I'm always struck and impressed by these Psalms, how they are teaching us the quality of sincerity. I'm more and more persuaded that in our modern day, a modern day of advertising and of propaganda and of politics and hurry, hurry, hurry, one of the things that can so easily happen in our hearts is we can become cynical. cynical about people, cynical about purpose, cynical about hope. Hope is one of the things that gets eroded in the Russian crash of contemporary life. And the Psalms are a beautiful and wondrous antidote to that. Well, if you would take your Bibles, and I've added one verse that I wanted to begin with today. So let me get it here. So turn with me to Hebrews 9. Hebrews 9. So 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews. Chapter 9, just a single verse here. And the sermon title really, draws, comes out of this verse. I didn't say this in our passage today, but I knew there was a place that talked about us eagerly waiting for Christ. And so Hebrews 9, 28, this is a key verse. Verse 28, Hebrews 9, 28. So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. Eagerly waiting for him. And then let's turn in our Bibles to Acts chapter three. This is one other passage, I think we've read this once, but this is, in my mind, a very significant statement of faith about the second coming of Christ that was present in the very first Christian sermon. The significance of this passage is that after the Holy Spirit has been poured out, after these followers of Jesus have been empowered by the Spirit, Peter immediately begins to preach. And this is, I'm sorry, this is the second sermon Peter preaches in the temple. So Acts 2 is the first one and then Acts 3 is his second sermon. And so I'd like to read Acts chapter 3 verses 17 through 21. Acts 3 beginning at verse 17. So Peter's speaking here. He's speaking in the temple. He says and now brothers I know that you acted in ignorance as Did also your rulers? But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets that his Christ would suffer he thus fulfilled repent therefore and turn back and that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring, notice that word, for restoring all the things about which God spoke. by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. There's a lot we haven't read, but I would remind you Isaiah chapters 65 and 66 are one example of prophecies that are connected with the second coming of Christ. All right, and then let's turn to our main passage today where we'll be focusing in 2 Peter. So Hebrews, James, first and second Peter. And for the sake of time, we won't read this whole passage, but the entire chapter is related to the coming of the Lord. We'll be referring to some of that along the way, but we'll just limit our reading to 2 Peter 3 verses 10 through 15. 2 Peter 3, beginning at verse 10. Now before I read here, I want you to know that The book of 2 Peter took some time to be recognized universally as part of the canon. This, along with the book of Jude, are two books and Revelation, books that we have records of the early church talking about and wrestling with a little bit. And I spent some significant time this week investigating that question of why did 2 Peter struggle to be universally accepted as part of the canon. And I'm persuaded that part of the reason was because this passage, this book was written during the Neronian persecution, and that this was written at the very end of Peter's life. And so, unlike Paul, who was constantly traveling around and having people take copies of his letters and take them around to all the different churches, that this was a book that was written probably in Rome just before Peter is executed. Tradition says, either 64 or 68, that Peter was crucified upside down. The Bible doesn't tell us that. But not unlike the Apostle Paul, these are the last words that we have from Peter. And so I want you to notice the fervency with which Peter is writing, so that people would walk with the Lord contentedly even as they wait expectantly for the coming of Christ. All right, 2 Peter 3, beginning at verse 10. Peter writes, but the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved. and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn, But according to His promise, we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by Him without spot or blemish and at peace. And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him. This is the word of God. When was the last time you were eager about something? If you're younger, you're probably eager for things often. If you're on the older end of our congregation, it may be a struggle to be eager for things. But I want to challenge us today that not only ought we wait, but that we ought to wait or anticipate eagerly, with certainty, and confidence, not because we know what all this means, but because the God who promises is faithful. The Apostle Peter knows a thing or two about the new heavens and new earth. He knows that they're coming. We studied the words of Isaiah, and I've included those two references in the notes today. Peter uses terms, we didn't read all of these, but I'm going to be referring to them, like fire. He uses this phrase, a very rich phrase in understanding the comings of Christ, the