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Now that I have your attention, I heard I need a new battery for that hearing aid.

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On this Memorial Day weekend, I chose the theme, Timely Reminders, from 2 Peter chapter

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3.

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I invite you to turn there with me, please.

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I'm going to be using the King James Version this evening for this study.

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I hope it doesn't throw you into a dizzy.

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One does not have to be an intense student of our times to realize that there is not

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much fear of judgment in our world today.

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The television stations have in recent days exposed this to us among those who are involved

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in the drug trade in our country.

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They can be arrested one night and be out on the street selling it again the next night

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in many cases.

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One of the stations recently exposed how ineffective the drunk driving laws are in the state of

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Minnesota, showing that a person can be arrested over and over and over again for drunk driving

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and still be out on the highways, endangering the lives of other people.

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There is not much fear of judgment in our world.

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Sometimes we wonder, as did the thinker a generation ago who asked, will wrong forever

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be on the throne and right on the scaffold?

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Sometimes that's the way it seems, but we are reminded in 2 Peter chapter 3 that in

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fact judgment is coming.

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There are four reminders for believers in this hour.

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The chapter easily divides into four paragraphs.

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1-7 begins with the word beloved, as does each of the paragraphs.

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We are told here, Beloved, be mindful.

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The second paragraph begins in verse 8 and concludes with verse 13, Beloved, be not ignorant.

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The third paragraph in verses 14-16, Beloved, be diligent.

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And the final paragraph, verses 17 and 18, Beloved, beware.

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I'd like for us to think about these four reminders this evening before we go on our

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way.

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The first reminder is to be mindful.

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The second epistle, Beloved, I now write to you, and both of which I stir up your pure

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minds by way of remembrance.

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That you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets and

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of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, knowing this first that

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there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts and saying,

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where is the promise of his coming?

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For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of

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the creation.

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For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old,

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and the earth standing out of the water and in the water, by which the world that then

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was being overflowed with water, perished.

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But the heavens and the earth which are now by the same word are kept in store, reserved

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unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

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The first thing that he wants to tell us is to be mindful that judgment is coming.

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The fact that judgment is coming in the last days was prophesied by revelation.

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In the Old Testament through the prophets as well as through the apostles of the Lord

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Jesus Christ, we have been told that judgment is on its way.

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It may not come when we think it should, or as quickly as we would wish.

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Sometimes we are glad it doesn't come.

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But the fact is that judgment is coming.

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We need to be mindful of that lest we be discouraged.

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We are living in what the Bible calls the last days.

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The last days are defined by one writer as the terminal period in the history of a particular

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group of people or nations.

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It is the consummation of God's dealings with them.

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In this case we are talking about with all of the peoples of the world.

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We are to be mindful that judgment is coming in these last days.

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It has been prophesied by the Old Testament and by the New Testament apostles.

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But he tells us that not only is it prophesied by revelation, it is preceded by scoffers.

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Know this first, he says, there shall come scoffers walking after their own lusts.

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The word scoffers comes from a verb that means to play with.

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The idea is that there are people who will play with the concept of judgment.

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In other words, it becomes a joke to them.

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They kind of bat it around and smile at it.

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It becomes sort of a game that they play.

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I talked to a friend of mine recently who is divorced and who is presently living with

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a young lady.

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I pretended as though I didn't know that, although I did.

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I asked, are you going to be married soon?

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Because I had heard they were being married in June.

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He said, well yes, we are planning to be married in June of next year.

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He said, we thought about doing it this summer, but you know we are so busy.

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So we decided to put it off a year.

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He says, we are just living in sin.

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Then he waited for my reaction.

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And frankly, he caught me flat-footed.

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I didn't quite know what to say to his boast that we are living in sin.

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But that is the attitude of people regarding judgment.

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People scoff about it.

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Well, he speaks about a particular group who have an argument.

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Their argument is that God has never intervened before.

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There is no judgment now.

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He says, where is the promise of His coming?

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Since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the very beginning.

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This is a first century statement of what is now called uniformitarianism.

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It is a basic part of the theory of evolution, and that is the uniformity of history.

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That nothing has ever intervened before to dramatically alter things.

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Things have just kept on going the way they always have from the very beginning.

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But they have a certain ignorance, says Peter in verses 5 and 6.

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And it is a willful ignorance.

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It is an ignorance they choose to have, and that is that God has before intervened.

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God who by His Word created the heavens and the earth also judged the earth.

