Coming, a World Without Sin

Brethren, how would you like to live in a world without sin? And how would you like to live without sin in your life? No wrong attitudes, no wrong thoughts, no evil deeds or words that you later regret.

In other words, how would you like to be perfect and to live in a perfect world? Brethren, that's exactly what God has in mind for us in the future. To be perfect and to live in a perfect world, to live in a world without sin, and ourselves to live without sin. That's wonderful to think about. Because I know that you, like myself, struggle with sin today. As Paul, or the writer of Hebrews, says in chapter 12, the sin that so easily besets us is so easy to let something slip out of your mouth that you regret.

Do something you wish you had not done. Have a thought, an attitude that you really don't want to have. It's wonderful to think about that God has in mind one day that we live in a world that has no sin. That's the title of the sermon today, Coming, A World Without Sin. We know very well that that world is not here today. We see the Ten Commandments of God, which is a sin. Violation of God's law is sin. And we see the Ten Commandments being broken all around us, all around the world.

We see hatred, war, bloodshed, immorality, terrorism. There's a lot of sin. There's a lot of leaven in the world. And God's plan is to de-leaven the world. And the process has already started. Let's go back to the origin of sin, the origin of leaven on the earth. In the very beginning, God created a beautiful creation, and the angels were there to rejoice about it. Let's turn to Job 38. Job 38. Read a few verses. Beginning in verse 4.

Now this time, when God created the universe, there was no leaven. There was no sin around. In Job 38, verse 4, God is bringing Job down, humbling Job. And he says to Job, Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements? Surely you know, since you know everything. I'll put the implication there. And who stretched the line upon it?

To what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone when the morning stars sang together? And all the sons of God shouted for joy. We then have understood that to be the angels rejoiced when they saw the beautiful creation of God. And at that time, there was no leaven. The universe had no sin.

But then there came a time that leaven first appeared on the earth. We read about this. Let's turn to Isaiah 14. There came a time when sin appeared. And it began with the angelic realm. It would later be passed on to the human realm. In Isaiah 14, verse 12, it's talking about Lucifer, one of those angels that rejoiced at God's creation. Let sin develop in his heart. How did that happen? He was not programmed to go that way. He was programmed to, if anything, go the right way. A deliberate choice had to be made to go opposite God's way.

Isaiah 14, verse 12, how are you fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning? How are you cut down to the ground? You who weakened the nations. For you have said in your heart, sinned again to mount in this angel's heart. I will ascend into heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. Look at all these eyes here. I will ascend. I will exalt.

I, just full of self, I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will be like the Most High. He's going to push God off of his throne. Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol to the lowest depths of the pit. This angel grossly underestimated God. He thought he could just go up and push God off his throne, and he would be God.

What happened? He began to have pride in his heart. We have a bit more description of that in Ezekiel 28. Ezekiel 28. Here's the appearance of sin in the universe with the angels that sinned. Ezekiel 28. And beginning in verse 12, You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the Garden of God. Every precious stone was your covering. The Sardis, Topaz, Diamond, Burl, Onyx, and Jasper, Sapphire, Turquoise, and Emerald with gold.

The workmanship of your Tembrals and Pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created. This was a created being. He had not always existed. He was a created angel of God.

You were the anointed carob who covers. I established you. You were on the holy mountain of God. You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you. So we have the appearance of sin in the universe, in this angel and others who rebelled with him. By the abundance of your trading, you became filled with violence within, and you sinned.

Therefore I cast you as a profane thing out of the mountain of God. And I destroyed you, or that word means removed or destroyed from his position, O covering carob from the midst of the fiery stones. Verse 17 zeros in on the problem. Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty. You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. This angel began to get the big head and to have pride to mount up, and it led to rebellion against God and to sin.

You know, the New Testament reveals that pride was the problem. Let's turn to a verse we read during the ordination reading of the verses for the ordination. First Timothy chapter 3 and verse 6. First Timothy chapter 3 and verse 6.