day of the Lord. This indicates that he's well-trained in Old Testament prophecies about the culmination of history, ushering in the eternal state. Mention one thing here, that we, along with Jews, and by the way, along with Muslims, anticipate the coming of God into the world. Now, the details are different, and we're looking at, Muslims particularly are looking at completely different texts. But even those texts are informed by the teachings of the Bible. The issue for many of these people is, is it the first coming or the second coming? We who know Christ know that Christ has come down from heaven into the world, as Hebrews said, to deal with sin once for all. And then he's coming a second time. I remember sitting with my Jewish friend and realizing that we were together on the fact of the coming of God into the world. But he said it humorously, he said, but Brad, the question that I'm going to ask him, first question is going to be, so is this the first time you came or the second? And either I'll be right, he's Jewish, or you'll be right, because I'm a Christian. Everyone knows that this world cannot continue into infinity. The very nature of the world, the very nature of our sun cries out. There is a change coming. And thus, we are called to wait eagerly. Peter interprets well. But I want you to note that the burden of our text today, particularly verses 11 through 14, is that an understanding of the coming judgment would make us more dedicated, engaged, and grateful as disciples of Jesus. So my question is the same question that I asked you last week. Is the doctrine of heaven functioning in your daily life as the North Star did for Southern slaves seeking freedom? It was the very misery of the conditions of race-based slavery in the South that led to the earnest desire to be free. And thus they would run away, and there were many things they didn't know. But the one thing they knew was how to find the North Star. and to keep following the North Star. And if they followed the North Star far enough, then they would be free. Friends, I believe that there are many things, believe me, I've been reading my books, big, thick theology books. There are many things to learn about heaven. The Bible tells us an awful lot about heaven, about the new heavens and the new earth. But I want you to see that the thing that's driving Peter here, possibly as he has only days to live, as he's writing, and it's called in the midst of 2 Peter, my second letter to you. Peter had written one letter, apparently, to the whole church. Peter, probably because he wasn't a very good writer, didn't write much. But as he's coming to the end of his life here on earth, he knew, I need to communicate some things to Christians who have believed the gospel that I've preached. So let's look at this passage to get today together. So we're beginning at verse 10. It says, but the day of the Lord will come like a thief and the heavens will pass away with a roar. So the first point this morning is the coming of the day of the Lord. Now you need to know that the phrase the day of the Lord is used 22 different times in the Bible. Numerous times in the Old Testament, numerous times in the New Testament, the day of the Lord is a day when God comes near to His creation for the purpose of judgment. There's not just one day of the Lord, but for us, as we look to the future, we anticipate a climactic final day of the Lord. We need to see further that there are some things connected to this concept of the coming of the day of the Lord. First of all, if you look back in verse seven. 2 Peter 3 and verse 7, it says, but by the same word, the heavens that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. So the first bullet point there is the word fire. Now, you need to know that there is a unique emphasis in this passage that's not there. in all through scripture on the destruction, apparently, of the heavens. Now, why would Peter be writing in this way? Well, turn back to chapter 2 and verse 6. 2 Peter 2 and verse 6. We actually have, understand a reason why Peter is emphasizing the destructiveness of the day of the Lord. Look at what 2 Peter 2 verse 6 says. If by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes, he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly. That is, that Peter is looking back to Genesis chapter 19. And he's seeing Sodom and Gomorrah as a paradigm of final fiery judgment. Although this picture of a universal inferno at the last judgment is unique to Peter, the idea of divine judgment by fire is common in the Old Testament. God comes, remember, in fire. God brings fire upon people. If you want to do a little bit of archaeological work, my archaeology hero, current, Joel Kramer, in his YouTube videos, Expedition Bible, has done some remarkable work on a city that they now are pretty sure is the city of Sodom. And you know what they found? Down well underground at a site called Tell el-Habam, they found a very unique crystal called, they've analyzed it, called trinitite. The only other place that they know of where this crystal existed is at the Trinity Test Site out in Nevada, where the first nuclear explosion took place, testing during the Manhattan Project. They have found these same crystals down