some sort of universal availability of grace so long as you choose it and you maintain it. This passage is saying that the Lord is faithful to His people. He is patient toward, what's the Bible say? Patient toward you. If you're reading the King James, it says patient usward. He's patient toward you, beloved. So He's not putting out the fishing line, hoping to catch every man, woman, boy and girl and praying for the best. That's not how God operates. He has a people. Jesus, the Bible says, came to save His people from their sin. All right. Consider the actual verse with me for a moment. God is patient, but with whom is He patient? What does the text actually teach? We talked about it a minute ago. He's patient toward us. He's patient toward you and me, those whom He's called. How do we know this is the context? Well, we look at 2 Peter and we see pretty plainly right here in the text. Who's this letter written to? Verse one says, to those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ. But who's the text written to? Next time some Armenian heretic tries to corner you and say, salvation's for everybody and the Bible says, he doesn't wish any should perish. You say, no, that letter wasn't written for the unbeliever. 2 Peter was written to Christians who have the righteousness of Christ. So says chapter one and verse one. Boy, chapters and verses have made the Bible so convenient and they've also made the Bible very dangerous in the wrong hands. People take a little slice here and a little slice there. You know, I love a good chocolate cake like anybody else. And you need a little of it and you typically get more of it than you need, right? But if I removed a couple of those ingredients and then I dared call it chocolate cake, it wouldn't be chocolate cake anymore, would it? I just whipped up a couple of the eggs and some oil, just whipped it up and then gave it to you. So here's chocolate cake. You're gonna say, brother, you've left out a whole lot. You see, you can divide the scripture rightly and then you get a good fluffy cake, so to speak. But if you slice and dice the scriptures out of context, you're feeding up uncooked, maybe even poison. You're not serving up the truth. You're serving up bits and pieces of here and there, but you're not serving up the truth. That's what happens a lot of times when people read verses out of context. We look at this verse, the Bible says he's patient toward us-ward. Then the Bible says in 2 Peter, it says in 2 Peter 1, verse one, who is the us-ward? Who is the you? The Bible says for those who've obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of Jesus Christ. And so he's patient toward us, beloved. This is good news. Wake up and hear me. You have no business wallowing in self-doubt and loathing. Pick yourself up and look to heaven from whence comes your salvation. He has done a work in you and he will be faithful to complete it. You know, we all get down in the mouth. We do. We're stubborn sheep. We need a shepherd to come by sometimes and give us a good wrapping with that crook and maybe pull us back in line. Sometimes we need him to just pick us up, hoof and hoof, throw us over his shoulder and walk us back. But I'm here to tell you there's liberty in Christ. He'll finish the work. Trust him. Don't doubt your salvation. Instead, make your calling and election sure. How do you do that? You look to Christ. How do I do it? Oh, I gotta check my checklist that I got from that fancy TV preacher out in California. No! Do you know Jesus? Do you trust Jesus alone for your soul? Are you trusting Christ and his righteousness alone? It's the object of your faith that counts. Do you know it's not even how much you believe that saves you? It's the object of your faith. Do you trust Jesus alone or are you trusting in grandma's prayers? Are you trusting in your church membership or your baptism or how much money you give to the church or how much volunteer work you do down at the Nationwide Hospital? What are you trusting in? You've gotta have your faith and faith in Christ alone. And my goodness, only God can grant that kind of belief. It's a gift of God. And if you have it, then smile a bit. Be happy in the Lord because you belong to him and rejoice not that the demons are subject unto you, but rather that your name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life. God does not wait idly by, hoping against hope that reprobate sinners will somehow birth themselves into a new creation. Boy, I tell you, I would love to see any of these preachers go into a graveyard and try to apply what they preach in a physical sense. They believe that spiritually dead sinners, if they're in the religious world, they believe that spiritually dead sinners who hate God, who are at enmity against God, who cannot please God, who seek after darkness rather than light, whose hearts are desperately wicked, and who can know them, I'd like to see them go into a graveyard and leave booklets laying on each grave that says how to resurrect yourself because spiritually speaking, that's exactly what they're doing right now in churches all over this county. Oh, preacher, you're picking fights with the doctrine. Yes, I am. I'm trying to earnestly contend for the faith. And boy, you think that any old church flavor's the same. It's not. Much of what you're getting, you're getting the egg, you're getting the oil, but that's not chocolate cake. Oh, you get a piece here and there of the truth. Anybody can read from the Bible and read a smidgen of truth, but isn't that the best kind of deception? When it's closed and cloaked in just a little bit of a shroud of truth. Oh, I love the Lord, and I just pray that I'll keep serving him. You know, when I die, and I will die, and you will too, the comfort that I want to leave you isn't that I served the Lord. The comfort that I leave you as a man laying in a casket and say, isn't, oh, Jason served the Lord. Oh, that preacher, he was faithful to