Jesus Is Coming Again

2 Peter chapter 3. We'll begin reading at verse 1 and read the chapter in its entirety.!

First of all, you must understand that in the last days, scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.

They will say, where is this coming, he promised. Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation. But they deliberately forget that long ago, by God's word, the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water.

By these waters also, the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word, the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire.

Being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. But do not forget this one thing, dear friends.

With the Lord, a day is like a thousand years. And a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness.

He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar.

The elements will be destroyed by fire. And the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be?

You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire. And the elements will melt in the heat.

But in keeping with his promise, we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth. The home of righteousness. So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless, and at peace with him.

Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation. Just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters.

His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other scriptures, to their own destruction.

Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard, so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position.

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever.

Amen. Well, believing brothers and sisters, is the second coming of Jesus Christ making you holy and happy?

It's meant to. Indeed, the apostle Paul says that it's while we are waiting for the blessed hope, the happy hope, the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, that we live holy, self-controlled lives in this present age.

So, the second coming of Christ is a happy hope. And it leads to holiness. And how the church today needs holy and happy Christians.

And how our world today needs to see holy and happy Christians, whose lives adorn the gospel of Jesus Christ.

It was a year ago, this last Monday, that our family was gathered around the deathbed of our father. And as he took his last breath, one of my brothers said, there was a life that made the gospel attractive.

A life that made the gospel attractive. How the gospel is made to shine in a world by a holy and a happy life.

Don't you want to live in a way that adorns and beautifies the teaching of God our Savior? That's the effect that Christ's second coming is meant to have on you.

Holiness and happiness. But there's a problem. In fact, there's two of them. Problems that would undermine our confidence in Christ's coming, our eager expectation of it.

And thereby weaken its fruits of holiness and happiness. And Peter already saw these problems in his day. And so he wrote to his Christian brothers to address these two problems.

And to call them to remembrance of important truth. And his words are all the more needed today. And so we're going to come back to this passage that we memorized over the past several months together.

And seek to bring it all together in one message this morning. First, we want to look at these two problems concerning our Lord's second coming.

The first is this. It's been a long wait and he's still not here yet. Waiting is hard. And waiting long is harder still.

Kids, you've just had Christmas, haven't you? Mom said it was coming and sure enough it came on December the 25th. But now you've got a whole year to wait.

To wait for it to arrive. That's a long time. But what if you had to wait 2,000 years? 2,000 years.

You see, 2,000 years ago, Jesus Christ made a promise that he would come back to earth. And grandpas have told their grandkids that Jesus is coming.

And then they died without having seen that coming. And those kids have all grown up and become grandparents. And reminded their grandkids, Jesus is coming.

But they also have died without seeing his coming. And so it is gone for 2,000 years. That's a lot of grandpas.

Waiting for the Lord's coming and not seeing it. And that's the first problem. It's been so long and he's still not here. Indeed, in the parable of the ten virgins that Jesus taught, it was this problem that caused all the virgins, the wise and the foolish, to go to sleep.

The bridegroom was a long time in coming. And so they all became drowsy and fell asleep. Teaching us of the difficulty of remaining watchful and alert when we have to wait a long time.

A long time can make us forgetful of the promise to where we don't think about it much anymore. To where we're not reminding each other Jesus is coming. To where we're not living in eager expectation of it.

So that it no longer is having its holy and happy effect upon us. And I say if that was a potential problem in Peter's day in the first century, think how much of a problem it is for us living 2,000 years after the promise.

But there's another problem. Secondly, scoffers are poking fun at the unfulfilled promise of his coming. Scoffers. Verses 3 and 4.

Peter says, First of all, you must understand that in the last days, scoffers will come. Scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, Where is this coming he has promised?

Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation. Scoffers are mockers. They're people that make fun of Christians.

That make fun of God and holy things and sin. Make fun of the Bible. And so they try to make Christians and what they believe and their morals look ridiculous.

They hold it up to scorn. We see it in our own day, don't we? How Christians' view of marriage is being lifted up to ridicule and scorn.

