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The End Of The World

1. the REALITY of the Day:
1. Acts 17:30-31 -- Jesus' resurrection is the assurance of the Judgment / End of the World.
2. 2 Peter 3:1-12 -- Eight affirmations of certainty concerning the Day
1. Before that Day there shall come scoffers - 3:3-4
2. The Day of the Lord shall come - 3:10a
3. The heavens shall pass - 3:10b
4. The elements shall melt - 3:10c
5. The earth and its works shall be burned up - 3:10d
6. All these things shall be dissolved - 3:11
7. The heavens shall be dissolved - 3:12b
8. The the elements shall melt - 3:12c
9. The dispensationalist's view of a figurative cleansing by fire as opposed to a literal destruction is refuted by the literal nature of the water of verses 5 and 6.
3. 2 Peter 3:13-14 Because of our faith in these certainties:
1. we look for a new heaven and earth wherein dwell righteousness;
2. we are diligent to be found of Him in peace, without spot, and blameless.


2. the REVEALING of Jesus:
1. The Lord shall descend from heaven
1. 1 Thessalonians 4:16 - with a shout, the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God
2. 2 Thessalonians 1:7 - with His mighty angels
3. Acts 1:11 - He shall return as He departed (in the clouds)
4. Revelation 1:7 - every eye shall see Him


3. the RELATIONSHIP between Jesus' Return and the End of the World
1. 2 Peter 3
1. "the promise of His coming" - v 4
2. the heavens and earth . . . are reserved unto fire against the day of judgement - v 7
3. "the day of the Lord shall come as a thief in the night" - v 10
4. "looking for . . . the day of God" - v 12
5. All of these terms are used interchangeably to describe the end of the world and the utter destruction of the universe.
6. What is notably absent with reference to Jesus' return and the end of the world?
1. a "rapture"
2. a "tribulation"
3. a revealing of "the Anti-Christ"
4. Armageddon
5. a thousand year reign of Christ on the earth.
7. 1 Corinthians 15:21-24


4. the RELOCATION of every man's soul after the Judgement
1. All the souls of dead have been awaiting the end of the world in Hades:
1. Luke 16:19-31 -- the rich man and Lazarus are there as is Abraham.
2. Acts 2:29-35 -- David is there
3. Revelation 20:12-13 -- Hades will give up the dead in it at the end of the world
2. the Wicked shall be sent away into eternal punishment
1. Matthew 25:46 depart into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels
2. Revelation 20:14-15 the unrighteous shall be cast into the lake of fire, which is the second death (cf Rev 2:11)
3. Eternally separated from God's presence and glory - 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9
3. the Righteous shall enter into eternal reward -- Matthew 25:34


5. The New Heaven and New Earth -- 2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1
1. Cannot be a new physical heaven and earth as claimed by the Jehovah's Witnesses:
1. Their's is a separate abode from Heaven, the dwelling place of God, but those in the new heaven and earth shall enjoy the presence of God. Note verse 3:
1. "the tabernacle (temple - Rev 7:15) of God is with men" (cf 21:22)
2. "He will dwell with them"
3. "God Himself will be with them"
2. It is inhabited by "the Lord God Almighty," "the Lamb," and "the nations of those who are saved" - Rev 21:22-27.
2. "new" from the Greek kainos, meaning, "unused, not new in time, recent, but new as to form or quality, of different nature from what is contrasted as old." (Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, pp 430-431, emp mine - JTC)
3. Of this new heaven and new earth, it is said "the former shall not be remembered or come to mind" (Isaiah 65:17).
4. This corresponds with Revelation 21:4, "the former things have passed away" (cf "passed away" - 2 Cor 5:17)
5. The only logical (and biblical) identity of this new heaven and new earth is Heaven, the dwelling place of God.