the Lord. That better not even come out of the mouth of the man that preaches my funeral. The comfort isn't that that old sinner in that box served God. The comfort is that Jesus came like a servant, and he served me. He went my way. He died on Calvary's tree, and it wasn't that I was faithful to him, but that he has always and will ever be faithful to me. And if you have hope in this life, you only have hope in Jesus. He's the only hope that you have, that it'll be a friend that sticks closer than a brother. Everybody else will fail you. Everyone else will leave you on the wayside some way, some how. All of you've had a friend that has left you. All of you've had a relationship that has fallen apart into bits and pieces. People are not 100% anything, let alone faithful, but our God is faithful. And the Old Testament says, great is by faithfulness. That's a powerful statement. I'm not serving God into heaven. That's not how I'm getting in. I'm getting into heaven because Jesus Christ came down here and reached down and saved a sinner like me. And he'll be faithful to complete the work that he began. So God doesn't wait. That's foolishness to think that God sits around waiting for us to make up our minds. No, no, no, he saves his people. Believers, God is patient with us. He's patient for the sake of those who have yet to be drawn in time by the spirit. Now, this is important too. We have to believe that God is faithful to us and he's patient in a couple of ways. Number one, he's patient with you and me who already know the gospel, who believe the gospel. That means when we go acting the fool, he acts like a father. And most of you, if you're any kind of parent at all and you see your children going down the wrong path, you're gonna grab ahold of them. They're gonna call you stupid. They're gonna think that you don't know a thing. The average teenager looks at an adult and thinks that they're functionally retarded. And that's okay because they can be sincerely wrong if they wanna be. But if I see a kid going down the wrong path, I'm gonna grab ahold of them or I'm no kind of parent. Neither are you. You see a child of three or four running out in the middle of the road and I guarantee you, I don't know what you believe about spanking a little child's rear end, but in that moment, I bet some of that goes out the window. You're gonna grab ahold of them. You're gonna run to them and you're gonna get ahold of them and you're gonna wake them up. And if it takes a quick rap on the hind end, then so be it. Why? Because you love them and you wanna see them go up and do right. Well, how do you think the heavenly father treats his own? You're gonna get stubborn. You know, you're gonna man up sometimes and get in God's face and say, yeah, and he's gonna get in your face. Whom the Lord loves, he chastens. And boy, he's creative. Read the Old Testament about it if you don't believe me. So he's patient with us. He'll come get you. You think you're gonna be somebody in God's face? You're gonna flex in front of God? God will flex right back, but you're not going anywhere. You've been bought with a price. He will mold you into the image of his son. Thank God. Thank God for that. Now, he's also patient concerning the preaching of the gospel. Why do you think he hasn't destroyed this earth with fire just yet? Because he's got more people out there. They are saved in God's economy. Jesus finished the work on Calvary's hill. Jesus finished the work in the decree of God before time ever began. But as far as we know, we're the ants in the ant farm. We don't know. There are people out there that do not know God yet the way he knows them. And so what's he do? He calls little churches like ours to raise up and preach the gospel, the good news, so that others can be saved. He's patient in that sense too. But where God is not patient is with those whom are not being called. He's not hoping that they will come to him. God has a people. God has a purpose and God has a plan, and that plan will unfold. All right, let's move on. None of his children will perish. How do I know that? The Bible says, my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give them eternal life. And they shall never perish, neither shall they be removed from my hand. The father who has given them to me is greater than all, and no one shall be able to snatch them out of my father's hand. The Bible also says that of all those he has given me, says Jesus, of all those God has given me, I shall lose none, but raise them up on the last day. He is a faithful friend who sticks closer than a brother. So all of God's people, though pressed down and abused in this world by the scoffers we talked about, by the mockers, by the corrupt rulers, by every other dark force that dares raise its ugly little powerless head into the face of the majesty on high, God's people will be preserved in spite of all that. Christ will lose none, hallelujah. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, the Bible says, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness? Now we get to some good practical meat and potatoes theology. How ought you to live since Jesus has done literally everything for you? What should you do? Well, here's a couple ideas. Live lives that please God as he gives you the strength to do it. Serve him with gladness. Love your neighbor. Take care of folks. Why? And do it all out of a sense that God loves you, not out of a sense that God's going to judge you. You can't be judged. You've passed from death into life. Love the Lord enough to be good to your parents, to your grandparents, to the little boys and little girls you plan on taking out on Saturday night, younger people, older people. Be friendly to your kids. Don't be spiteful and mean just to be spiteful and mean. You see, this is common sense stuff. You see how quick it just becomes a nursery rhyme morality tale at the end? Well, listen, you're not saved by doing any of those things. But if you do belong to the Lord, you're going to seek to treat people good, aren't you? Why? Because the Lord's been good to you. I don't know, but if I threw you a million dollars in one of your laps, you'd probably go out the door whistling a little song, maybe smiling from ear to ear, maybe just dumbfoundedly shocked that, first of all, that preacher had a million dollars to give me and where did he get it? But after that all settled down and you realized it was a legit offer, you've got this money in your hands, you're thinking, oh my, I'm going to rallies. Or your restaurant of choice here. And you're going to be happy about it. Why? Because a good thing happened to you. Well, beloved, has not a good thing happened to us? Hasn't He given us all things? And aren't we out of love now to just love God by loving our neighbor, by taking care of our responsibilities? Yes, we're going to fall. And yes, we're going to fail just like everyone else. Why? Because we're living in these flesh and blood bodies and we're going to fight this flesh all the time. But thanks be to God who's given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. So when we fall, we get up. When we trip, we straighten ourselves up. When we go off the path, the Spirit of God puts us right back on the path. What is the Christian life but a life of gratitude toward God and love toward our fellow man. Thanks be to God. Robert Hawker, an old-timey preacher, says it like this. The apostle knew the certainty of the ground on which he stood. He had already passed from death into life. He had gone under the sentence of God's holy law, which he had broken. He had found redemption in the blood of the cross and stood perfectly freely and fully justified in the righteousness of Christ, His head and surety. In the light of this gift of holiness and godliness, the Christian should seek those things which are above. Our heart's desire should be to please God in our daily manner of life. This ain't hard to hear. It's hard to do sometimes, but it's not hard to hear. The holy God of heaven has made eternal provision for His people. As assured faith works by love, let our hearts long for the city whose builder and maker is God. And so we all want to live in a place of peace. So let's be people of peace. We all want to live in a place where people love each other. So let us love each other. You see, all we're doing is anticipating in part what God is going to grant in full one day. Does that make sense? That's the Christian life. If I ever wrote a book on Christian living, it'd be about as long as a three panel brochure that's already out there on the information table. You love God because He loves you. Now you love Him. All right, He loves you. Don't do stupid things. He loves you. Don't go down that way. He loves you. Be good to your neighbor. He's forgiven you much. Forgive your neighbor. All right, the Bible says waiting and hastening for the coming of the day of God. Anyone who believes salvation is dependent on their own performance of good works will never be in a place to honestly hope for the swift return of the Lord. Now I'm going a little long and I don't care. You just have to deal with it. I love how people say, ah, just pray for me that I'll make it in. Do you know if you really had a theology that said you can't know whether or not you're saved, how dare you pray that God would hasten His return? If you know you're gonna fail the test, why would you be asking the teacher to pass the test out? Why would you be looking for it? Listen, if you have a theology, if you have a belief about God, that says that if you don't do this, this, this, that says that if you don't do this, this, and this, you're going to lose your salvation and burn in hell. If that's what you really believe, then why are you asking God to come back in a hurry? Are you a glutton for eternal punishment? Now, you follow my logic at all here? I hope you're catching some of this. The only people who can say even so come quickly, Lord, are the people who know that Jesus is their only hope and say they have assurance that when He does come again to judge this world, that we're not gonna be judged by our righteousness, but we're gonna be judged by Jesus Christ's work. So I wonder about people that say, oh, you can never really know if you're saved or you can lose your salvation. How dare you even ask God to come back? Preacher that preaches that, what if 50% of your church isn't quite right? What if, let me tell you, 100% of your church isn't quite right? You're in trouble. You might wanna tell Jesus like that old country song, wait a little longer, please Jesus. That'd be the only thing that could come out of your mouth if you believe salvation is up to you. Lord, just take your time because I haven't worked hard enough yet. I haven't done enough things for you yet. You see how silly it sounds? All right, moving on. Those who have gospel-rooted assurance can pray even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus. If your assurance is on the rock that is Jesus Christ, the rock that the gates of hell cannot prevail against, the rock that Peter testified to and Jesus said flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, if you have the kind of salvation that flesh and blood didn't reveal to you, but that the Spirit of God reached down and changed your heart, you have that kind of salvation, then you can join the chorus of God's people and say, even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus. We're ready for that city whose builder and maker is God. We're ready for that kingdom where all things will be made new and why? Because Jesus Christ has gone the way for his people. Those who trust Christ alone for salvation and assurance can freely and joyously long for that great day of the Lord. It's not a scary time. It's not a Tim LaHaye novel. It's not some spurless, trashy little, you know, dime store scare book. The day of the Lord is a beautiful hope and promise for God's people and the Lord commands us this in the Thessalonian letters, comfort one another with these words. The day of the Lord is going to be a poison pill for this old world to swallow, of eternal import. But for those of us who are saved, the joy of the Lord is going to shine brighter than a million suns and we're going to see him make all things new. All right, hold on here. None of us will perish. None of us will perish. According to his promise, we are waiting. That's what the Bible leads us at in our passage. We're waiting for what? We're waiting for that new city in which righteousness dwells. Beloved, we anticipate the coming of the Lord. Just like I said, not with dread. And here's another passage I want to read to you. John 14, one through three. Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, I would have told you that I go to, what I told you, that I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself that where I am, you may be also. I told you a few Sundays ago that my idea of heaven is wherever God is. And Jesus says he goes to prepare a place that where he is there I may be also. And I am thankful that wherever God is is where I'm going by his righteousness alone. What a comfort sent to us by God. As we await this city whose builder and maker is God. Abraham longed for this reality. He trusted in the promises of God. Christians throughout the ages have longed for this blessed hope. And one day, praise God, what we have seen as though through a dimly shaded glass will be seen with glorified eyes. My goodness, my goodness, my goodness. Let's conclude. And where is that conclusion? There it is. For as long as there has been a gospel to proclaim, there have been scoffers and haters of God's word with which to deal. On the day of Pentecost, Peter himself dealt handily with the mockers that rose their heads up that day. They accused him of being drunkards. Remember on the day of Pentecost and Peter shut him down. The scoffer, the so-called wise men of this age, they will pass away as dross is scraped away in a refiner's fire. But the word of the Lord endures forever. But the word of the Lord endures forever and for all generations. The scoffer denies the truth of God's word at their own eternal peril. All mighty men have risen their fists in the face of God. And those fists have been buried deep in the ground when those feeble old men died and God's word marched on. Men will rise up against God's word. Wickedness will prevail in many a society and many a home. But God's word will stand. It will always be true no matter who believes it, no matter who preaches it. God's word will stand and God will have a people of his own. God will always have a people of his own. And beloved, we can rest assured that even as he seemingly tarries from our point of view, that he is patient toward us, not willing that we should perish, that all of us should come to repentance. And that we can patiently wait for the city where righteousness dwells. It's coming. He's coming. And we can believe that. What foolishness it is for those who are not ordained unto eternal life. What is foolishness to those who are not ordained unto eternal life? It's blessing and comfort for the people of God. Oh, preacher, you're boring. What you have to say doesn't matter to me. I wanna go home. I don't care. Might be the very heart's reply, some of you in the audience right now. And that there are some of you sitting here who are going, my God, the Lord is good. And his promises are certain. And I need to know that his promises are still certain today like they were yesterday. I need to know in my heart that everything is right with God. And you know what? Everything's always right with God. Let this preacher tell you now. So what makes you two to differ? I pray the Holy Spirit of God ministers to your heart so that you'll hear these words and think they matter. Because I can't convince you, no man can. But the Lord can. He can apply these words to your heart. He can change your mind concerning righteousness and he can save your soul. You might not even think what I say matters, but then all of a sudden you feel the weight of it all. And you realize that you're an undone sinner. Do you wanna be in the scoffer's camp? Someone who denies the Lord? Or has the Lord changed your mind concerning who he is as he caused you to realize that Jesus Christ is your only hope in this life and the next? That he went and died a sinless death on Calvary's tree, God the Son who died for his people. Do you believe he died for you? If you do, flesh and blood hasn't revealed that to you. For no man can call Jesus Lord except by the Holy Spirit. The Lord Christ is coming again with a new heaven and a new earth in tow. You wanna talk about moving in with a U-Haul the likes of which you've never seen? He's bringing the new Jerusalem with him. Oh my. We will fellowship and reign together with him for all eternity in the bliss of a city where in righteousness fully and truly dwell. And what can a man say to that? What more can I add to that but say, Lord, bless the preaching of your word today for our good and for your glory. Lord, I pray that you administer to the hearts of those who are here that these words wouldn't just bounce off unlistening ears and harden the hearts, but I pray, God, that you would grant those who need in this crowd today a heart of flesh to believe this message. Minister to our hearts, oh God, not because this preacher spoke but because your word went forth. Save the sinner, Lord God, and strengthen the saint as only you can. And we trust, Lord God, that you will reap the harvest in your season and in your time as we wait for that city where righteousness dwells. Thank the Lord. We ask for these things in Jesus' name, amen. You have just heard a message from Pastor Jason Booth of Redeemer Church of Piketon, Ohio. To learn more about the good news of Jesus, please visit RedeemerPiketon.org.