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By His Word, the world that was perished, He says.

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And so God has intervened before, but they are willfully overlooking that fact when they

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say nothing has ever happened to intervene before our generation.

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Therefore nothing will ever intervene and bring judgment.

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Not so, says Peter, not so.

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For God has judged before, and as He has judged before, He will judge again.

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He mentions that in verse 7.

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He says, be mindful that judgment is coming.

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It is prophesied.

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It is preceded by scoffers, and we are living in that day now, perhaps as much or more than

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ever before.

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And thirdly, He tells us that judgment is prepared.

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Prepared by God Himself, who by the same Word with which He judged before is now keeping

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in store the heavens and the earth.

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He is preserving them or reserving them unto a coming day of judgment and perdition of

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the ungodly.

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It is a day that He describes as one of fire.

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God has prepared a day in which He will ultimately and finally judge the universe tainted by

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human sin.

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It is the ultimate judgment of fire, just as the entire earth was flooded and the ungodly

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were judged and destroyed before in the days of Noah.

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So there is coming a day at the end of time when God again will judge the next time by

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fire.

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Well, we'll see more about that in a moment.

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He says, reminder number one, be mindful that judgment is coming at the end of the last

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days.

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But then He moves ahead to a second reminder.

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He says, be not ignorant, verses 8 through 13.

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He says, stop allowing this to escape your notice, you Christians.

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He says, be not ignorant in the first place of God's person, of what God is like.

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What is God like?

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Well, He says, one day is with the Lord is a thousand years.

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A thousand years is one day.

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The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness, but is long-suffering

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toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

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That's what the Lord is like.

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The fact that judgment has not come does not mean that God overlooks sin, but it means

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that God is eternal and that He is faithful and that He is long-suffering.

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And the reason He is all of that is that He might save.

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He desires to save, not to condemn.

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God is not willing that any should perish.

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That is, God does not desire for any man to go to hell, but that all should come to repentance.

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It doesn't mean that all will, sadly, but that's the heart of God.

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God does not delight in the death of the wicked.

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That's what God is like.

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Don't be ignorant of God's person.

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God is patient with sinners.

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But then He says, be not ignorant of God's program, verses 10-13.

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Look at God's program.

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It involves two things, really.

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The destruction of the old and the creation of the new.

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You know, that's always been God's program, hasn't it?

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It was that way in the days of the Flood.

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God destroyed the old.

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He created the new, earth as it is today.

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It's that way in our salvation.

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The old is set aside.

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God does a new thing.

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The old is passed away.

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Behold, all things will become new.

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Heaven will be that way at the end of time.

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God is going to destroy the old heavens and earth and create a new one.

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He speaks about the destruction.

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And here He elaborates further upon the fire that is mentioned back in verse 7.

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He says, the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night.

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We talked about that phrase this morning.

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In which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt

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with fervent heat.

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The earth also and the works that are in it shall be burned up.

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Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved.

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And He goes on to pose an important point, a question.

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Notice the language here that describes the roar, the noise that will be involved in the

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ultimate judgment when the old passes away and is destroyed.

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A great noise along with a hissing sound is suggested by the words that Peter is led to

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use here by the Holy Spirit.

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It's difficult for us to imagine what this might be, except that it seems to be the release

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of the energy within the atom.

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That God instead of holding the atom together simply at this point releases that energy

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unto the destruction of the basic elements of the universe as they are now constituted.

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And all of that will happen, it will be like one great atomic explosion throughout the

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universe.

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Maybe we could say.

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All of this will happen with a great roar and the sound of hissing as everything melts

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into the basic elements and everything is dissolved and nothing is left of the creation

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that is now.

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He says don't be ignorant of God's program.

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That day is coming.

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And God is reserving everything that is until that day.

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And just as surely as once before he intervened, so again he will intervene by his word and

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bring final judgment.

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But that's not the end of it.

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He goes on to say verse 12, looking for and hastening unto the coming of the day of God

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in which the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved and the elements shall melt with

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fervent heat.

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Nevertheless we according to his promise look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness

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is at home.

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That's what he really says.

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And so God is not only going to destroy the old, God is going to create something brand

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new.

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Something that will not be tainted by sin as is the present creation.

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That will be a creation of a new heavens and new earth in which righteousness will be perfectly

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at home throughout the whole realm of that universe that God will create.

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That is God's program.

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God sets aside the old, he establishes the new.

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God is always up to something new.

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It's wonderful to belong to a God who not only purposes that, but who has the power

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to bring it to pass.

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Not just in the universe, but in my life and in your life.

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God sets aside the old.

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He sets aside the old patterns of what we were before we came to Christ and replaces

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those patterns with something new, a new creation that reflects the likeness of the Lord Jesus.

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Our memory verse for next Sunday by the way deals in part with that plan of God as we

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walk in newness of life.

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Let's go on to the third reminder.

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The first reminder, he says, beloved be mindful, judgment is coming.

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It was predicted in the Old Testament as well as by those of us who are apostles of the

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Lord Jesus and is preceded by scoffers.

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But he says don't be ignorant of God's person.

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God is patient.

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He's long suffering with sinners.

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He's faithful.

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And God has a program that he's faithful to and someday he's going to destroy what is

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and bring something brand new and even better.

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Reminder number three, he says be diligent.

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Now he begins to apply what he said to us thus far.

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Be diligent, verses 14 through 16.

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Beloved, seeing that you look for such things, are you looking for them?

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Be diligent that you may be found of him in peace without spot and blameless.

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And account that the long suffering of our Lord is salvation.

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Be diligent.

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Be diligent in the first place to be looking right.

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What are you looking for?

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The word looking found in verse 14, verse 13, and verse 12, all the same word means

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to think towards something.

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I remember when I was a kid and grandpa and grandma were coming on Sunday as they often

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did for Sunday dinner.

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When we got home from church, we would change clothes and we would stand at the west window

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of our house looking down the hill toward the corner of that old gravel road about a

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quarter of a mile away.

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And we would just wait for grandpa and grandma to turn around that corner and head up the

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hill.

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And as soon as we saw them, we would begin yelling, grandpa and grandma are coming.

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And we would go running out of the house and meet them in the yard.

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Why?

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Because we were thinking toward their coming.

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That was something that was exciting to us as children.

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He says that you and I ought to be looking right.

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We ought to be thinking toward the things that are coming.

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Oh, we get so bogged down in the way things are.

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For we grieve over the things that have been that we can't even change.

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He says be looking right, looking ahead, expectantly, looking forward.

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Then we're also to be diligent to be living right.

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He describes it three ways in verse 14.

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That we might be found of our Lord in peace without spot and blameless.

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Be living right.

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What do you mean, Peter?

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Well, in the first place, be in peace.

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That is, as I look at myself and I look at my circumstances in life, to be in peace.

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That's sometimes tough, isn't it?

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When your world seems to be crumbling around you.

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That's tough when you go through disappointments or uncertainties about the future.

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How easily worry raises its head and we become anxious.

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But Peter says look, all of those things that trouble you are really nothing when you look

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at the broad picture of what's coming.

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So looking right, looking ahead, thinking toward the coming of the Savior, be found

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in peace.

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As you look at your life, even though you're passing through difficult times, let your

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faith in the sovereignty of God in your life bring peace to your heart.

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A peace that passes understanding.

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Be in peace.

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And he says be without spot.

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That's as God sees me and sees you.

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Let there be no spot or dark blemish within our hearts that would embarrass us.

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No filthiness, no jealousy, no bitterness, no sin.

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God is dominating our lives.

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He says be without spot.

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That's what it means to live right.

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If you had an x-ray taken of your life this evening, what would that expose?

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I suppose most of us here have had x-rays.

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I've been having some pain in my hand, which admittedly is a little large, brother.

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In that knuckle and in that knuckle.

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And so a couple of months ago I went to a doctor who specializes in knuckles and other

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joints.

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That isn't where he hangs around.

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That's what he does.

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And he took an x-ray of my hand and he showed me what my joints look like and the fact that

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I have arthritis at my age.

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Can you imagine this?

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Arthritis is setting into my joints.

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I am deteriorating before your eyes.

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Not quite as fast as the wicked witch of the west, but I'm getting there.

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I am deteriorating my knuckles.

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He showed me a picture of them and I could see what the problem is.

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Well, if God did an x-ray of your life tonight, would it be without spot or would there be

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some spots in there?

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There ought not to be there.

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To be living right means to be living in peace as I look at myself and my circumstances,

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trusting God.

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It means as God sees me to be without spot and then as men see me it means to be blameless.

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It doesn't mean that I won't be accused of something or that you won't, but it means

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let there be no basis for anyone bringing accusation against us.

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To be blameless.

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That's what it means to be living right.

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To be diligent, brother.

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To be looking right and to be living right.

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And in verses 15 and 16 he suggests that we ought to be diligent to be thinking right.

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Scauffers are thinking wrong.

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They think that because judgment has not come yet, it's not going to come.

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That is a big mistake.

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He says if we think right, we will understand that judgment has not come yet because God

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has chosen to save rather than to judge.

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He says the long suffering of our Lord is salvation.

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Peter's not the only one who believes that.

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Paul does too.

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It's a comfort to me to know that Peter had a hard time understanding some of the things

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Paul wrote, because I do too.

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As much as we know that when God delays, he's got a purpose in it.

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It's a good purpose.

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Be thinking right.

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The Lord's long suffering means salvation for people.

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There is going to come a day when the door is shut and no more salvation.

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But now the door is open, God is merciful and patient.

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We need to think right about that.

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Then he gives us a final reminder, he says, beware, verses 17 and 18, ye therefore, beloved,

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seeing that ye know these things before, beware, lest ye also, being led away with the error

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of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness.

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But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

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To him be glory both now and forever.

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Amen.

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Beware, he says, number one, to keep from falling.

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Even the steadfast can fall.

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Peter is writing the steadfast folks, people like you.

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And he says that we must be careful, even we who are steadfast, lest we fall from that.

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All of us can recount tragedies that we know about where people who have stood for Christ,

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who have even preached the gospel of Christ, have fallen.

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We need to beware lest we be led away with the error of the wicked.

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Interesting thought, the wicked, that is those who are lawless, those who have no restraint.

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He's talking about the world in which we live, our society, the culture in which you and

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I are immersed.

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He says be careful lest you be deceived by that.

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And somehow, even though you are a steadfast Christian, you end up falling flat on your

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face.

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Beware.

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If tonight you are playing with error.

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If tonight you are tempted to just walk out of the way a little bit, to wander, beware.

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Beware.

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You say it can never happen to me.

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A lot of people have said that.

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Beware.

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I don't know if any of you heard Erwin Lutcher last night on conference pulpit on KTIS at

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9 o'clock.

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If you didn't, you ought to see if you can buy a tape of it.

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It was a message that he preached at Bethel's Founders Week back in January.

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An excellent message that I would love to preach to you tonight, but I'm not going

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to.

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But it's on this subject of being pure and being careful not to play with sin lest we

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fall.

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Beware to keep from falling and be on guard to keep on growing, he says, in grace and

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in the knowledge of Jesus.

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Keep on growing to be more like Jesus.

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Keep on growing to know more of Jesus.

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But keep on growing.

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That's what he says.

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Don't allow yourself to stagnate.

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Don't allow yourself to coast, but keep on pressing on.

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Keep on growing, he says.

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Keep on becoming.

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What an important reminder that is to us in these last days.

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These are good reminders for us anytime, including on this Memorial Day weekend.

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That we who are the beloved of Peter and of the Lord Jesus might be mindful, that we might

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be not ignorant, that we might be diligent, that we might also beware.

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So as we go from here tonight, let's be reminded of these things so that when Jesus comes,

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we'll be found of him living the way we ought to.

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And maybe it's today, maybe it's this week that we'll see him.

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Would you bow with me please as we close?

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Has the Spirit of God touched a nerve in your heart tonight?

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In the application of this chapter to your life, has the Holy Spirit said something in

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your ear that you need to respond to?

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Are you growing?

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Are you taking steps to grow?

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Are you being careful?

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Or are you playing with sin?

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Despite the turmoil that exists around you, are you in peace?

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If you get the big picture in view, if you're looking right, you'll live right, you'll

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be in peace.

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A peace that passes understanding.

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Are you spotless?

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As others see you, are you blameless?

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Lord Jesus, we pray tonight that should you come before the sun rises on Monday morning,

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that we might be found of you in a way that you would be pleased and we would not be ashamed.

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Thank you for the blessed hope that we have, for the assurance that you're going to return.

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And for that further assurance that one day wrong will no longer be on the throne and

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truth on the scaffold, but righteousness and truth will reign and wrong will be judged.

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Give us a heart like yours, a heart of long suffering and patience.

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May we not delight in the death of the wicked.

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May our heart be like yours.

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We would desire all men to repent and come to a knowledge of salvation.

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Lord send us forth from this place to enjoy tomorrow, should you tarry, but to be above

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everything else, your beloved one, who has been well reminded on this Sunday evening.

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In Jesus' name, amen.