Living for Eternity

Introduction:

The Great Pyramids of Egypt, Stonehenge, Statues on Easter Island, ancient temples in China, St. Peter’s Cathedral, and many more landmarks could be named that have stood the test of time over centuries and even millennia.  But a day is coming when all of these will be completely destroyed, dissolved, no longer in existence.  Not a trace of them will remain.

Text:  II Peter 3:10-13

Body:

I. It Will Come Suddenly (Verse 10a)  “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night,”  NKJV

· When Christ returns, it will be sudden, without warning, like a thief in the night.  (Matthew 24:42-44)

· We must stay awake and be sober.  (I Thessalonians 5:1-6)

· We do not know the day or the hour.  (Matthew 25:1-13)

 

II. Everything Will Be Destroyed (Verse 10b) “in which the heaves will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.”  NKJV

· Everything we see will pass away.  This is from a Greek word that pictures something temporary which will pass away. (Hebrews 1:10-12)

· A roar will accompany this passing away, a sound so loud that it is nearly deafening, so great that no one can escape it.  There will be no rapture!

· The elements will be burned up, everything that exists from the stars in the heavens to the smallest particles in the atom.  The elements will degrade back into nothingness.  Nothing will survive!  See II Peter 3:7.

· This burning will be an “intense heat.”  The fire will be so intense that nothing will escape its blaze.  All will be dissolved; absolutely nothing will be left.

· Jesus, Himself, taught that the earth and heavens would someday pass away and be no more.  (Matthew 5:18)

· Note:  Some erroneously teach that this earth will be merely refurbished or renewed so that man can live on it forever. There is absolutely no evidence for this in the Bible at all!  Rather God’s Word proclaims that heaven [God’s home] will be our home, not this earth.

o Jesus went to prepare a place for us in heaven, not on earth.  (John 14:2)

o We are told by Christ to lay up treasures in heaven, not on earth.  (Matthew 6:19-21)

o Our citizenship is in heaven.  (Philippians 3:20)

o Our eternal inheritance is in heaven.  (I Peter 1:3-4) 

III. It Should Motivate Us to A Holy Life  (Verse 11)  “Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,”  NKJV

· The Second Coming should be a great motivation to live a holy and godly life.  (Revelation 21:27)  Since the earth and heavens will be dissolved one day, what should have our greatest attention and devotion?

· Most people live for the present and for the temporary, not for the future and the eternal.  (II Corinthians 4:18)  Those who live only for the present will be the greatest losers.  Everything they have lived for will be burned up.  [Marshall Keeble once told of flying with a Texas rancher over his land to see the cattle, buildings, and property.  When asked, “What do you think of this?”  He replied, “It will all be burned up.”]

Conclusion:

What are we spending most of our time and energy on – the temporary or the eternal? 

Bobby Stafford

December 7, 2014