More End Time Knowledge*

 

We are going to look at the subject of the end times again, but this time, on a verse by verse basis. We will be studying the book of Second Peter, chapters 1 and 2 for this message.

At the beginning of this epistle, Peter identifies himself as an apostle. Peter makes clear that he has written to the Church, not as a believer in fables, but as an eyewitness to the majesty of Christ, and the voice of God from heaven proclaiming Him (2 Pet. 1:16-19). He is writing to those who have found faith in in the righteousness of God and Christ as Savior. He is addressing believers. He emphasizes the importance of growing in the knowledge of God. As their knowledge of God and Christ increases, grace and peace is multiplied to them as a result. The increase in knowledge of God is a growing and maturing process. All things pertaining to life and Godliness have already been provided to us through His divine power and through knowledge of Him. We have been called by nature of these things to glory and virtue (moral goodness and excellence, modesty, purity). We have been given great, precious promises including the partaking of God's divine nature. As receivers of His divinity, we have been given the escape out the corruption of the world that comes through lusts. Peter assured the Church that God knows how to deliver us from the temptations of the world around us (2 Pet. 2:9). In his letter to the Church, Peter is establishing what has taken place through our faith and through our growing knowledge of God and Christ. From the very beginning, Peter is emphasizing the difference between believers and the world as a result of this knowledge (see also Rom. 12:1-2).

Peter describes the progression of the divine nature of God and Christ in us in the transformation of our character, through diligence on our part, and its effect upon the fruitfulness and success of our Christian walk. Without this growth and progression, a believer cannot see ahead, and loses the knowledge of what he has been delivered from-his old nature, and sin. This is the progression in our growth in the knowledge of God:

faith--->virtue--->knowledge--->temperance (self control, self governance)--->patience--->godliness--->brotherly kindness--->charity/love



In the book of Ephesians, Paul also taught the goal of growing in the knowledge of God into the perfect man, which is the fullness of Christ. Paul goes on to say:

"...put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness."   Eph. 4:22-24

These principles are directly related to end time conditions. Peter warned that because of covetousness, false prophets and false teachers come among us, the Church (2 Pet. 2:1-3). They teach false doctrines because of covetousness, to gain wealth from those who are deceived. In teaching about the signs of the end times, and His return, Jesus also warned about false prophets who would deceive many:

"And many false prophets shall rise, and deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come."   Mt. 24:11-14

For the first time in history, the gospel has been carried to almost every nation on earth. Iniquity abounds through the same deception of which Jesus spoke. Many have turned from their faith. False prophets and teachers have told the Church that sin no longer matters, and they teach a false love. The love they teach is not a sacrificial love that saves, as is the love of God and Christ, but license masquerading as love that endorses sin leading to death. These are all confirming signs of the end times that we see today.

Peter opened his letter to the Church reminding believers of the purpose and privilege of God in Christ to elevate us into His divine nature: to achieve glory and virtue, to escape the corruption of the lusts of the world, and to walk in the divine nature of righteousness and true holiness in Christ. He was confronting the false teachings of his day that denied the importance of morality, and falsely taught that the gift of grace through Christ allowed men to live in whatever manner pleased them. They taught that Christians did not have to follow the Ten Commandments. In the first and second centuries of Peter's time, this was called Gnosticism, and later, Antinomianism. Scripture clearly refutes this falsehood (Rom. 3:31, 6:1-2, 15-16). As with all scripture, Peter's warnings are as relevant today as they were then. These false doctrines, and their false prophets and teachers still exist today in these end times as Jesus prophesied, and as we can all see.

Peter assured the Church then, and today, that judgment is sure to follow those who teach, believe, and practice these lies that corrupt. God did not spare the angels that embraced the lies. He did not spare the old world of Noah, which He destroyed by flood. Nor did He spare the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha, which He destroyed by fire (2 Pet. 2:4-6). Only the righteous men, Noah and Lot, who was considered righteous because he was distressed by the wicked behavior around him, were spared in the midst of the destruction. Jesus said that in the day of His appearing, the days on earth would be the same as in the days of Noah, and also Sodom and Gomorrha, with men going about their lives until the moment that judgment hits (Lk. 17:26-30). But the judgment did come.

