Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Well, good morning, church. Good morning. My name is Craig Jarvis. I'm the pastor here, lead pastor at Village church East, and it's my privilege to be able to open God's word with you. It actually is a sad and happy day. Happy because I get to spend some time with you looking into God's word. Sad because this is our last time, the last Sunday that we get to talk about our journey through second Peter. I don't know about you, but this has been a really exciting journey for me. I've been meeting with the preaching prep teams and working through each one of these messages together with them. And it's been really, really valuable as we have spent time digging into the minds of two Peter and figuring out what's there that we have maybe read over a million times but not actually grabbed ahold of. And this has been a really good walk for me. I don't know about for you, but I've enjoyed second Peter a lot. And our community group is like, crazy for this book.
[00:01:01] I don't know about your community groups, but ours is like, we talk, talk about what life is going to be like in the new kingdom and how life is dark and dangerous and sometimes confusing here and what we have to look forward to, our hope. So I have really, really enjoyed this, but today is our last Sunday to talk about it. And this Sunday, interestingly enough, maybe it's the way that Peter writes. I just like the way that he writes because he finishes the whole book with something that I probably would have just asked him right at the end, like if the speech was done and I was sitting in the group and I was listening to Peter talk about what he's going to write in this second Peter. This letter to all of these churches in the first century, I would have stuck up my hand and said one question.
[00:01:49] And it's almost like he anticipates that question because he deals with it in the last few verses of two Peter. Chapter three. The last chapter in the book of two, Peter. How many of you like waiting?
[00:02:04] Do you enjoy waiting? How many of you like waiting for your tax refund? How about waiting in the doctor's office for news of how the operation is going? How about waiting for customer service on the telephone?
[00:02:19] How many of you enjoy waiting? Just stick up your hand. I really want to see you. So nobody enjoys waiting? Well, join the club. Cause I don't either. Waiting is one of the worst things in the world. One of the places I've had to wait a lot because I have kids that are driving like, not secondhand cars. They're really, like, fifth or 6th hand cars is. I spend a lot of time waiting in the car repair shop.
[00:02:44] Waiting, waiting, waiting. Some of us wait for people to love. We just wait. And nobody really enjoys it.
[00:02:52] When we had our first baby, Abigail was her name. Is her name.
[00:02:58] Abby was born, and waiting for her to arrive was long, wasn't it, Beth? So we. So we were in labor for. How long were we in labor for? Well, no, you were in labor.
[00:03:12] Beth was in labor for, like, 24 hours. And so I was with her, right? I was there, but I was waiting. And she was going through all of this stress and all of this pain. And, you know, I wanted to help her. I wanted to do something, but all I could do was just sit there and, like, stare at her. And for the first couple hours, it, you know, it wasn't so bad, you know. You know, rub her back or do whatever I can. But eventually, you know, it got a little boring, right? And so I thought, would it be wrong to ask to turn on the television? Would that be a bad thing? Or. Then it got to the point where I'm really sleepy. Is it. Is it bad if I say, hey, I want to have a nap while she's in so much pain? Please deal with that. I'm just going to close my eyes for a second. I don't know what to do. It's our first child. So I was in waiting for this child to arrive, and it was really, really an odd time. And then finally the moment came, and Abigail arrived.
[00:04:07] When she arrived, we were so happy. We're so excited and everything. And I don't know if you've ever experienced that moment yourself, but once she arrived, you kind of wait for that cry. You wait for that. That sound of life, and we didn't have it.
[00:04:22] She was born, and there was no sound. She was white as a ghost.
[00:04:26] She was born with some difficulty. And so, as I was waiting there for her arrival, and she finally arrived, I found myself now waiting, but differently, like, something's wrong. And then all of a sudden, the doors burst open, and all of the medical staff rushed into the room, pushed me aside, and they're all around Beth, and I'm looking to see what is happening. And Beth can't see what's happening. She's yelling at me, Craig, what's wrong? What's wrong? And I had nothing to say. I didn't know. This was my first time in this experience.
[00:04:59] And they were rushing, rushing, rushing, and they were doing all the things to Abigail that they needed to do. And finally they put her under a heat lamp. And I could see her, and she was white. And I was thinking to myself, she's not making any noise. She's not moving. What's wrong with this baby? And the waiting became intensely difficult until finally that heat lamp just kind of burned on her a little bit and warmed her up. And I finally got. Never did cry. There was just a little coo, and she started moving.