in the ground under many layers of, you know, compiled over the centuries, but may well be a site that was impacted by some kind of meteor from heaven. It's an amazing thing. And it may well be that this is what Peter is referencing as he talks about in very graphic terms about the judgment that God will bring at the day of the Lord. And I've included a number of other verses there that you can look up on your own time. Albert Walters says, redemption means restoration. That is the return to the goodness of an originally unscathed creation, not merely the addition of more creation. This restoration affects the whole of creational life and not merely some limited area within it. It will be as if an artist wiped away the old smudged paint that's stained and cracking, and started a new and better painting, but using the same images on the same canvas. I want you to think about, does the coming day of the Lord with fire involve the elimination of creation, Or does it involve the restoration of creation? That these are not merely fires of destruction, but they are fires of purification. Things are tested in the fire seven times. Gold is refined, silver is refined, it's made better, it's made perfect. Many cannot reconcile the idea of redemption through restoration with statements like 2 Peter 3.10. 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. John Piper says of this passage, quote, what Peter may well mean is that at the end of this age, there will be cataclysmic events that bring this world to an end as we know it, not putting it out of existence, but wiping out all that is evil and cleansing it by fire and fitting it for an age of glory and righteousness and peace that will never end. He goes on to describe how the flood, referenced in the first part of 2 Peter chapter 3 involved destruction. But it was not the elimination of all of planet earth or all of the heavens. It was by water a destruction of the wicked and a preservation of the righteous so that God's purpose might come to pass upon the earth. Think of fire not as the elimination of all of matter, but think of fire as the purifying fire that destroys the wicked, that glorifies the righteous, and that prepares the new earth for God's new purposes for it. That's fire. There's a lot more there. But let's turn then to verse 10, and notice what's spoken of here. Now we have the day of the Lord. This is another phrase that's used in relation to the second coming of Christ. This time of divine intervention and judgment is synonymous with the second coming of Christ. So, we've seen fire, Peter's anticipating fire in the future, the day of the Lord, We need to see that in biblical terminology, those things are synonymous. There's one final cataclysmic event. The Bible says very clearly it's gonna come like a thief in the night. People who aren't looking and watching will be completely surprised by the coming of Christ. Let me say one other thing here. I respect differences in eschatology. Our denomination, our local church, does not require certain beliefs about eschatology. So you may have different views of eschatology and that's fine, but I want you to know that I stand on the belief that even for the righteous, the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. The thief, the whole point of the thief is he's not announced. He doesn't come when you're expecting him. There's no signs that he's coming. He's just suddenly there. I remember one time our house was robbed when I was a little kid. And I remember thinking after we had been robbed of all our stuff, well, we should have just hidden that stuff. But we didn't know the thief was coming. And now it was too late. Our things were gone. That is a repeated teaching. We're going to look at that in just a moment. But I want you to think about the day of the Lord is a time when suddenly, in a way that I don't understand, God draws near to his creation, and he judges the wicked, and he purifies the righteous. So let's go on to the third bullet point there, like a thief. In verse 10, it says, the day of the Lord will come like a thief. Here we see echoes of Peter's teacher, the Lord Jesus himself. Jesus uses this metaphor in Luke 12, verse 39, in numerous parallel passages to discuss how the day of the Lord would come with unexpected suddenness. So again, I'm interested Certainly as a pastor, I'm interested. Sociologically, I'm interested when people begin to speculate. Well, maybe when Iran fires against Israel, maybe this is part of the end times. And I say, like a thief, like a thief, like a thief. And I just keep saying that. And I annoy some people, I know. But I want to remind us that according to Jesus himself, the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. There's not some grand entrance music There's not some, you know, and so I'm fairly certain that if everybody's saying, well, here it comes, here it comes, here it comes, then it's not a thief in the night coming suddenly and unexpectedly. That's my take on some of those issues. But this leads us to the second point this morning. And again, we're thinking about the event about the coming of the day of the Lord. But now we want to think about the character of those awaiting the day of the Lord. As we move on here, I