And we read, or read here, that as far as one that is to serve as an elder in the church of God, that... and of course this would apply as well to a deacon and to any position of responsibility in the church. We do not want to tap on the shoulder a novice. Verse 6, not a novice, a newcomer, lest being puffed up with pride, he fall into the same condemnation as the devil. So you know, that's one thing that does not go along with ordination, pride. Humility does. Lowliness of mind goes along with an ordination, but not pride.

People begin to then have the big head about himself. And he thought he would do a better job, no doubt. You know, that's not uncommon, and even today many people feel they could do a better job than the boss. In some cases at the human level that may be true, but in many cases also at the human level it is not true when one has to shoulder the heavy burdens and responsibilities that go with leadership. But certainly we did not want anyone to ever fall into pride, the same condemnation as the devil.

So we have the first leaven, or sin, in the universe with the sin of the angels. Turn to 2 Peter, chapter 2. And Lucifer was not the only one, but there were other spirit beings. In fact, Revelation 12 indicates that a third of the angels were drawn down with this rebellion, or drawn into this rebellion against God.

We don't have a lot of details on this rebellion and how it developed. But we do know that pride and vanity played a major role in the thinking of these angels. And Lucifer probably promised those who went along with them that they'd have top positions and they'd take the universe and maybe handle things much better than God was going to do with it. Second Peter, chapter 2, verse 4, if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell. The word there is Tartarou, or Tartaros, and it means a place of restraint. And deliver them into chains of darkness to be reserved for judgment. These angels are still reserved for a judgment to come up in the future.

But God saw these angels. You know, for the first time in the universe, there was rebellion, there was sin. God looked and there was the face of Lucifer and the face of these angels. It was a defiant look. There was hatred. There was rebellion. And God saw the faces of these angels ascending up toward His throne to take over. But it says here, they grossly underestimated their Creator. And it says God did not spare them, but He cast them down. Let's turn also to Luke, chapter 10.

Jesus referred to this moment in time when the angels rose up to take over God's throne. And God had no problem at all casting them down. Note, the Creator of something is always more powerful than what is created. The angels failed to realize this. Luke, chapter 10, verse 17. The seventy returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are subject to You in Your name. Or subject to us, rather, in Your name. And He said to them, you know, it's interesting, isn't it, that the way Jesus...

I kind of would take off from a statement made and enlarge upon it, going to maybe a larger or even a different direction. He said to them, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. And what He's saying is, there was no problem casting down these rebellious angels. They were cast down easily. Like lightning. Lightning goes pretty fast, doesn't it? You know, here's Lucifer. Just picture this. You talk about Star Wars. Folks like Star Wars. I was never that much into it.

But anyway, this was Star Wars of a magnitude that could never be portrayed on a movie screen. Angels rising up to heaven to take over God's throne and God. And maybe His angels also that were loyal to Him fighting and casting these angels down like lightning.

I tell you, lightning goes pretty fast, doesn't it? It just goes streaking so fast you can barely see it. That's how fast the demons were cast down. Like lightning. They, again, grossly underestimated their Creator. So, sin, though, had appeared in the universe. Eleven came into existence. But you know, God did confine it to the earth. He cast the Lucifer and the demons down to the earth.

Confined it to the earth. That's basically where the demons and Satan have been confined since they rebelled. But then there's been eleven on the earth, then. Among the angels and then, of course, in Genesis 1 and 2 we find that humans were created. We know that God allowed these humans to be exposed to Satan.

And Satan succeeded in getting through to them. And so Adam and Eve, and by extension, God thrust them out of the garden. All the human race, then, became leavened. The whole world with sin in it. We know that before the Flood, things leavened, puffed up so high that God let the whole world be destroyed by the great Flood. But then again, after the Flood, before too long, leaven, once again, began to rise. And it was going to rise faster than... You know, God has a plan and purpose to work all this out and bring about a world without sin. A universe without sin, in fact.