Or the Christian's view of abortion is scorned and ridiculed by scoffers. And Peter says the same thing happens with this promise that Jesus is coming back.

Scoffers poke fun at such. Many liberal theologians have been doing this over the past century.

Calling it a myth. Explaining it away. Oh, he has come. He's come to our hearts. And that's all it meant. There's no supernatural stopping of history and Jesus comes and that's the end of the show.

No, they scoff at such ideas. He said he was coming. Where is he then?

He surely had plenty of time to have gotten here by now. And that mockery may reinforce some of the doubts of struggling Christians. Why hasn't he come?

And all this threatens to undermine our confident expectation of his coming. Our joy at the thought of his coming. And to remove it from front and center status in the Christian consciousness.

That's no small loss. And so Peter addresses it head on. The two problems. It's been a long time waiting and he's still not here and scoffers are poking fun. Peter and God want to help us.

And so he confronts those two problems head on with four considerations. Now the word consider means you're going to need your thinking cap. And Peter put us on warning that he's out to stir us up to wholesome thinking.

So put your thinking cap on and consider four things that will help you with these two problems. And the first two answers, the first two considerations answer the problem of scoffers.

The last two considerations answer the problem of the long delay. So first of all, concerning the scoffers. Peter says to us, consider the source.

Consider the source. Who is it that is scoffing? You need to understand something about these scoffers. He says they are those who are scoffing and following their own evil desires.

So they do what their own evil heart tells them to do. That's what governs their life. They don't let God's word govern their life. They don't care what God says. They will live as their own desires will lead them.

And their evil desires. They're the ones who are scoffing. No wonder they make fun of Christ's return to judge the world.

What would you expect? There's a reason they scoff. And it's a very personal reason. To believe that Jesus Christ is coming back to judge all men would spoil their fun.

To believe that as I follow my own evil desires, Jesus is coming back to judge me for all that I've done while in the body. No wonder they scoff at his second coming.

A pastor friend of mine had an adult son living outside the home who came to him one day and said, Dad, I no longer believe all the things that you've taught me growing up. The supernatural about God and the Bible.

And without skipping a beat, the father said, Son, you're living in sin, aren't you? Indeed, he had just moved in with a woman. How did he know that? How did he have some hunch that there was some moral issue in this boy's life?

Because people who want to follow their own evil desires don't want to be bothered with Bible truths that condemn their behavior. So if I'm following my own evil desires, I've got to get rid of this.

And so I make fun of this. And say, I don't know, I don't believe it. It's a bunch of lies. And so with the scoffers, of course they scoff at the coming of Christ.

They're just following their own evil desires. So don't let that unsettle you. Consider the source. Secondly, consider what they deliberately forget.

Verse 4 says that they say, Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation. They claim uninterrupted uniformity has been the pattern right from the beginning of creation.

It's the same old, same old. Nothing has changed. There's been no interruption in human history. It's all unchanged from the beginning.

No divine breaking into history to judge the world. We haven't seen it and we won't see it. As if this is proof that the world will go on forever just as it is.

Because he hasn't come, he won't come. One preacher said, that's like saying because I haven't died, I won't die. That's no proof, is it?

But they're forgetting something, aren't they? When they say everything has gone on like it has from the beginning. They're forgetting something. They're forgetting about the time God did interrupt human history with a universal flood.

When the tallest mountain peak was covered with water. And all the rest of the earth as well. Such that the world at that time was deluged and destroyed by water, as verse 6 says.

Now that's no small thing to forget. How did they do that? It's not only found in scripture, it's found in the fossil records. It's found in the world we live in.

And what we find is that it's no mere mental slip. Oops, I just forgot about that. No, it wasn't. That they just forgot about it.

They tried to forget it on purpose. They intentionally, they deliberately forgot it. Because they don't want to retain the knowledge of God in their minds.

They discarded it. They don't like remember how God interrupted man's sinful pursuit of his evil desires. And brought judgment upon them for it.