want you to see that verse 11, I mean, he basically gives one verse of eschatology, but now he's oppressing us. Again, here's Peter, probably an elderly man, maybe knowing that he's only in this world for a few short days or weeks. He says, 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, again, thinking of the judgment upon the wicked, and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn. Do you see in verse 11 the focus on the character of those awaiting the day of the Lord? What sort of people should we be? Three points here. Number one, a holy and godly people. holiness and godliness ought to characterize our lives here upon the earth. We should not love the world. We should not be worldly. We should not adopt the practices of the world or have that cynical, unbelieving mindset of the world. We should not have the world as our master, listening to its demands upon us. We must stand distinct and separate from the world. If anyone loves the world, John says, the love of the Father is not in him. Jesus says, no one can serve two masters. You cannot serve God and the things of this world. You have to hate the one and love the other. You have to be devoted to the one and despise the other. Friends, do you in holiness and godliness despise the lies and deceit of the world, because they are all around us. Secondly, in verse 12, we see a second characteristic of those awaiting the day of the Lord. Bullet point number two, a patient people. I wanted you to see in verse 12, he says, waiting for the coming of the day of God. Verse 13, we are waiting for new heavens and new earth. And then in verse 15, he says, oh, well, I'm gonna wait on that one. But he talks there about the patience of our Lord. And so all along the way, we see this character quality that should characterize godly Christians of patience. Holiness goes along with patience. Patience says, I don't know when, but I know that God will fulfill his promises. I don't know how, but I am confident that the how will come, and then I'll know. When we think about the creator, And the Creator who made not the sky and not space, but the secret place of God somewhere that is outside of, so far as I know, this physical universe. How He comes from outside the universe into His universe. I don't know how He does that. I know He's done it before. He even became a human being in the process. But God is coming. And we're waiting for him. And then in verse 15, a third quality here is a grateful people. I want you to notice, so we're in a time where, first of all, there's much preoccupation. Any time that involves Israel and Russia and Iran, there's lots of speculation about maybe this is the end. We'll know when we see it. It'll all pan out in the end. I'm a pan-millennialist. Anyway, but I would just want us to consider the fact that we want the day of the Lord to happen, right? Maranatha, come quickly, Lord Jesus. But I want you to look at verse 15 and count the patience of our Lord as salvation. Because Jesus is waiting, there's more than 120 Christians on planet Earth. Because Jesus has waited for almost 2,000 years at this point. Christianity has kind of gone haywire. We've gotten off the path in some ways, haywire that way, but also Christianity has been extremely fruitful among all the nations of the earth. And how many people will be before the throne of God? Because he didn't come like that. And do you count the patience of our Lord waiting the so-called delay of the second coming of Christ as salvation? Because if He hadn't waited, you wouldn't be one of His people. And people that are yet to be wouldn't be one of His people. The waiting of God is increasing the population of heaven. Praise His holy name. I want you to go back and look at verse 9. Also note this there on bullet point 3. Start at verse 8. Do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. In other words, God does not dwell in time the way we do. He is an eternal being. His purposes are eternal. The decrees of God are His eternal purpose, according to the counsel of His will. We quoted this this morning, whereby for His own glory He has foreordained whatsoever comes to pass. So verse 9, the Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. God is not slow, friends, but he is patient. And that should make us grateful. All right, this then brings us to the third point this morning. The confidence of those hastening the day of the Lord. The confidence of those hastening the day of the Lord. Again, go back to verse 11. 