This wickedness being taught and practiced, and the manifesting of unclean, unnatural and reprobate behaviors as a result, arises from men who refuse to retain God in their knowledge, even though they know that their sinful behavior is worthy of death, and subject to the judgment of God (Rom. 1:24-32). They have knowledge of God because He and His works have been revealed to them, and so they are without excuse (v. 19-20). Because of this, the word of God says:

"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness."  Rom. 1:18

As Paul describes them, they call sin, righteousness, and the truth of God, unrighteousness. This is exactly what we are seeing today. In the face of false prophets and teachers, Jesus has warned, Peter has warned, and Paul has warned about disregarding the knowledge of God. 

The people of God, instead, are to grow in knowledge of Him, and of His truth. We are purposed to share in the divine nature of God, having been called to glory and virtue.

*The above is based upon the 1/13 message to the Church from Dr. Kenneth Stevenson.

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Prayer of Salvation for all who desire to receive Jesus as their Savior: Lord Jesus, I desire to know You, and to know Your salvation. I believe that You died for me, and that You were resurrected for me. Forgive me of my sins. Come into my heart, change me, fill me with Your righteousness. Inscribe my name in the Lamb's book of life. Baptize me in Your Holy Spirit, so that I can learn the truth of Your Word and ways, and be strengthened in my walk all the days of my life. You are the hope of my life, and You are my eternal life. I place my trust in You, Lord, for myself, and my whole household. Use me to do the will of the heavenly Father, Who sent You, in Whose name You came. In Your name, and in thanks and praise I pray, Amen.

 







The Kingdom Purpose of Unity

 

Our nation is deeply divided, and we see destructive effect of that disunity daily. We formed a union of diverse states in our beginning, because we knew that a union was the only hope for our strength, prosperity, and our future. Our nation's motto reflects this determination to be unified: EPLURIBUS UNUM, "Out of many, one".
We can easily see that the Church is divided also. We are divided over social issues, politics, doctrines, denominations. However, Christ taught this truth: "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand." (Mt. 12:25). The Lord called the Church to unity, not just for unity's sake, but for a specific purpose, which we shall see.
The apostle Paul taught the role that unity plays in our maturing in Christ:
"And he (Christ) gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect (completeness, maturity) man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ."   Eph. 4:11-13
Our knowledge of God, our perfecting, and our growth into the fullness of Christ must come out of a unity of faith. Each individual member of the Body of Christ supplies something that is needed for completion, and unity brings all of the individual members together (v. 16). The Body achieves this by speaking the truth in love. Jesus spoke of this truth also, and defined the truth this way: "Thy word is truth." (Jn 17:17). Speaking, teaching and preaching the truth, which is the Word of God, unifies us in that truth.
Too often, the Church unites itself with the world, instead of with the Word. In Genesis, the world unified itself in wickedness and rebellion against God. In seeing this unity in purpose, God said, "Behold, the people is one...and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do." (Gen. 11:6). God had to confuse their language, and physically scatter them in order to break apart their destructive unity in rebellion. The unity of the world created a powerful rebellion against God, but the unity of the Church in Christ accomplishes the exact opposite even more powerfully. Jesus brought this revelation in His final prayer to His Father for His disciples before His crucifixion:
"They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me."   Jn. 17:16-23 (excerpt)
In Jesus' prayer above, we see again, the perfecting that results from the Church's unity in Him and the Father. This unity is so important that Christ gave us the glory that He had received from His Father in order to achieve it. Christ in us is the hope of glory (Col. 1:27)- not only our own hope, but the world's hope in glory also. The importance of our unity, besides our own perfecting in him, is that the result of that unity or oneness in Christ, attests to the world the truth of God, and the purpose of His kingdom. Jesus knew that the unity of the Father, Son, and the believers impacts the world, and its salvation.
The purpose of the kingdom of God is not for us to be united with the world, but for the world to receive the saving knowledge of Christ though our unity with each other in Him. For this reason, Jesus has called the Church to be "one".