Because that judgment at Noah's day is a megaphone saying, Get ready for the last judgment at the last day. God broke in and judged the world and destroyed ungodly men and the world with water.

And that's a signal that he's going to come back again. And the same moral governor of the universe will come back and judge this world with fire. All by the same word.

God who destroyed the old world by water has by the same word reserved the present heavens and earth for fire. Keeping it for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

That's not pleasant for the mind of sinful people to consider. No wonder they suppress this truth in their ungodliness.

So to be kept from being unsettled Christian. Is Jesus coming back? It's been so long. And look. The big people that write books and sell books and teach.

They don't think he's coming back. They make fun of that claim. So to keep from being unsettled by all of this. Consider the source. Their evil lifestyle.

And their intentional forgetfulness. Of course they scoff. We should expect it. Now the two considerations for the other problem. The fact that it's been such a long wait and he's still not here.

What does Peter have to say to encourage us for that? Because after a long wait, it's easy to think, oh, he's forgotten. Or he's slow to keep his promises.

Or he's a slacker. Like some people we know who make promises to us and don't keep them. And we can think, is that what's happened here? Peter says, consider the delay from God's perspective of time.

Consider the delay from God's perspective of time. Verse 8. But do not forget this one thing, dear friends. That with the Lord, a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years are like a day.

Don't forget that God is not like us in this way. And this is something that we Christians can forget. Hence the words. Don't forget it.

He's stirring up our minds to remember something important. Don't judge God according to your perspective of time.

Or you will think he's slacking off and is slow to keep his promise. You see, to us, there's a huge difference between a day and a thousand years, isn't there?

That's huge. I haven't done the math, but you can do it. You just put zeros behind 365 and figure the difference between a day and a thousand years.

That's a tremendous difference. But not to God. A day is like a thousand years. You see, God is eternal. That's a teaching of scripture.

This is theology. God is eternal. I mean, he exists outside of time. He reigns over time. But he's not limited by time.

So you, down here in time, you think of your past, your present, and your future. But to God, it's all the ever-present now.

One day is the same as a thousand days to him. And we can't even get our minds around that idea. But we need to realize that God has a different perspective of time.

So a day is like a thousand years. So how long have we been waiting for Jesus to come? Two days. Right? Two days.

It's like two days to our Lord. So if I promised you on Friday, I'm going to give you a book. I've got a book for you. I'm going to give it to you. I hope I wouldn't seem like a slacker to you if I gave you the book today.

You say, no, it was just two days. But if it was 2,000 years, you might think I'm a slacker. Don't judge me according to your perspective of time.

Don't judge God by your perspective of time. Remember, to him, a day is a thousand years. So the Lord is not slow, is he?

He's not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He's right on time. It's only been like a couple days to him. Remember, the people of God were down in Egypt in bondage.

And long before they even went down to Egypt, God had promised Abraham that he was going to bring them out of Egypt. This is what Exodus 12, 40, and 41 says.

Now, the length of time the Israelite people lived in Egypt was 430 years. That must have seemed like a long time. To live and die without seeing the promise.

430 years. Where is this promise of redemption? But at the end of the 430 years, the scriptures say, To the very day, all the Lord's divisions left Egypt.

You see, he's got an appointed time for everything he does. And it will happen exactly on the day that he appointed. He's not slow in keeping his promise. He's right on time.

He's not slack. Be careful to remember his perspective on time. The eternity of God is a doctrine we must hold to if we would not misjudge him.

The other consideration. Consider the purpose of his delay. Why has he not come back yet? So your friend called on Saturday and promised to come over.

And he didn't come. And he didn't show up. And he didn't show up. And it seemed to be taking a long time. And you're just about to complain of his delay. And finally, there he is. He shows up. And when he gets to your house, he has a surprise for you.

He had stopped along the way to buy a new car for you. And it had taken some time to finish up the title and the financing. And now, here's your gift. Here's your car.

You see, understanding the purpose of the delay puts a whole different slant on waiting, doesn't it? I mean, I've got some more time. You want to take some more time and go out and do some more things?