God has a purpose and a plan that He is working out. So after the Flood, when it was rising faster than God wanted it to, He confused their languages. He gave them different languages so that we're not able to understand each other. And He slowed down the process by which leaven would spread. But down through history, we have a story of how sin has swayed man's actions. All the way to this day, almost 6,000 years after the creation of humans.

And today, leaven is overflowing. There are verses in the Bible that indicate that it would be that way, that sin would come to its full. Sin isn't it? Such terrorism, such evil, such bloodshed, such potential for bloodshed, even to destroy the human race. Of course, we see violence. We see all kinds of immorality. Sin is just all around us. Just ahead of us, we know that Jesus Christ is going to intervene. He's going to step in. And by the time He steps in, leaven will have risen to its highest point.

And yes, man would be ready to destroy himself from this earth. But when Jesus Christ returns, He will set His hand to de-leaven the earth. Let's just notice how this evil age, though, is progressing. We see it all about us in 2 Timothy 3. And verse 1, we see this prophecy being fulfilled all around us. Paul here wrote, I know this, that in the last days perilous times will come. Men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, head strong, haughty, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God.

And so we see all of this. It's a description of conditions at the end of this age. And it's leading toward the time that sin will come to its full and man will be ready to destroy himself. And then Jesus Christ will step in. You know, that's when the process of de-leavening the earth really steps into a higher gear.

Jesus Christ will begin to teach God's laws in God's ways. We know that Satan will be bound, no longer able to deceive the nations as he does today. We know that God's laws will be taught and they will be enforced. And it's going to be a wonderful time. In Isaiah 2, we find that God's laws then are going to be taught to all nations and they are going to disarm. You know, God will no longer allow rampant sin like he does today.

Today God's allowing bloodshed, warfare. He's allowing immorality. He allows sin to run rampant today. Now in the millennium, I'm jumping a little bit ahead, humans will be human. And the millennium is not the world that has no sin. Humans will be human and they will sin. They will have to work with their own attitude, for example, their own thoughts. They won't be born with God's nature and character, but they will need to develop it in a process of conversion as we go through. They won't have an evil spirit being like Satan around, but they will still be human.

They'll still need the Passover. So there will be sin and leaven around, but it will not run rampant. God will not allow that. That's what Isaiah chapter 2 here is showing. Verse 2, It shall come to pass in the latter days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow to it.

Many people shall come and say, Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us His ways, and we will walk in His paths. For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. But will everybody just willingly go along? Or will there have to be some nudging? When they go to the left or to the right, will they have to be shown? This is the way. Walk you in it.

Isaiah 30 says that, yes, humans will be human. They'll have human nature, and they'll have to be shown God's way. And when they tend to get off track, then they'll have to be shown that this is the way. So in verse 4, we see some nudging going on.

As far as warfare and violence, He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people. There won't have to be correction when nations do not go the right way. They shall beat their swords and the plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nations shall not lift up sword against nation. Neither shall they learn war anymore. So God is not going to let rampant warfare, well, any warfare go on.

All during the millennium, no warfare. That doesn't mean that somebody somewhere might not try to rise up and maybe get into a fight with somebody. Maybe do them harm. And a spirit being will step in and say, Hey, wait a minute. We had 6,000 years of warfare and fighting. We're not going that way anymore. A spirit being will step in and say, This is the way when people go to the right or to the left.

But I think it's important for us to understand that there will be sin in the millennium, but it will not run rampant as it does today. All nations are going to be taught God's laws, and they're going to be taught the way of life that we are learning today.

You know, the way of life that we are learning today is pictured by this feast. Once we are forgiven, we go on to strive to keep the laws of God. And we are on a journey out of sin, you and I. And during the millennium, human beings will be taught this journey out of sin toward the righteousness and the holiness of God.

All during the millennium, they will have that same journey. Our booklet calls it the road to eternal life. They will be shown that road to eternal life, and they will need to develop godly character and nature. They won't be born with it, and they won't have Satan to resist and the world to resist, but they will need to develop godly nature and character.