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? In verse 12, Peter takes me to a place that I did not expect. When I read this passage, I'm not expecting the hastening, the waiting I get. We do a lot of waiting. We wait for something that we can't see. In fact, earlier in this passage, he talks about the scoffers who will say, we've been waiting for how long? You Christians keep saying Jesus is coming back. 2,000 years later, your ideas are old fashioned. Well, he prophesied you'd say that too in 2 Peter 3. Everything will continue as it always has. No, it won't. Because it was created in the beginning, and it will be consummated at the coming of Christ. There is a confidence that we can have, even as, now verse 12, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God. Friends, I want to ask you, how do you hasten the coming of the day of God. Have you thought about that? Now, no one knows. If someone tells you they know when Jesus is coming back, do not believe them. That is one of the biggest tripwires for Christians. We know that He's coming, but we do not know. No one knows when He's coming. Don't be distracted by people. Well, we don't know exactly, but he's going to come really soon because there's this and this and this and this and this. And then all those thises become that's. And then people stop talking about it. Until the next. This and this and this and this. And now we have, if you've been following the news the last few days, well, here's Iran and Russia's going to get involved. And, you know, don't go down that road. That's not, that's not what the day of the Lord is going to be like. How do you hasten? Well, I want to suggest to you that we connect this idea of hastening the coming of the Lord to the single post-resurrection command that Jesus impressed upon his disciples. Matthew 28 preserves for us the centrality of the Great Commission. This week I spent some blessed time on a website by the name of Wycliffe.org. If you're not familiar with it, it's a wonderful website. And while I was there, I found, I studied their Vision 2025. And I also got involved and actually am receiving now on my phone texts based on their Project 7.9. This is based on Revelation 7.9, and it's Wycliffe Bible translators anticipating that when the Bible has gone forth to all the nations of the earth, is in the language of all the peoples, all the ethnos of the world, And when that word has been used to draw in all the elect people, then the end will come. Revelation 7, 9 says this, after this I looked and behold a great multitude that no one could number from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages. The peoples, this is the ethnos. the ethnic groups, and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb. Let me say this another way. Have you struggled with the delay of Christ's second coming? I've met people that this has been a part of their own crisis of faith. There's a seeming delay. Why has it been almost exactly 2,000 years since Christ rose from the dead? By the way, here we are in 2024. 2033, if I have my chronology right, is a pretty big deal. the 2,000th anniversary of the resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. I hope the world is gonna be ready and that we're gonna celebrate the anniversary, 2,000 years of Christ's ministry through his people in the world. But why the delay? It seems that the early church was anticipating that Jesus would come quickly Although I still believe he's going to come quickly, he's just not going to come immediately. And think about what this, quote, delay has meant in terms of the gospel going forth among the nations and reaping and bringing in a great harvest of righteousness for God. I would challenge you, if this is an issue that you've studied, that you've wrestled with, to study the parable of the ten virgins, where the bridegroom is, quote, delayed from the time. Half of the bridesmaids in that story miss the arrival of the bridegroom. I wonder what it's like to miss the second coming of Christ. Will that be you? Will that be us? Will that be the world in which we live? When people are saying peace and safety, by the way, the Department of Homeland Security, those are their two most often used words, peace and safety, security, everyone is safe. We don't know who's coming around into our country, but everybody's safe. And while they're saying peace and safety, then the end will come suddenly upon them. Don't be fooled. The only way to have ultimate peace and safety is to be united to Christ by faith. So in conclusion today, I ask you these three questions. Number one, do you understand the doctrine of heaven? I've tried to lay out over the last six sermons, we got one sermon to go, but basically we need to distinguish between the sky and space and the secret place of God. This is what Paul calls the third heaven. This heaven is not eternal. This heaven was created by God in the beginning. And thus, there's no problem with saying that when Christ comes to earth, heaven comes to earth. And the new heavens and new earth are not in completely separate spheres as they are now, but they become one. So first, distinguishing there from creation, and then secondly, distinguishing between the present heaven, which is secret, the place where God dwells, and the future heaven, or also known as the eternal state, where we will live with Christ. He will dwell in our midst, and we will reign with him forever and ever. I'm persuaded that this eternal heaven is physical. That God's purpose in creating the heavens and the earth will come to fulfillment. In spite of human rebellion and wickedness and oppression of the poor. Despite all of these things, God is bringing His purpose to pass. There is no plan B. We don't wind up out in the clouds somewhere. We're made for this world. Jesus himself is a human being, and he will dwell with us in the new heavens and new earth. Do you understand the doctrine of heaven? There's more that I haven't had time to go into, but those are some of the highlights. Secondly, what is happening during Jesus' seeming delay? I've already talked about this, but I want to encourage you To become more aware, did you know that in the last 30 years there has been more work done using computers, using indigenous workers, and now using AI? to translate the Bible into the languages of all the people groups of the earth. Wycliffe Bible Translators is one of about a dozen organizations that are working together toward that task. Their vision 2025, just one year away, they lay out some pretty beautiful reports about how they've been able to partner with Mission Works and particularly with local churches in nations around the world, and the gospel is coming into languages it's literally never been in before. Some of the early work they had to do, they actually had to invent a written language for people who didn't have a written language. They had an oral language, but it had never been reduced to an alphabet on paper. And so part of bringing the gospel was bringing that language onto paper. It's an amazing story, and I encourage you to explore that. But finally, the practical application today is how do you wait for heaven? Do you wait for heaven, oh yeah, someday, somewhere, sometime, theoretically, or do you wait the way those slaves waited, looking for the star to rise above the horizon so they could follow it all night and not get lost, not get off the path, Do you see heaven in all of its glory in your mind? Are you pressing on toward the goal, the prize of the upward call of God? Think about the people who have been in these pews in the last 25 or 30 years, who aren't here anymore, who ran the race, who said no to the world, who followed Christ no matter what, and today are seated in glory. Friends, they've been promoted. Some of us know people who are drawing nearer to the finish line. Press on. Press on. Have that tape At the end of the race, fixed in your mind, think of these Olympians who are sprinting down the track at unbelievable speeds. They spend days, hours before the race, fixing their mind on that last few steps to get a last few tenths of a second. Do you buffet your body? and make it a slave in order that you would not be disqualified from running the race that's set before you, fixing your eyes on Jesus, the author and the perfecter of your faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Friends, do you believe that the journey through this life culminates elsewhere. If you don't believe in the human soul, then your destiny is to be eaten by worms. If you don't believe that you're made in the image of God with a human soul of inherent dignity, value, and worth, then number one, what's all this about human rights? But number two, You will not. You refuse to think about the future. Just live for the moment. Just live for the moment. Whoever dies with the most toys wins. What a sad worldview. Think about running the race that is set before you with your eyes fixed on the star. Running, running until you're free. Let's pray. O Lord our God, how we thank you that you are coming back. Lord, even as that passage that we read there in Hebrews 13, or in Hebrews 9, Lord, where you say that Christ will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. Lord, help us to be those who wait eagerly. Help us to be those who feed on your word. Lord, who believe the promises, who tremble at the threatenings, who say, Lord, hasten me to walk in your ways. We pray that, Lord, by the diligence of our lives that we might somehow, in a way I don't fully understand, hasten the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, your promises are sure, your eternal purposes are fixed, and Lord, you are working all things together for the good of those who are called according to your purpose. Those whom he foreknew, he also predestined. Those whom he predestined, he also called Those whom He called, He also justified. And those whom He justified, He also glorified. Lord, how we long to be glorified, to be made like You, to be holy. Lord, in the meantime, help us to run the race that You've set before us. Lord, as we're coming out of a summer and back into the rigors and disciplines of the fall, I pray that, Lord, the rest of this year, 2024, would be a year of productive learning, of growth. That, Lord, rather than being focused on the flesh, that we would be focused in your spirit. Lord, that we would live lives of discipline, and that we would see the fruits that come from disciplined living. Lord, help us to run Help us to wait. Help us to hasten the day with our eyes fixed on the prize. Truly, Jesus is the person and heaven is the place of our blessing. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Well, if you would, in closing, turn with me to Psalm 65, Selection A. Psalm 65, Selection A. What I'd like to do, if we can, is go on over into stanza three. Here we're going to sing of God of our salvation, you in your righteousness. One of the ways that righteousness dwells in the new heavens and new earth is as God gives his righteousness to his people. So we'll conclude singing Psalm 65a, stanzas one and two, and then just hop over to the next page and sing stanza three. Hope that's not too complicated. Let's stand to sing.