That's fine with me. It's a whole different perspective. Why? Because you understand the purpose of his delay. Even so, the Lord is not slow in keeping his promise.

He's patient with you. He's patient with you. And so what people, what these believers were regarding as possibly unfaithful slowness on God's part is really patience with them.

Now, that's more theology, isn't it? Now we're on the patience of God. Not only the eternity of God, the patience of God. Our God is a patient God.

It's another one of his attributes. And there are a few attributes that are more wrongly interpreted than the patience of God. God is being patient with us.

And we think he's being slow and slack about his promises. But don't miss the purpose of this so-called delay. Why is he waiting so long to return?

Well, he is patient with you, dear believers. Not wanting anyone to perish, but all to come to repentance. You know from your reading of scriptures and Ephesians and 2 Thessalonians and many other places that God has chosen to save a multitude of sinners.

They are his elect. Out of all hell-deserving humanity, he chose to show mercy on some. They are his chosen ones.

He's given them to his son, Jesus, who came into the world to redeem them. John 6. So, they are chosen in Christ before the creation of the world to be saved through faith and repentance.

But do you realize that not all of them have actually yet been saved? That some are still lost. So, the Lord has not returned yet.

He is being patient, not wanting any to perish, but all of them to come to repentance. These that I have given to my son, they must come.

Every one, not one must be missing in the final day. So, it's because of that that he is being patient. That's why he's not come back. And they all will come to repentance, for he's chosen to save them.

He sends his son to die for their sins and his Holy Spirit to create faith and repentance in their hearts. And to draw them to the Lord Jesus for salvation.

So, Jesus says in John 6, 37, All that the Father gives me shall come to me. You see, they will come. But they haven't all come yet.

Have they? They've not all come to Christ yet. When the last of all his elect has repented and come to faith in Christ, then the Lord Jesus will return.

And he will gather his wheat into his barn and burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. He'll take his children into eternal life and cast the wicked into everlasting hell.

So, brothers and sisters, what do you owe to the patience of God with you personally? If Jesus Christ had come back one year ago, some of you would be in hell today.

If Jesus Christ had come five years ago, more of you would be in hell today.

And if Jesus Christ had returned 50 years ago, I would be in hell today. And I would not have any less days having served 50 years.

Because all sin is done against an eternal God. And the offense is so great that it takes eternity to pay for.

And I would have never been finished suffering God's wrath for my sin. For the debt is never finally paid there.

The worm never dies. The fire is never quenched. Jesus says so. God's patience is the reason every Christian here is not in hell.

God was not slow in keeping his promise to return. He was patient with you. He was patient with me. Let's be sure we understand the reason for his so-called delay in coming back.

It changes the way we think about his delay. It makes us love him more. Thank you, Lord, that you waited and drew me into your family.

And he's still waiting for others to repent. So instead of it being a reason to complain and disbelieve, we ought to worship him and thank him for his slowness.

What seems to us like slowness. Slowness in coming back to earth. Notice the only alternative to repenting is perishing. Did you see that in the text?

It's the only alternative to repenting. If you don't repent, you'll perish.

He's patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. If you repent, you don't perish. If you don't repent, you do perish. It's on the face of it, isn't it?

And what we're told is that God is being patient for others to repent. You say, but I don't know if he's chosen me or not. No, of course you wouldn't. You weren't there in the councils of eternity.

That doesn't concern you now. It has nothing to do with your concern. You are invited to come to Jesus and to repent of your sins. And if you do, you'll know that he chose you before the creation of the world.

Not because you repented. And he said, oh, she's going to repent, so I'm going to choose her. No, you will know that you were chosen because you do repent. Because all that he chose to save, he will give the grace to repent.

And that's why they do repent. But you don't know. So don't get hung up on election, my sinner friend. The command for you is repent.

The command is that God has appointed a day in which he will judge the world through the one man that he has appointed. And therefore, he commands all people everywhere to repent.