And they will need to get on that road that leads to eternal life. They'll need to be to repent, and they'll need to be baptized, and they'll need to receive the Holy Spirit to enter that New Covenant relationship with God. And they will need, then, to go through the process of conversion over their lifetime, just as we do today. And we will be prepared to help them because we can say, well, I've gone through this already. My journey, I got on that road when God called me, and I stayed on that road, and I completed that journey.

And of course, at that time, we will be without sin because we'll be members of God's eternal family. You know, the nation Israel is going to be taught God's way, and they're going to abhor the way of life. Our people, Americans and British, all that we get into today, people just living together, wanting to condone things like gay marriage that the Bible condemns and is so wrong in God's sight. All these things that the Scriptures even call detestable, our nation, our people are going to repent of that, these rampant sins that we want to somehow sanction. Let's go to Ezekiel chapter 20, and we see the attitude of repentance that God is going to bring Israel to.

And it's going to be this attitude of abhorring sin and detestable things is going to actually be something that all of humanity will learn in the millennium. Ezekiel chapter 20, verse 33, As I live, says the Lord God, Surely with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out, I will rule over you.

Israel, you are going to bow your knee and come under my rule. I will bring you out from the peoples, out of captivity, and gather you out of the countries where you were scattered, with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out. In verse 37, I will make you pass under the rod, and will bring you into the bond of the covenant. God will enter a new covenant relationship with all of Israel, and with all of the world, actually. I will purge the rebels from among you and those who transgress against me.

So God will purge out rebellion. In verse 40, For on my holy mountain, on the mountain height of Israel, says the Lord God there, all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, shall serve me. In verse 42, Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for which I lifted my hand in an oath to give to your fathers.

And there you shall remember your ways, and all your doings with which you were defiled. And you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight, because of all the evils you have committed. You know, brethren, that's the attitude of real repentance. It's the attitude that I hope all of us have now.

We still do sin. We say things we shouldn't say. We have attitudes we should not have. We do things we should not do. Yet, do we loathe those things we should?

We should hate sin, and just hate that we, yet, like Paul, he was fighting this battle. We have the law of sin that we're fighting against, and sin seems to get the upper hand. And sometimes we do things that we say things or think things that we would not want to say, do, or think. God is going to bring Israel to repentance, just as he has brought us. And they'll be able then to work on their sins. They'll be able to get on that road that leads to eternal life. Be able to make that journey that will lead them to perfection. Brethren, perfection is a journey. We need to think about this feast of unleavened bread. And none of us has reached our destination yet, I don't think. I haven't. Anybody here perfect? Sometimes when things go right, I'll kind of joke with my wife that that has to be good, clean living, you know. Well, she laughs at it because she knows that, you know, we don't, any of us, live the clean, perfectly clean way of life we would like to. Not a one of us is perfect. But I hope there's not a one of us who would not want to be perfect, and want to live in a perfect world. Because this feast pictures us becoming perfect one day, and living in a perfect world. It's coming. If we continue and complete the program, we will be there. We're on the way. Let's not get off the road, though, that leads to perfection in our lives and in the universe. Let's go to Jeremiah chapter 25.

The Gentile nations are going to meet their maker, too, at the coming of Christ. It's not just Israel that will loathe themselves and repent, but also the Gentiles as well. Let us send Jeremiah chapter 25 and verse 15. Thus says the Lord God of Israel to me, take this wine cup of fury from my hand and cause all the nations to whom I send you to drink it. You can read some of those nations that are listed, Tyre and Egypt and others. In verse 29, they hold I began to bring calamity on the city which is called by my name, and should you be utterly unpunished? God's going to punish Jerusalem and Israel. Should the Gentiles go unpunished? Well, no. You shall not be unpunished, for I will call for a sword on all the inhabitants of the earth. And verse 30 goes on to say the Lord will roar from on high. This is Christ at His return and utter His voice from His holy habitation. He will roar mightily against His fold. He will give a shout as those who tread the grapes against all the inhabitants of the earth.