[00:05:29] Very difficult. I don't know about you, but sometimes we go through waiting and it just gets really tough.
[00:05:36] I don't know what you've had to wait for in your life. That's just one instance in my life. You probably have a million in your own of moments that you've been waiting. Waiting for someone to love, waiting for someone to marry, waiting for their relationship to work out, waiting for the doctors to tell you what's wrong.
[00:05:56] This last message in two. Peter.
[00:06:00] He talks to us about waiting after he has just spent the whole book telling us, life is hard. It's going to get darker. People are going to come, and they're going to try and lead you astray. It's going to become a very difficult time. But don't worry. Jesus is coming. And in the meantime, you have to wait. And so my question to him is probably your question to me. What do we do while we wait?
[00:06:25] Should we just pick up the tv show on the last guy that had it on in the repair room and some soap opera that's left on there, and you just stare at the soap opera until the time arrives.
[00:06:35] What do we do while we wait?
[00:06:37] Jesus, gratefully through Peter, gives us instructions. And here's how it starts. As Peter wraps up his letter, he says in verse eleven of two, Peter three. So if you're in two, Peter, starting in verse eleven, here's what it says. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, since all of these things will end, everything that we've talked about. The end is coming. It will come. Everything that has a beginning has an end. The end is coming. Something will happen.
[00:07:06] And when it's happened, 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. I don't know about you, but as I was reading these last few verses of Peter's epistle to all the churches in the early century, New Testament church.
[00:07:39] I was reading that verse, you can throw it up there again.
[00:07:42] And the word that stuck out to me was waiting for.
[00:07:47] But the one that really stuck out was hastening.
[00:07:51] How is it that we have the ability to hasten the coming of Jesus Christ, holy and godly? Living according to this verse is what hastens the coming day of the Lord. That's the good part. The holier you are, the more likely you are to stand out in the dark.
[00:08:10] The more you live for Jesus, the more that's going to look odd to the people around you, right? You're going to be a light in a dark generation. That's the good part.
[00:08:20] But the more you stand out for Jesus in a world that doesn't know him, the more dangerous you will seem to the people around you. And that's the scary part.
[00:08:34] The world will see us as a threat because we will not live like the majority. We will live like the minority. Jesus said, the road to destruction is wide. Many people choose it, but the road to salvation is narrow, and very few people walk that road.
[00:08:51] And then Jesus says, listen, it's gonna be a scary moment because you're gonna stand out as it gets darker and darker in the world around us. Your light for Jesus is gonna be brighter and brighter. That's just how the darkness and the light work together.
[00:09:04] But Jesus says, this is what you gotta do. You gotta take up your cross, and you got to follow me.
[00:09:11] Peter says, live in such a way now as if you can hasten Jesus return.
[00:09:17] Live as though God was working on a checklist of requirements. Before he comes back. Help God do the things that are on that checklist. Peter begins the book like he ends the book. He says, wake up. Wake up. Don't let this dark world lull you to sleep. You have a job. You have a mission. There is something way beyond this world that you're working for.
[00:09:40] In fact, acts 319 says it this way. Look at this verse. This blows me out of the water.
[00:09:46] Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. Now, look at this next part, and that he may. What does it say there, church?
[00:10:02] That he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus. In other words, there is something about how I live my life as a light in the dark that has some kind of ability to hasten the return of Jesus Christ, that he may send the Christ appointed for you. The way that I live today in some way acts to hasten the coming of Jesus Christ Jesus said it this way. If you go back to the gospels, mark 13, but concerning that day or hour, no one knows. This is the end Jesus is talking about. Concerning that day or hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the son, but only the Father. Okay, but what do we do in the waiting room? Jesus, what do we do? Okay, fine. We're keeping it. This is top secret. It's sealed in an envelope. It's sealed. You can't break it open. Got it. I understand all that. Revelation five says Jesus is the only one worthy of ripping open that seal. Yes, I got it. So this is top secret. But what do we do when you keep saying, I'm coming back, I'm coming back, I'm coming back, I'm coming back. And we think it might happen today. How do I live my life today?
[00:11:15] What do I do in the waiting room? Jesus says it this way, verse 33, be on guard.
[00:11:24] You ever watch our fencing tournament? Or do they yell before they start? On guard. And what do they do when they hear on guard?
[00:11:32] They take position. Right? Probably very much like I'm looking. No, at all.
[00:11:38] You get ready. Be on guard. And then Jesus says, guess what Jesus says? What's the next few words?
[00:11:45] Keep awake. You think Peter came up with this on his own? Peter heard it from Jesus own mouth. For you do not know when the time will come. It's like a man going on a journey when he leaves and puts his servants in charge, each with his own works and commands the doorkeeper to what stay awake. Therefore stay awake. For you do not know what time the master of the house will come in the evening or at midnight or when the rooster crows, or in the morning, lest he come suddenly and find you. What church?
[00:12:16] Lest he come and find you lulled to sleep by the cares of this world.
[00:12:22] And what I say to you, I say to all. Jesus says, stay awake.
[00:12:29] Now that's in the gospels.
[00:12:32] Peter is writing two. Peter, 30, 40 years after the gospels, after Jesus died, rose from the dead and ascended. Peter writes 30 to 40 years after that. But Peter remembers. He remembers this conversation. And how do I know that he remembers? Because there were only four disciples that heard Jesus say this. Can you guess who one of them was?
[00:12:56] You can find it. It's in verse three if you back up. And as he sat on the mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John and Andrew asked him what church. They asked him privately, tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the signs that all these things are about to be. Tell us about the end. Tell us about when it's going to come down. And for God's sake, tell us what we're supposed to do in the meantime.
[00:13:21] And Jesus talks to Peter, Andrew, James and John. And when Peter writes his epistle 40 years later, he remembers that. And he says to all of us, stay awake.
[00:13:37] Now, you may think, well, that was 2000 years ago. Are we supposed to be so on guard, so awake all this time? Remember, how many days is a thousand years to God?
[00:13:47] A thousand years is as one day, and one day is as a thousand years. So according to God, it's only been how many days? Two days.
[00:13:59] Peter, James and John, be on guard. Stay awake. Behave as though it might happen today. And each of the apostles did just that.
[00:14:10] I wonder, if I knew Jesus was coming back in the next five minutes, what would I change about the way that I'm living now?
[00:14:19] I wonder what sins I would confess. I wonder what I would do, what people I would talk to, what walls I would tear down so that when I saw Jesus, we'd be okay.
[00:14:34] Each one of these disciples, you want to know how ready they were. You want to know how awake they were.
[00:14:41] Peter was crucified upside down for his faith in Jesus Christ. Actually, after he wrote second Peter, it was days, most likely after he laid his pen down, that he was killed for his faith.
[00:14:56] These are the last words we're known to have from Peter.
[00:15:00] And by the way, Peter knew how he was going to die.
[00:15:03] Jesus told him in John, chapter 21, he said, you're going to be crucified. He knew that your hands are going to be stretched out. People are going to take you where you don't want to go, and you are going to be killed for your faith. Peter knew it. And Peter was okay with it. He was ready for it. He was awake. He was fully aware that this life isn't all that there is.
[00:15:25] Peter was crucified upside down. James, the other guy that heard Jesus say, stay awake, James, was the first one to go. Acts twelve gives us his moment of martyrdom when he was killed with the sword.
[00:15:38] You can find that in acts twelve one and two.
[00:15:41] John.
[00:15:43] They tried to get rid of John, but this guy was hard to kill, man. This guy, they put him in a pot of boiling water and waited for him to die, and he would not die. Took him out of the pot of boiling water. They said, okay, he's not. We try to make this really as difficult as we can. Boiling oil. Did I say water? Boiling oil. Took him out of the pot. They said, okay, stick him somewhere where he's not going to be a problem. So they put him on the island of Patmos, Greece. And there he was put into a penal colony where he could do no damage. And you know what John did when he was on the island in a penal colony? Wrote the book of revelation, the book that you have called revelation in your Bible. John wrote that because you couldn't put this guy down, Andrew, he was whipped and then crucified in Patmos, Greece, where he ended up dying preaching the gospel. They say it took him two days to die on that cross. As he bled out and as he hung on that cross, bleeding out, people would come along and they would see him and they would mock him. Guess what Andrew was doing the whole time? People would come along and watch him die. He preached the gospel for two days until he finally died.