And if you repent, he will save you. For all who come unto me, Jesus says, I will never cast out. And when you come and when you repent, then you will know, yes, I was one that the Father gave the Son before the creation of the world.

So though he's not yet come, and scoffers say he'll never come, verse 10 assures us, but the day of the Lord will come. Isn't that language of a certainty and a note of confidence?

The day of the Lord will come. The day's on his calendar. He's set it. And on that day, to the very day, he'll come back. The very last of his sheep have been gathered into the fold.

He'll come back. And he'll come like a thief. Unannounced. Unexpected. Suddenly. When the world has no more expectation of him than a sleeping homeowner has of a thief.

For just as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating, drinking, marrying. Just doing the stuff that people always do. Going to work. Coming from work. Being given in marriage.

Up to the day Noah entered the ark. And then the flood came and destroyed them all. And so it will be a day like any other day. And the news anchor will say like they did on every other evening.

See you tomorrow night. Same place. Same station. And there will be no tomorrow night. Not that day. For suddenly he will come. Like a thief.

The day of the Lord will come. Like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar. And the elements will be destroyed by fire. And the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.

Four times. The will of certainty. It's going to happen. And though for a long time he hasn't come. In that day he will come.

And what a dreadful day it will be for those not inside of Christ. But what a happy day it will be for those who have repented and got into Christ. Those who like Noah have got into the ark will find salvation.

Those who get into Christ will not be destroyed but be safe and sound. So what have we seen this morning in this passage? Well we see it's no easy thing to stay eagerly expecting.

Eagerly watching and looking for the return of Christ. Especially after 2,000 years of his not coming. And with scoffers aplenty on the scenes.

But this is something we cannot afford to lose sight of. Peter says you've got to remember some things. You've got to think of some things. Consider the sinful lifestyle.

And the intentional forgetfulness of scoffers. Of course they'll scoff. And then consider the eternity and patience of God. God's got a different view of time than you.

And think of his purpose in delaying. Application. So what? What is the so what of Jesus' return?

On two occasions I've answered a survey of what I believe about the end times. And the same question was asked both times.

Do you believe that a person's view of the end times has any practical significance in the life of a believer? Now I would suggest that the very fact of the question.

The very fact that such a question even needs to be asked. And it does. Is an indicator of how far the church has drifted on this subject. Sadly much of the teaching about our Lord's return.

And the end times has little more. Does little more than stir up idle curiosity. And fruitless speculation. Whereas the New Testament never mentions the Lord's return without some practical application to life.

Now it talks about the Lord's return all over the New Testament. I think there's just a few letters. Most of them little letters. One chapter letters where there's no mention of the Lord's return.

But in every other letter there's all this information given about the Lord's return. But never is it given without practical application. The Bible's unified conviction is that I am to be different.

And I am to live differently. Because Jesus is coming again. Notice how Peter cuts to the chase in verse 11. Since everything will be destroyed in this way when he comes.

What kind of people ought you to be? That's a practical application question, isn't it? What kind of people ought you to be since Jesus is coming? And when he comes, he'll destroy the earth.

He'll call all men to judgment. And make a new heaven and a new earth. What kind of people ought you to be? Well, you ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God.

And speed its coming. Notice three practical applications then in these verses. Christ's return is meant in the first place to motivate us to live holy and godly lives.

That's what he tells us. It's a holy Savior who's coming back for us. It's a holy Savior who calls us to be holy, even as he is holy. To be holy in all that we do.

It's a holy Savior before whom we must give an account of all that we have done while we were in the body. Yes, that's what we're waiting for, this holy Savior. So, practical application number one.

Live a holy and godly life. Now, we're to live in a state of constant readiness for his coming.

And we do that not by quitting our jobs, not by selling our houses and moving off to the hills and waiting for his coming. But we do it by being like Christ.

Being godly. Being holy. God-like. Christ-like. In our homes, our families, our school, our workplace, our neighborhood, our church.

In what we think and what we say and what we do. To be holy in all that we do. That's how we live in a state of being prepared for Jesus coming.