A noise will come to the ends of the earth. The Lord has a controversy with the nations. He will plead His case with all flesh and will give those who are wicked to the sword, says the Lord.

So, yeah, the Gentile nations are all going to bow their knee, and they're going to begin to be able to get on that road that leads to eternal life. That road that leads to a life without sin.

I'll tell you, God is going to then, during the millennium, there's going to be a great de-leavening process that is going on. But there will be leaven, there will be sin around, but we'll keep working with it. We've got to work with people that are human in the millennium.

We will have to show them the way toward perfection. And so, all during the 1,000 years, that is what will be happening. We will be preparing people for a perfect world. We will be leading them toward perfection, the same path and journey that we are taking now. Now, when the 1,000 years are over, guess what? We know the Second Resurrection will take place.

Well, people that come up in the Second Resurrection have been 11 around.

That's the only thing they've known all their lives.

Their lives have been full of sin, full of leaven. Are they going to be brought up perfect, or will they have to be dealt with right where they died? Of course, little babies who died will have to grow up and be told that you lived in a former age. But all the adults and children that have memory will remember the time in which they lived before. And they will have to be taken where they, at the point they died, then they will have to be taken and worked with. And we'll have to show them that journey, that road that will lead them to perfection. So here, this is the way if you will repent, if you will seek the Passover sacrifice of Christ, then all those sins that you committed will be forgiven. And you can now begin to go the way of the unleavened bread. Of course, we'll teach them the Sabbath. We'll teach them the Holy Days. Teach them the same way of life we live today.

And begin to get them on that road that leads toward perfection. So all during the second resurrection, we'll be working with human beings. And the earth is not yet a world without sin, because human beings are still around.

You know, the goal that God has for mankind, then, is perfection.

And that's what God is leading us toward. There are verses in the Bible that show that we today are on our journey toward perfection. And we need to be aware of that and be working on it. God wants us to be aiming toward perfection. He wants us to have as our goal nothing less than perfection. How would you like to be perfect one day? I wouldn't mind that, would you? No evil thoughts, no evil attitudes. And you would not even have to resist. It just comes natural. You know, righteousness comes natural with God. It does not to resist evil thoughts, evil attitudes, evil words. It just comes natural to go the way of righteousness. I wouldn't mind being that way. That's what God has in mind for mankind. Let's read a few verses about that. Matthew chapter 5.

Matthew chapter 5 and verse 44. I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you. You know, even this verse is a tall order for us. Even after being in the church, you know, for a number of years, we still have to work on this. To love our enemies, somebody wrongs us. About since the last Passover, any things happen to you or in the church or otherwise that may have made you angry or do things or say things you should not have said. I think we all would be guilty. So this is a pretty tall order to love our enemies and bless those who curse us and do good to those who hate us, and pray for those who would spitefully use and persecute us. That you may be the sons of your Father in heaven, for He makes His Son rise on the evil and on the good, and He sends rain on the just and on the unjust. So you know, here's something to think about. How are we measuring up, you know, toward the level that our Father in which He dwells? Verse 46, for if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore, you shall be perfect or become perfect just as your Father in heaven is perfect. That's our goal.

How would you like to be perfect one day? I wouldn't mind it at all, would you? And God has it in mind for me and for you. He wants us to aim toward perfection. Let's turn to Hebrews chapter 6, just a few verses showing that this is what God wants us to be working at. He wants us to be aiming toward perfection. On the way to Hebrews 6, why don't we stop by Ephesians chapter 4? Ephesians chapter 4. And it expands on this process that we are involved in.

I tell you, there's a new man that God wants us to become. It's different.

You know, think about it. Has keeping the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread made you a different person? We should think about that. It should. You, by keeping the Passover, many of us, for many years, and keeping the Feast of Unleavened Bread, many years, should it have made us a different person today than we would have otherwise been? The answer is yes, because we're on that road that leads toward perfection. And we should be where we would not otherwise be had God not brought us to the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Now, we've not reached our destination yet, but still there should be some progress. There should be noticeable difference in us. Is there?