[00:16:54] Stay awake.
[00:16:56] Be on guard.
[00:16:57] The day is coming. And what will you be doing when it arrives?
[00:17:02] What gives us a tenacity to keep living for Jesus in the darkness of this world? Back to two. Peter, verse 13.
[00:17:10] But according to his promise, we are. What do we say at church? We are what?
[00:17:17] We are waiting. According to his promise, we are waiting for a new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. You won't be able to sin there even if you wanted to. It will be wiped away.
[00:17:29] Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent, to be found in him without spot or blemish and that peace, what is the virtue? What is the nature of a spot or a blemish? It's so small you can't see it until you stand right in the right lighting. You don't see that spot or the blemish. You got to look at it a hundred different ways, and then you finally see it. Spots and blemishes are those things that are difficult to see, but when you hold them up to the light. Oh, there it is. Let's wash that away. And church, there are things in our lives that are spots and blemishes, things that we may not even know that are in us, and we need to hold them to light of God. Secret things, things we foster and refuse to give up. Things that if Jesus came back today, we would be. Oh, I wish I had got rid of that thing.
[00:18:22] The secret things, you cover up the tracks. You cover up the things you have to lie about so that you don't get caught, the things you feel guilty about and you can't seem to stop, the things that nobody seems to know. About the things that you do and the ways that you act around your family when no one's around.
[00:18:40] Jesus and Peter say the same thing. Use this life to die daily to the flesh and live for Jesus Christ. Those who are asleep in their faith, they have fallen asleep, and the spots and the blemishes grow.
[00:18:54] They are lulled to sleep and they forget about a view of eternity.
[00:18:59] This life easily chokes them out. It distracts them, it tempts them, it distresses them, like Jesus, with the parable of those weeds that grow up. The seed seems to be growing, but all of a sudden the weed grabs the plant and chokes it out.
[00:19:18] But those who are awake, they always think, what can I do to hasten the day?
[00:19:25] No spots, no blemishes. And at peace. You know what that means? At peace. It means that's the way you react with others. That's your relationship with others. Live at peace. Peace is a high value with God. How we relate to one another is a high value with God. And God expects us to have. Almost the word in the Bible is a really good word. It's the word unity.
[00:19:50] God expects us to be at unity with those around us. Now there are people that are going to disagree with us, and you might seek to be at peace with them, and you may not ever be at peace, but as far as it depends on you, you do what you can to make that relationship peaceful, unified. Romans 1218 says this, if possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Even if you are 1% responsible for this distressed relationship, you own it and you make it right.
[00:20:24] Because at a time you least expect it, you will see the Lord.
[00:20:29] I had this guy, this ra, in school.
[00:20:33] He was a. I think he was indian. I never did ask him, didn't really matter, but he was a good friend.
[00:20:41] Every once in a while I would go to his dorm room and we would just sit around and chat, eat doughnuts and chat.
[00:20:47] Chris Nanigan was his name. And I would go down to his room and I would sit there. And I remember one time I walked into Chris's room and he just got up from the bed and he walked over to the window and he opened the blinds and he stared off through the window at the clouds. And I thought, what in the world are you doing? And he said, craig, have you ever wondered? Yeah, he must have been indian, because that's how he taught. Have you ever wondered if today might be the day? I said, what in the world are you talking about? He said, have you ever wondered that maybe today might be the day that Jesus comes back? I had never considered that before. I mean, I'd always thought, like, maybe Jesus will come back today. Okay, that's good. Let's get back to life as normal. But to sit there in that room with that guy, walks over to the window, opens a blind, stares off into the sky and says to me, what if it were now?
[00:21:42] What if it were today?
[00:21:46] You may be shocked to know this. The entire Bible ends by reminding us of this fact. It might happen today.
[00:21:57] Two of the last verses.
[00:21:59] Revelation, chapter 22. Here's what it says in verse 20. He who testifies to these things says, say it with me, church. Surely I am coming soon. Surely I am coming soon.
[00:22:13] Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
[00:22:17] There is a theme from beginning to end in scripture that Jesus is coming back. It may not make sense to the world around us. They may mock us for it. They may not understand it. Some things are difficult to understand, but they are true because God promises it. And if it is the beginning to the end of the book, filling the Bible with knowledge given to us, Jesus is coming back. We should probably take it seriously.
[00:22:46] In the meantime, verse 15.
[00:22:49] Count the patience of our Lord as salvation.
[00:22:54] He hasn't come back yet. You know why? Because there's still people that are going to get saved. There's still people to be welcomed into the fold.
[00:23:03] This is the theme of every Bible writer.
[00:23:06] Jesus hasn't come yet. So you church find more people to bring back in. Let's build this family. Let's get every name that is supposed to be in the lamb's book of life. Let's find them all. Let's bring them in. Let's hasten the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
[00:23:24] Verse 16 goes on to say, there are some things in these words, in these verses that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction as they do to other scriptures. Some people will invent theories of how this life will end because they cannot comprehend God's plan for eternity.
[00:23:47] The last place they would look to is information in God's word. But church, I want you to know I have enjoyed this walk through second Peter because it is a reminder to me that all throughout scripture we are promised we will see God. We will see Jesus Christ. Heaven is real. The new kingdom is coming. This life is not all that there is.
[00:24:08] Don't listen to those who twist how this all ends, because the truth is hard to understand or accept. Don't buy into this lie that this life is all there is. Don't fall for the lie that darkness waits for us all at the end.
[00:24:26] Verse 17.
[00:24:28] You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your stability.
[00:24:41] The word stability there means place of safety. Be careful that you don't get. You don't listen to other people talk about what their version of the end is, just because believing what God's version is is difficult to accept. Don't lose your stability. Don't lose your place of security. God has given you his word, and almost in every single book of the Bible, it talks about the fact that this life is not all that there is. There is an eternity coming. There will be people raised to go to heaven and raised to be judged.
[00:25:16] You definitely want to be in the former and not the latter.
[00:25:22] Stability in life comes from your faith, not in random repercussions of the events around you.
[00:25:32] Life is going to throw wrenches at you. You stand stable. In the truth, God loves you, and he loses none of his own.
[00:25:42] Verse 18.
[00:25:44] But so he says, don't lose your stability.
[00:25:48] Don't lose your place of security.
[00:25:51] But in other words, in opposition to that, grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. To him both be both glory now and to the day of eternity.
[00:26:07] This is the alternative to living and listening to people lie about what comes in the future. The alternative is growing in the knowledge and grace of Jesus Christ.
[00:26:21] Read God's word. Listen, the more you learn about Jesus, the more you will love him.
[00:26:28] Purpose in life is to give God glory now until the day of eternity. Everything you do in this life counts for eternity. Colossians 23 and 24 says it this way. Whatever you do now, whatever you do today, whatever you do right after the service, work. How hard? What is the word there? Work? Hardly. You know what it means to work? Hardly. I put up a volleyball net this morning. It was 80 degrees already in my backyard. I was out there and I was thinking to myself, oh, I don't want to be all sweaty and gross before church starts. And nobody was out there helping me. And I was pounding these things into the ground and I was sweating and I was working, and I was thinking, I gotta get to church.
[00:27:11] I was working hardly.
[00:27:14] Kids are gonna come over, we're gonna play volleyball and badminton. And I was working heartily as to the Lord.
[00:27:24] Start making your life count for Jesus. Whatever you do, work hardly. Work hard as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive an inheritance as your reward. You are serving your boss at McDonald's. True or false.
[00:27:41] You're serving your boss at fountainview. True or false. You're serving your boss at work. True or false.
[00:27:48] You're a politician. You're serving the people who voted for you. True or false. No, no, no. Not according to this verse. Whether you eat or you drink, whatever you do, work heartily. As for who the Lord, not for men.
[00:28:03] You are serving. You are working as if God was your boss.
[00:28:09] You are serving the Lord Christ.
[00:28:12] Students, you got to work in school as if you're working for the Lord Christ.
[00:28:17] School, church, family, friends time, free time, work time. Whatever you do, work heartily, as if the boss were Jesus himself, because you never know when you're gonna see him. And he has given you this life, and you get to serve him in this life. And you are accountable for the things that you do and the time that you use. You are working for Jesus, not for men. Live this life as though you're living in eternity already. Stop making your life count for Jesus then. Make your life count for Jesus now. First Corinthians 1031 says this. Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the let's say it together, like you eat and you drink every day.
[00:29:01] That's the point. Whether you eat or you drink or whatever you do, everything you do can bring glory to God.
[00:29:10] That's why Peter ends, to him, be the glory. That is all that matters. In the end. In the eternal kingdom, that's all that matters. Here, right now, today. That's all that matters.
[00:29:21] Listen, at the curtain call, there's only one performer who gets the applause.
[00:29:27] There's only one performer on the stage. When the curtain is closed, this life comes to an end. Only one person walks out on that stage, and you will applaud for him, or you will hate him.
[00:29:40] And church, that person is Jesus Christ.
[00:29:43] He is the one that we serve. He is the one that we worship. He is the one who gets all the glory. Not good people, not pastors, not apostles, not even Peter.
[00:29:53] We applaud for one.
[00:29:56] And what do we do in the waiting room? We live life, every single part of our life, as though we are already there.
[00:30:05] Colossians 317 says this. Whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the father through him. Again, same language.
[00:30:17] Whatever you do in word or deed, live your life now, bringing glory to Jesus. Our work here matters now because we are not born to endure life and to just sit around twiddling our thumbs, waiting to see Jesus. We are born now. We are waiting now, and we are meant to be active now. Doing something that hastens the coming of God. That means living right, getting rid of spots and wrinkles and being at peace with all men.
[00:30:46] You don't have to wait anymore. Live as though you're hastening the day. Now we hasten the day through living out our faith and relying on prayer. So Peter begins and ends this letter the same way. Listen to this. I remind you of what we read at the very beginning of this journey in chapter one. For this very reason, verse five of the first chapter. Make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness. Goodness with knowledge. Knowledge with self control. Self control with endurance. Endurance with godliness. Godliness with brotherly affection. Brotherly affection with love.
[00:31:19] If you possess these qualities and increasing measure, they will keep you from being what, church useless or what, unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ? You know what that says?
[00:31:34] It's like Peter began like, he ends the letter in the same way. He says, listen, live your life in such a way so that you don't piddle your life down the toilet.
[00:31:47] Who would ever want to stand before God and say, I'd like to say I was the most unfruitful person in the room.
[00:31:54] I was the biggest waste of time. Thank you for your patience with me.
[00:32:00] How would you like to brag on being useless or unfruitful before God?
[00:32:04] This is his point.
[00:32:07] It doesn't mean that our faith needs these things to survive. It means that if you want your life here to count, you should get busy adding this list of things to your life. And in doing so, hasten the coming of Jesus Christ.
[00:32:27] The bottom line is this.
[00:32:30] The bottom line, don't waste your life when you go to work.
[00:32:36] We live now as we intend to live later. When you go to work, when you're wronged by others, when you're cut off on the freeway, when you're frustrated with how creation fights against you, when you change diapers, care for your family. Talk to your neighbors. Go to church. Gather with God's family to worship, drive your car. Visit the dentist. Choose your schools for your kids. Whether you eat or you drink, do all to the glory of God now. Cause everything you do here matters.
[00:33:06] All that is done here.
[00:33:09] Live as though you were already living in the kingdom. There work everything to the glory of God, even the most mundane parts of life.
[00:33:19] We live as though we're bringing the eternal kingdom principles to this present reality.
[00:33:25] Let me say that one more time. Even the most mundane parts of life, we live as though we're bringing eternal kingdom, principles to this present reality. However you think that is going to be for you, live that out now.
[00:33:42] The work of the Lord is the most important thing we can do in this life and the next.
[00:33:49] My friend Ed that I mentioned to you, the one that was cutting down the tree and the tree spun and hit him in the head and he died instantly.
[00:33:58] My friend Ed, I'm sure, closed his eyes here, opened them in heaven and he saw Jesus.
[00:34:06] And then I think after, you know, his awe moment subsided.
[00:34:11] I think every person that goes there looks around once they come to their senses and realize what's going on, and they don't see stuff they bring with them. They don't see cars and houses and reputation.
[00:34:25] You know what they see?
[00:34:27] They see people.
[00:34:29] People who they've invested in, people they've loved, people they've prayed for, people they've handed over to Jesus and begged for him to have mercy on their soul. They see people and they realize the way that I spent this life. The only investment worth doing was investing in people.
[00:34:53] I wonder how many people will be in heaven because of your influence in their lives.
[00:35:01] Here's the so whats. There are only two. One, the end is coming. It's most definitely coming. You can hasten the coming of Jesus Christ and the beginning of the new kingdom, or you can sit around like thousands of people before you twiddle your thumbs and wait for the moment to come live for something else.
[00:35:22] I want to just reassure you.
[00:35:24] Everyone whose name is in the lamb's book of life will be there.
[00:35:29] God loses none of them. Here's a great verse. John 1027. Jesus says, my sheep hear my what church.
[00:35:39] My sheep hear my voice. And I know them, and they follow me like a shepherd that calls for the sheep. These dumb sheep, they hear the voice of the shepherd. They hear the voice of all these other people, those to stranger danger. But they hear the voice of their shepherd and they follow him. Jesus says, and I give them eternal life and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. And then he goes and he says, my father, who gave them to me, is greater than all. And no one is able to snatch them out of my father's hand. Listen, if you belong to Jesus, you are in a secure place.
[00:36:19] You will be in heaven someday, and you will be resurrected with a new body and live internally in the new kingdom. You will.
[00:36:29] But I wonder how you live your life now.
[00:36:33] Live it in such a way as if you're already there. Jesus talks a lot about that day. Epistles are full of talk about that day, and our lives should reflect it. People, get ready. Jesus is coming soon. We'll be going home. People, get ready. Jesus is coming to take from the world his own.
[00:36:51] So let me summarize. Jesus is coming back to judge the living and the dead. Are you ready?
[00:36:59] Number two?
[00:37:01] Play the long game and hasten with holiness.
[00:37:07] In the same way that I cannot actually save anyone, but I preach as though I can.
[00:37:15] I cannot make Jesus come back any faster, but I live as though I can. Does that make sense? In the same way that I cannot preach anyone into heaven, although I wish I could, and I'm going to do it to my doggones.
[00:37:31] I live my life in the same way. I may not be able to tell him when to come back, but I live my life as though I am hastening his return.
[00:37:42] So how are you doing personally?
[00:37:46] How are you doing playing your part at the center of this activity?
[00:37:51] Each of us is still here for a reason. If God didn't need you here, you would be there.
[00:37:57] You're still here for a reason. He still has a job for you.
[00:38:02] I would say these should be at the top of our list.
[00:38:06] Share the gospel in all you do. Share the gospel. Number two, stay awake. This is essential in our behavior. I think I have these up there.
[00:38:18] I hope I do anyway. Stay awake. This is essential in your behavior. Live wholly. This is impossible without Jesus Christ in our lives. Live holy and be willing to take up your cross, because God may require your life when you follow him. Stay awake, church. Stay awake. Don't become unstable or useless because of the temptations and the stress of this life. God has given you everything you need for holiness and godliness. Surrender it to him and act today as if he may come back tonight.
[00:39:00] Some of you know one of my most favorite book is called Pilgrim's Progress.
[00:39:05] There is a chapter in Pilgrim's progress called Vanity Fair. Have you seen Vanity Fair magazine? You've heard of this? Yeah. That's not made up. That's taken from Pilgrim's progress.
[00:39:17] Pilgrim's progress is about the journey of this guy that comes to know the Lord. It's an allegory, and he runs into these temptations and stresses of life. His name is Christian, or as we call him, Pilgrim.
[00:39:32] And as he journeys through, he gives his life to Jesus. He escapes the city of destruction, and he hits all of these very, very difficult and stressful moments, and he meets all of these questionable characters along the way.
[00:39:45] But when you get to the chapter called Vanity Fair, Christian, accompanied by a friend named Faithful, walk through Vanity Fair.
[00:39:55] There are shops and there are temptations, and there are things sold at this place that would make you blush and that would bring you great joy.
[00:40:06] And as you walk through Vanity Fair, their goal in Vanity Fair is to get you to buy their wares.
[00:40:14] And the book says, as John Bunyan, the writer of this book, this pastor who was in jail for his faith, writes this book from the jail cell, he writes, and he says, as these pilgrims walked through Vanity Fair, they realized that there were many other pilgrims there who had abandoned their walk to the city of God.
[00:40:36] They got caught up in the things of the world. They found the temptations too great. Many of them abandoned their journey, but Christian and faithful remained on the journey.
[00:40:49] And as they walked along, the people of the fair realized they weren't buying their stuff, and it scared them. And then the people of the fair realized they looked differently, and that scared them. And then the people of the fair realized they talked differently and had different values when they talked. And that scared the people of Vanity Fair.
[00:41:10] And the people of Vanity Fair eventually surrounded Christian and faithful and questioned them why they were different, why were they there, and why were they not buying anything that they were selling?
[00:41:23] And they said, we're here for a different reason. We're passing through. We're on our journey to the city of God. We're not stopping. We're going through. And as their questions increased, their fear increased. And then eventually, they began beating Christian and faithful.
[00:41:40] The authorities showed up. They said, what's going on here? And they said, these people are not like we are. They're saying bad things about the guy who owns this place, the mayor of the town, and we don't trust them, and they're dangerous. And so the authorities took them and they beat them, and they put them in a cage.
[00:42:00] Christian and faithful have some of the most amazing conversations that cage.
[00:42:07] An excerpt from the book says, christian and faithful behaved more wisely. They received the disgrace and shame which was cast upon them with so much meekness and patience that it won several of the men of the fair to their side.
[00:42:24] Isn't that great? How do you wait, church?
[00:42:30] They're beaten by people who are threatened by them.
[00:42:35] They arrested them, put them in a cage, and finally, they took faithful out, and they burned him at the stake.
[00:42:42] Faithful dies at vanity fair, but Christian miraculously escapes and goes on in his journey.
[00:42:50] And while he's mourning the loss of faithful this is the song he sings to himself, while faithful, you have faithfully professed unto your lord, with whom you shall be blessed when faithless ones with all their vain delights are crying out their own hellish blights.
[00:43:10] Sing, faithful, sing and let your name survive. For though they killed you, you are yet alive.
[00:43:19] You can live worldly now. You have that option. You can take every advantage of vanity Fair because the world will sell you all kinds of things. You can buy temptations galore, things that will bring you momentary happiness galore, but in the end will cost you your soul.
[00:43:42] You can live like that, or you can live like Jesus prayed and live your life here. Like Jesus prayed you would live your life here. You know these verses.
[00:43:53] Our father Jesus prayed, who art in heaven, hallowed be your name.
[00:44:00] Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth.
[00:44:07] Isn't that interesting?
[00:44:09] Your will be done on earth here, now, as it is there, then, church. You can be a part of being God's purpose and plan here. You can wait with purpose. You can wait and be a part of God's great plan.
[00:44:28] Or you can be useless and unfruitful, like thousands before you as a follower of Jesus. Are you playing your part in hastening the day of the Lord by living on earth now as if you are already in eternity?
[00:44:46] Let's pray.
[00:44:49] Father God, this is a great way to end. Second Peter, thank you for inspiring this man that you loved to write this book in such a powerful way so that it just doesn't apply 2000 years ago to the first century church. But, oh, God, does it apply to us in 2024?
[00:45:11] We desperately want our lives to count.
[00:45:15] Not by buying into man's inventions or man's purposes.
[00:45:22] Not by buying into some person's idea of what it means to matter.
[00:45:29] But we want to buy into what you declare is worth living our lives for. So help us to be full of all of those things in two, Peter.
[00:45:44] Help our lives to be full of those things so that we can be fruitful and we can matter, not for ourselves, but for you. And on that one day, as ed has already experienced, when we see you face to face, we will hear those words, well done, good and faithful servant.
[00:46:07] So use our lives to bring you glory, not just in the eternal kingdom, but right now.
[00:46:15] May we rid ourselves of any spot or wrinkle or blemish that we have hidden. But you see very well. May we make things right and live at peace with all, if possible, as far as it depends on us. And may you use our lives to bring many others into your kingdom as we wait and hasten the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, in whose name I pray. Amen.