It should affect the way you eat and drink and whatever you do. So, your daily pursuit of holiness is to be spurred on with the thought that Jesus is coming. Jesus is coming.

Now, we saw in verse 3 that those who dismiss and scoff at this coming, what do they do? They follow their own evil desires. But those who believe he's coming and are looking forward to his coming don't follow their own evil desires.

They follow God's desires. That's holiness. Following his commandments. That's god-likeness. That's living a holy and godly life.

So, what you think about this truth affects the way you live. The apostle John put it this way. That we are to live in constant union with Christ.

Why? So that when he appears, you may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming. Confident, unashamed before him at his coming.

That's how we want to meet him. That's how I want to meet him, right? That's how you want to meet him. And so, Jonathan Edwards resolved never to do anything which I should be afraid to do.

If I expected it would not be above an hour before I heard the last trump and Jesus coming. Would I want to be found doing this when Jesus comes?

Would I want to be found watching this when he shows up? Would I be able to meet him with confidence and unashamed before him at his coming? Do you see how the coming of Christ is meant to make us holy and godly?

Indeed, John goes on to say that we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we will see him as he is. And everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, even as he is pure.

1 John 3, 2 and 3. Everybody who has this happy hope of the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior does something. They purify themselves, even as he is pure.

And so, Peter goes on in verse 14 as he summarizes this whole talk on the return of Christ. So then, here's the summary of it.

Dear friends, since you're looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless, and at peace with him. You see, thoughts of Christ's return are to help us mortify laziness.

Laziness, thoughts of Christ's return are to motivate us to make every effort to be spotless and blameless, to get out those spots and wrinkles of sin by confessing them, by mortifying the fleshly desires.

By coming to Christ for pardon and for power. We want to be at peace with him. No controversy between Jesus and me when he comes.

I don't want there to be any controversy. That will urge us to a holy and godly life. So is that happening?

Is the fact of Christ's return having this holy effect upon your life, brother and sister? Is it making you live for things that will survive this general fire that's coming?

How rich will you be after the fire? In things eternal. Seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.

Living for eternal things like people. People. Like God himself. That's the first application.

Holiness. Secondly, the return of Christ is meant to keep us looking forward to it with eager desire. Looking forward to it. Christians are those with a forward look.

We live for more than today. We've got our eye on the future because the future belongs to us. And we're waiting for something. We're waiting for someone.

Aren't we? And that's good news. So we're looking forward to it. We're eagerly expecting Jesus to come back. Three times from verse 12 to 14.

Believers are described as those who are looking forward to his coming. We know how children look forward to their birthday or look forward to a holiday. We are described as those who are looking forward to this coming of Jesus.

Longing for his appearing. 2 Timothy 4.8. Now not only will this present earth and heavens be destroyed by fire.

But verse 13 says, But in keeping with his promise, we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. This is why we're so eager to see him come.

He's not just going to come and destroy all that is ungodly. He's coming to make a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. Now you know righteousness is not at home in the world right now.

It doesn't belong here. The world doesn't want to have anything to do with Christ's righteousness. The thing that's right in the eye of God.

But after Christ returns in judgment and all the wicked will be perished from this earth, cast into hell, he will make a new heaven and a new earth where righteousness is at home.

It is the home of the righteous. And everything will be as it was supposed to be. There will not be anyone here except those who are as righteous as Jesus is righteous.

They're all as holy and happy as Jesus. What will that be like? Is that enough to make you look forward to it? There will not be anything of sin and the curse.

The creation itself will be set free from the curse. What will glorified bodies look like? What will it be like to live in one? To feel perfect health?

And if this creation glorifies God now, what will the new creation do? What will a flower garden look like in the new earth?

I'm looking forward to this new creation. The home of righteousness. And what will our Savior look like?

And what will it be like to see him who bore the cruel crown of thorns for us? Took the curse, the thorns, the curse for us on Calvary.

What will it be like to be with him for eternal? What will worship be like in the new heavens and the new earth? What will singing be like? We are looking forward to a new heavens and a new earth.