Well, I believe there is, but we've still got work to do. In Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 22, that you put off concerning your former conduct. When God calls someone, this is what He gets busy doing. Put off the former conduct, the old man, which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, that you put on the new man. That's what we are in the process of doing. Put on the new man, which was created according to God in righteousness and true holiness. Therefore, putting away lying, each one speak truth with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. Be angry and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil. Satan's always trying to get a foothold. Don't give place to him.

Let him that stole steal no more, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give to those who have need. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth. Here's a pretty tall order. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. But let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth. But what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers? And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. That all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you with all malice. So, do we still fall short in these things?

I think we do. But are we doing better? Are we growing? I hope that we are. We should be.

Verse 32, Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ also forgave you. So how are we doing in our marriages, husbands and wives, and following some of these instructions? How are we doing with our children? How are children doing? Young people. How are all of us doing? Young and old and in between. I hope that we're making progress toward perfection. That's what God wants. He wants us to be making progress toward perfection.

Let's go to Hebrews now. Chapter 6 and verse 1. Therefore leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection. Now, this sermon here today, this is the Harding Corps. Let us go on to perfection. How would you like to live in a perfect world? Well, we've got to become perfect through the power of God's Spirit to be there.

So let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of some of the elementary earlier steps of repentance from dead works and faith toward God and doctrine of baptisms, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, eternal judgment. This we will do if God permits. And with God's help then we will certainly go on to perfection.

You know, brethren, I think I have known ones in the church down through the years that are far along on their journey toward perfection. I don't say they're there yet, but I say they are far along. I've known members of God's church who have just gone through the ups and downs, all the difficulties and problems along the way, and their life really does show a lot of spiritual maturity, a lot of the righteousness and the holiness of God. Their life shows the results of God's Spirit at work. God's laws have been written upon their hearts and minds. That's where we all want to keep on going. We've been in the church a long time, getting older. We want to be on toward that spiritual maturity and the righteousness of God. 1 Peter 1 and verse 13.

Therefore, gird up the loins of your mind. Let us be spiritually renewed by the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Let us be stronger. Let us be renewed in our commitment and have rededicated ourselves to our calling. Therefore, gird up the loins of your mind. Be sober and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ as obedient children and obedient heart. That's what God wants. Not conforming yourselves to the former lusts as in your ignorance. Totally different road that we're on.

But as He who called you is holy, and the Father is the one that does the calling, He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct.

And this Feast reinforces that commitment to become holy in all of our conduct. Can we grow?

Can we say less corrupt communication come out of our mouth? After this Feast, could you improve so that there's less corrupt communication? You can. So that there are less evil thoughts and attitudes. And when they do come, you grab them, and with the Holy Spirit put them out.

Less things that we might actually do. Then this Feast will have certainly served its purpose.

You also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, Be holy, for I am holy.

So that is our goal. Our goal is to become holy, just like our Father in Heaven is holy.

A world is coming that is going to be without sin, but as we know it's not here today.

But we've been called to be on that journey that leads to people without sin, to work perfection.

I don't know if we ever could say that we reach absolute perfection in the flesh.

But you know, right near the end of our lives, we might be very close. Very close to it. But of God's Spirit working, we will have a high level of spiritual maturity, and holiness, and righteousness of Almighty God that has been developed in us.

But a world is coming that will have no sin, and all the citizens of that world will have no sin.

That won't be the millennium, actually. The millennium will have a greatly reduced amount of sin in leaven around, because sin will not be allowed to run rampant like it does in the world today. But there will still be humans, and they will still make mistakes.

They'll still have some attitudes and things they might think or say they have to work with.

They might begin to try to do something. What if somebody begins to try to commit adultery? You know, that could happen. Then a spirit being stepped in to stop that from happening.

So, all during the millennium, that is not the world without sin, but perfect citizens, not yet.

During the second resurrection, that is not the world either that will be without sin.

There will be plenty of sin when people are resurrected in the second resurrection, and we'll have to deal with it. We'll have to deal with a lot of wrong attitudes, a lot of people that may even try to go out and do violence to someone, and a spirit being has to stop that from happening. So, we'll have a lot of sin to deal with, the sin of this age in the second resurrection. So, that is not the world without sin either. Let's go to 2 Peter chapter 3, and read about a world that will be without sin. It's coming.

We're not quite there when the millennium comes. We're not quite there in the second resurrection, but we will be there when this happens that Peter talks about here in 2 Peter chapter 3, in verse 9. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is long suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. So, we know that God's plan does include everyone, and He doesn't want anyone to miss out. He wants everyone to be a member of His family. In other words, He wants everyone to go through this process toward perfection and end up in His family. In verse 10, the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens 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 shall be burned up.

Of course, we know that to be the lake of fire described in Revelation 20, the end of that chapter.

Verse 11, therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness? This feast makes us think about this question. What manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness? Looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat. What kind of persons ought we to be? I hope that all of us can go forward. I hope I can, hope you can, and do a better fight against sin, a better fight against 11. Make more progress toward perfection, righteousness, holiness, as a result of keeping these seven days. And, of course, the Passover. I hope we can. Verse 13 shows that world without sin that we look forward to. Peter says, nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. That will be the world without sin. After God's plan with humanity is complete, after the millennium, and after the second resurrection, and after the lake of fire, then will come the new heavens and new earth, in which only righteousness dwells. And so, that world will be a world without sin. Only righteousness. That's the import of this verse. The new heaven and the new earth. Only righteousness then. No sin. No leaven. A perfect world. Let's read about it in Revelation 21 and 22.

So, that's what we really look for like Peter. We look forward to the millennium, but we realize that it's not the perfect world yet. And we look forward to the second resurrection when we'll see many of our loved ones, but we realize that will not be the perfect world yet either. But we do look forward to the new heaven and the new earth. That will be the perfect world.

A perfect world and perfect citizens. Think about that. Nobody would do us harm. Nobody will would begin to take advantage of us. All of us as sons of God, we don't even...

Well, we cannot lie like it says of God. We cannot sin. We cannot and would not and will not sin.

Will be a perfect world. A world without sin.

Revelation 21 and verse 5, But look at verse 8. This shows this world without sin. The cowardly, the unbelieving, abominable murderers, sexually immoral sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars will have their part in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.

So those who want to go the way of sin, the way of leaven, will simply be left out of God's family.

Revelation 22 and verse 10. He said to me, Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand.

He who is unjust, and of course this is when the new heavens and new earth have arrived, that perfect world is here. He that's unjust, let him be unjust still. Of course, he is left out of this new perfect world. He who is filthy, let him be filthy still. He who is righteous, let him be righteous still. And he who is holy, let him be holy still. And behold, I'm coming quickly, and my reward is with me to give to everyone according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are those who do his commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.

Those who really fulfill the meaning of these days of unleavened bread, and keep God's commandments, and put sin out, and have God's laws written upon their hearts and minds.

But notice verse 15, outside or left out of this perfect world are dogs, and sorcerers, and sexually immoral, and murderers, and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.

I'm very thankful that God doesn't want that to be around, aren't you?

I'm glad God doesn't want there to be sin and leaven. No, he has in mind a perfect family living in a perfect world, a world without sin. No wonder he has us to go through this process of conversion today. It's the process of conversion. We have this booklet here, which explains it thoroughly, but it's transforming our lives, leading us to word perfection. So he has us to go through this process of conversion, which is a process of perfection. He commands us to become holy as he is holy, to become perfect as he is perfect, and to go on to perfection, as Paul wrote, or the writer of Hebrews. If we do, brethren, one day we will live in a world without sin.

And we will be a citizen there in that world, also without sin.

Let's have a good lunch. Be sure to come back for the service this afternoon at 2.30.