To Contact/Submit a Prayer Request/Support the Ministry/To Order the Book, "NAZAH":
https://twitter.com/everlastingcov8
http://endtimeschool.com/
To Watch Dr. Stevenson's Complete Message:
https://twitter.com/everlastingcov8

Prayer of Salvation for all who desire to receive Jesus as their Savior:Lord Jesus, I desire to know You, and to know Your salvation. I believe that You died for me, and that You were resurrected for me. Forgive me of my sins. Come into my heart, change me, fill me with Your righteousness. Inscribe my name in the Lamb's book of life. Baptize me in Your Holy Spirit, so that I can learn the truth of Your Word and ways, and be strengthened in my walk all the days of my life. You are the hope of my life, and You are my eternal life. I place my trust in You, Lord, for myself, and my whole household. Use me to do the will of the heavenly Father, Who sent You, in Whose name You came. In Your name, and in thanks and praise I pray, Amen.


Redeeming the Time, Redeeming the Land

 

We are living in a time of great darkness, with the darkness seeming to grow deeper every day. That darkness manifests in many different ways, but it is all of the same darkness. It is the spiritual darkness that rejects truth and life. It rejects the Word of God, and rebels against His LORDship. In recent days, as in the past, the darkness has taken the form of racial hatred and violence, terrorism, perversions, child murder, murder in general, and other forms that we are seeing on the news every day. Sometimes, we are tempted to forget the plan of God in the midst of this darkness. Even as we see this darkness seeming to spread further and further over our nation and the whole earth, scripture tells us that God foresaw it happening and prophesied about it:

"Arise, shine;

For your light has come!

And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you.

For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth,

And deep darkness the people;

But the LORD will arise over you,

And His glory will be seen upon you."

Isa. 60:1-2

The same (kabode) glory that the LORD, Himself, possesses, He has given to us, as well as the same (ore) light as is Jesus, who said, "I am the light of the world." (Jn. 8:12, 9:5). This is the same light that Jesus spoke of when He told us that we also were the light of the world (Mt. 5:14).

It is the way of the LORD, that when darkness tries to reign, He pours out His glory light upon us and tells us to shine with it. As we know in the natural, the darker the surroundings, the greater effect light has upon it. So it is also in the spiritual realm.

The prophet Daniel told us that when the darkness of wickedness would flourish, "...the people who know their God shall be strong and carry out great exploits." (Dan. 11:32).

The call and purpose for God's people in these troubling dark times is clear. This is when the light of the Gospel in us should appear at its greatest. This is the time when the light of the uncompromised truth of God's Word is needed to save lives and souls, to deliver them out of that darkness and into His marvelous light, even as we were delivered.

The Apostle Paul instructs us, when dealing with those outside the faith, to let our speech "always be with grace, seasoned with salt" (Col. 4:5-6). We are always to speak the grace of God, but also with the salt of truth that preserves and cleanses. He says by doing this, we "redeem the time". What a deep concept. It means to recover from the power of another the epoch waited for, the fixed time when things are brought to crisis. We can possibly say then that the darkness is trying to have power over the timing, or delay the timing, of the return of Christ, the awaited epoch. However, one reason that God has poured out His own glory, and His Son's light upon us, is for the purpose of taking back that time. It requires us to be the fullness of that light.

Why is it so important that we not compromise the truth we know with the darkness around us? The light that the darkness cannot destroy from the outside (Jn. 1:5), it will try to destroy from the inside. Jesus warned:

"The light of the body is the eye; therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness....If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light."

Lk. 11:34-36

Even a small compromise with darkness, destroys the whole light within, according to Jesus.
Similarly, the Apostle Paul tells us in Eph. 5:1-27 to be imitators of God, avoiding the works of darkness, and to walk as children of light. He says that these dark works and behaviors are even shameful to talk about. These behaviors come from fornication, uncleanness, covetousness, and idolatry. Do not be partakers with them. While we once shared in these dark works, we are now light in the Lord, proving (giving evidence) of what is acceptable to the Lord, rather than the abominations of darkness. Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, he tells us, but rather expose them, making them manifest out of hiding by the light of Christ.

He concludes these thoughts by saying in v. 16:

"See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil."

Again, he talks about the concept of "redeeming the time".  While we are redeeming the time from the power of the darkness, we are also redeeming our land from that darkness. If we care about the spiritual condition of our land, God has given us His own glory to bring to it, if we will walk in that glory and light.

Let us understand, above all, that "Christ is head of the church; and Savior of the body." (v.23).  A church that compromises with darkness, though it pleases the world, has removed Christ from its headship. For by His headship, He is presenting to Himself a "glorious (kabode) church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish." (v.27).

 

 

Recommended reading: "Redeeming the Land", by Gwen Shaw, 1987 (see links below)

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