And so all of that is what Jesus has won for us by his perfect life and death. You see how the second coming of Christ then is a cause of great happiness in the saints.

Great happiness as we look forward to with glad anticipation of being with Christ and to all that he will do in that coming day. So we can't afford to forget about our Lord's return.

And we can't afford to live forgetful of this coming reality. We're to stir up our minds to remember it. Because when we're not looking forward to it, we're easily caught up with a spirit of worldliness that's all around us.

And when we're not looking forward to it, we easily start toying with temptation and sin. And start living for the same things that the worldlings live for. Things that won't survive the fire.

We're not doing it as unto the Lord. It's not done for his glory and therefore it loses any eternal aspect. So it's important that we keep this return of Christ before our eyes and before our heart.

The second coming of Jesus is to be like a tea bag that flavors the whole cup of your life. Not a drop in the cup, but that is flavored by the reality that Jesus is coming again.

As we fix our eyes on Jesus, it's not just a Jesus who died. Not just a Jesus that rose again and now sits enthroned at God's right hand. It's a Jesus.

We fix our eyes on him who is coming again for us. And that's to affect how we wait and what we do. Suppose somebody followed you around with a smartphone or one of those devices we've been studying and tweeted every single thing about you all day, every day for 30 days.

Would those who followed you on the Twitter conclude, now there's a man, there's a woman, a boy or a girl who's looking forward to Christ's coming and is making every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him at his coming.

Well, the last application. Holiness, happiness. Thirdly, remember that the Lord's patience means salvation. Bear in mind, the Lord's patience means salvation, verse 15 concludes.

The fact that he hasn't returned is proof that he's not done saving sinners. Do you see that? We need to grasp that. The fact that he hasn't come means that there is more saving to be done and that's good news for any sinner here this morning.

Jesus is not done saving sinners. Whoever you are, whatever you've done, he's still inviting you to be saved, to repent of your sins and to come to him. His patience means salvation.

Oh, but don't abuse his patience. He who is coming will come and there will be no second chance. Today, if you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

Turn from going your own way. Come to Jesus. Receive eternal life freely as a gift, won by his life and death. And find that day to be your best day instead of your worst day.

In Christ, the best day you've ever had will be the day Jesus comes. Outside of Christ, the worst day. The worst eternal day.

So come to Christ. And then believers, don't forget the reason the Lord Jesus hasn't come back yet. Don't forget this. There are still more of his elect sinners to be saved.

And he is being patient so that they will be saved. That's his grand purpose for this present age. That's why he tarries. There's more to save.

His patience means their salvation. And you're to bear that in mind as you wait for his second coming. Do you see the confidence that gives us to invite sinners to come to Christ?

Every day he does not return is another day of salvation. It's another day to evangelize. It's another day of grace when Jesus is saving sinners.

What an encouragement to witness. To say to any boy or girl, man or woman, if you'll come to Christ, you trust in him. You turn from going your way. He'll take you.

He'll take you right as you are. Just come to him. Throw yourself into his arms. He will save you. We can say to every sinner, there is still mercy with the Lord because Jesus has not come back yet.

So come to Jesus today. So may the Lord's second coming spur us on to evangelism and to a life of holiness and happiness that make the gospel of Jesus Christ attractive.

You think it's been a long time? Now is our salvation nearer than when we first believed.

How long have you been a Christian? You're that much closer. Let's rejoice in the certainty of Jesus coming. Lord Jesus, we thank you that you left heaven's glories the first time to come and to die and to live again and to ascend.

And all for us that we might look forward to your second coming. That you've come the first time not to judge but to save. And you have brought most of us here this morning.

And oh, we pray for those that still have not been gathered into Christ. That before you come again, they might be gathered in. Even this day, have you remained in heaven that someone here might repent and come to know Jesus Christ and eternal life in him.

We pray you would do it and cause us then to look forward to your coming and to live holy and happy lives that commend this Savior to a lost and dying world around us.

Do it for your own namesake. Do it for the good of hundreds and thousands of other sinners. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen.