Good evening, everybody. Move it, Ty. Let's pray. Father, thank You for this group of enthusiastic disciples who come for the Word of God. Bless them by blessing Your Word. in our hearing to our understanding. In the name of Jesus Christ, our great God and Savior, we pray. Amen. First of all, I just want to announce that if you hadn't heard, Stephanie's father died. When did he die? Steph? On Sunday. On Friday. Wow, really? a few days ago and we did a burial service this morning, graveside service this morning and committed his body to the ground and his spirit to the Lord and he's in the presence of the Lord. He was a wonderful man, Stephen Moniak, and he wrote a book. called We, the Empty Vessels, and talked about the Christian spiritual life in the last days. In other words, life in the last days, the same thing that we're talking about. And I kind of got inspired by some of the things that he said. And so, we wish Stephanie, of course, all of the grace that she needs to get through a period of grieving. And so, let's go to the Word. You could turn to Jeremiah. I'll tell you what, let's start with 2 Peter 3. Peter has so much to say about life in the last days. And those are the first days of the church age. And yet they all have, all of the authors of New Testament scripture have much to say about the last days. Because I guess they would be here before you know it, and they'd be addressing people that were unborn, but that would come into human history and need the information. Jeremiah tells us that in the end, in the last days, we would understand. That is much of the scripture, much of the prophetic scripture, even. Because as the time nears, then it becomes, of course, pressing. So this is Life in the Last Times, Part 2. And it is Tuesday, November 5th, 2013. So the times that we're living in, being as they most certainly are the last days, demand a focus and concentration, a new resolve and a commitment to faith and grace. We're to grow in the grace, as Peter tells us, and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. In 2 Peter 3, verse 3, Peter says, Know this, first of all, this is of first importance, that in the last days mockers will come with their continuous mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation. For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and by water. And you know what that means, don't you? He says, let there be land and let there be water. Like water was covering the face of the earth, the face of the deep. And He separated the land from the water. and gathered the water into oceans, lakes, rivers, etc. and made the land dry land so that eventually it could be inhabited when the population of the earth would require living space on the earth. And there's still plenty of that today, even though the population of the earth is far greater than it's ever been. But it'll go up and down. And in the tribulation period, in particular after the rapture of the church, is going to be a time of mass divine slaying. individuals because God is the one who determines the death the time manner place of Death for each one for it's appointed unto men wants to die They have an appointment with death and after this the judgment for the unsaved dead would be the great white throne judgment revelation 20 11 to 15 and for the believer it will be the family style and Judgment of commendation or the judgment seat of God or the judgment seat of Christ in 2nd Corinthians 5 10 and Romans 14 10 We will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. That's why life in last times is urgent and It's a message of urgency to be ready and to be awake and to be alert and looking for and hastening even the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So they say, where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the Father fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation. When they maintain this, it escapes their notice that the Word of God, by the Word of God, the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out from water and by water through which the world at that time was destroyed. being flooded with waters, talking about the deluge or the flood, Noah's flood. Then verse 7 says, but by his word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. That is, during the time of tribulation. But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord, one day is like a thousand years. And a thousand years, like one day. How can that be? Well, because he dwells in eternity. And eternity has no conception whatsoever of time. And won't that be wonderful? We spoke about that today. You know, no deadlines. No future dates to prepare for and look forward to. Nothing pressing. Nothing that, you know, demands that you do something at a certain time. It will be one continuous moment, one endless day. It says there's no moon or sun, nothing to mark time. No sunset, no sunrise. The moon doesn't come up at night. It stays light all the time. And the light is the light that emanates from the person of Christ. It's the glory of God that lights the new universe. don't have the need of a light or a lamp for the lamb is the lamp that lights the universe and I told you before but it's important to consider in order to have an eternal perspective that the physical things here the physical reality here will be exchanged for the spiritual reality there the spiritual things will be the real things the physical things will be the ethereal things And just the opposite of what we have here. Like spiritual riches here, you can't spend them, can you? No, but there you will be able to. You'll be spending money. So I think that's important to understand. Plus, just the concept of no time. And you know, when we've been there 10,000 years, well nobody will know when it's 10,000 years because there's nothing to mark time. So they won't be able to record that anyway. Or discern that in any way. He says then, a thousand years is like one day, and one day like a thousand years. I'm very, very happy and glad that God looks at things that way and that that's how He rules in the universe of men and angels. because he's not in any hurry that's the thing that's the point point is he's not in any hurry because he desires all men to be saved and so he wants human history to go to its full extension and allows evil to go to its full extension because the only two things that have to occur before the Lord returns is that the fullness of the Gentiles must come into the church into faith in Christ and that the cup of iniquity has to fill all the way up. And then the Lord comes. It's a time that He alone knows and determines. So, He says then, the Lord is not slow about His promises, some count slowness, but is patient toward you. See, He's given us enough time so that we might all come to realize how urgent it is and how important it is that we take full advantage of our opportunity and time. It's in Ephesians 5, 16, making the most of your opportunity or buying up the opportunity and time for the days are evil that we live in. And an evil day, there's a lot of opportunity to overcome evil with divine good. not to be taken over by it, not to be overwhelmed or overrun by it, but to let the Lord will and work inside of us to do His good pleasure, to manifest Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world. And He does that irrespective of Believers conscious efforts to do that work or to work for God Because it's not about works. It's about God working in us, and we're his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works in second in Ephesians 2 10 Which were foreordained or prepared to advance? That we should walk in them. We can really relax in life and God's timetable is not your timetable. His agenda is not yours. That is in your natural thinking. His is laid out for us in the Word of God. That's why the Word of God is so important, because it gives us a sense of timing that we don't have otherwise. Peter says, I'm going to tell you about first things first. I'm going to tell you about the important things and emphasize the important things, because the important things, you take care of those and the rest of the things fall into place. So, verse 10. No, that's verse 9. The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient. That is, hupomone, which means that He is long-suffering, that He is very patient, that He is consistent, and has the element of perfect timing always, that is part and parcel of his wisdom. God's wisdom is, the essence of his wisdom is timing, always timing. Timing is very important. Because in order for something to be done right or to be done well, it has to be a right thing done in the right way for the right reason at the right time. If it's not done at the right time, then you're out of step. And timing is extremely important because everything has to come together at a point. And God's the only one that can do that. So He'll make your life efficacious and you'll do the right things in the right way for the right reason at the right time. And then guess what He does any time that occurs? He marks that down in His little book and rewards you for it because you let Him will and work inside of you. And you weren't pushing. You weren't ahead of Him. You weren't walking ahead of Him, moving out ahead of Him, or lagging behind. You were walking in step with the Holy Spirit. And that's a very important consideration for the last days, living in the last days, is to have a brand new understanding and commitment to the filling of the Holy Spirit. Understanding what that is and what it means to be continuously filled with the Spirit. walking around on the earth in dependence upon the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit, you can't feel the Holy Spirit. And so many think they're not filled with the Holy Spirit because they can't feel Him. Well, it's only a matter of faith. It's a matter of trust. It's a matter of grace. It's a matter of faith and grace. That's all it is. You just accept the Word of God. You believe it. You affirm it. Every day. Even moment by moment. And it's the Holy Spirit who enables and empowers everything that you do, and leads you and guides you, as Jesus said, into all categories of truth, so that if you're walking in the truth, And guess what? Like the Apostle John said, speaking from the very character and the mind of God the Father says, I have no greater pleasure than to see my children walking in the truth that is led by the Holy Spirit, guided into all truth, living it out. That's what we're to do. We're to take it in, take in the Word and live it out. But you can't do it. God has to do it. And that's the job of the Holy Spirit. First, He's the one who gives you understanding, and guide you, you know, in spite of what you think that you should do, or where you should go, or when you should go. He does it. And He's very faithful. So don't ever be disappointed when things don't go the way you planned. Because it just might be, and is oftentimes, God that kind of redirected your steps. You make your decisions, but the Lord directs your steps. That is, if He's leading you, if He's guiding you, if He's enabling you and empowering you, that's the life of grace. God does it. And you just go along for the ride. And it's quite a ride. So, He says, He's not willing that any should perish, not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance. That's why His slowness is not slowness as some cow slowness, but it's patience toward us and toward all mankind. Not wishing for any to perish or any one to accrue losses in time, but he always gives you enough time and grace space to repent if it's necessary. The word repentance means a complete change of mind. followed by a change of direction, because you're going the wrong way. And he says, turn around. Well, you won't turn around unless he turns you. Turn me and I will be turned. Heal me and I will be healed. As Isaiah said in Isaiah 30, and the Lord grants repentance to the one who merely wants to do the will of God. He desires to do the will of God. He's available to the Word of God and the plan of God. And then God turns him. He turns the king's heart, like a water course, any direction that he wants to. And he'll do the same thing for you. Especially when, since he doesn't coerce man, but man has to grant permission. Because man can do what he wants to do. God knows how to apply pressure. He knows how to put a bit and bridle in your mouth, if he needs to. But don't be like the mule who requires the bit and bridle. where he won't come near you. That's what he says. You don't have to live that way. He doesn't have to jerk you around by putting a bit in your mouth and pulling back on your face like they do on a horse. You know why horses go where you want them to go? Because it hurts them. And they comply. But he said, be one who is guided by his eye. All he has to do is look. And you go in the direction that he looks. Because you have the direction and divine viewpoint, and the view of the Spirit. And He only guides those who are in the Word. He only guides by the Word. He doesn't guide by a GPS. Oh, that's a God. What's GPS stand for? Global positioning. Oh, it's God positioning system. That's what it is. The Holy Spirit is. He's the GPS. God's positioning system. And He placed you in a high position above principalities and powers in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus, every one of us, Ephesians 2.6. So He says, But the day of the Lord will come like a thief in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat. Peter's grouping all the events of the last days, that is of the final dissolution of the present universe, all into one big ball and it's not one. Paul breaks it down for us. We have the coming of the Lord, the mystery coming of the Lord to the point of the sky for the church in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, which is very clear, it's not apocalyptic, it is actual. Paul is giving us the actual facts of the exit resurrection of the church. That is, that generation of the church that will go into heaven alive. And the dead in Christ rise, and those who are alive and remain simultaneously rise to meet the Lord in the air, and so we're forever with the Lord. 1 Thessalonians 4, 11-18. You can read the facts. And the Antichrist is not revealed until the church is removed. Paul tells us that too. 1st and 2nd Thessalonians give us all the facts. John includes all of those facts in Revelation and he gives us what comes in between. That is the seven years when believers are in heaven undergoing the evaluation at the judgment seat of Christ and the world is being taken apart by the most extreme measures because God has to use the most extreme measures possible in the extreme times when in the end He wants to save as many as he possibly can of Israel and from among mankind. And he does that by sparing no means or no measures in a time of extreme trouble. That's why he sends it. That's why he allows it. Because people will respond. It's the only way that they will. When it's a matter of life and death. And so, and some still won't, but some will. And he knows that. So he puts on the pressure. So he says that the earth, the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat. It's going to be a meltdown. and the earth and its works, that's all the things that men built, all the things that men have done, all of the accomplishments of man in human history will burn up with it. So how important are they in the scheme of things, eternal scheme of things? Not important at all. Not as important as they're made out to be. And there won't be any awards for those in heaven who, because they got the Nobel Peace Prize, which they award in such a strange way these days for the strangest things, I don't even understand, because our president got one. Don't ask me why. They still can't explain that one. Maybe because he became president. I think that's the only reason. Being a minority became president. Maybe that's the reason they gave it to him. I don't know. And then we all voted for him again. Or a nation did anyway. Careful what you ask for. You might get it. And God does it. He gives you what you want. I told you he always gives you what you want. And he uses that to correct our path and to discipline a nation that has forgotten about him. And so we're going to be in a minority that is believers who are serious about the Word of God that are looking for and hastening his return. And so don't expect that people are going to think highly of you because they won't. And if you're anything like Jesus, they'll hate you for no reason. They don't even know why. They just do. And that's a satanic hatred, even as Satan hates the Jews and sponsors all anti-Semitic activities and persecution against Jews, always has. Although the Lord allows it because of their negativity toward the gospel and the true God, our true God and Savior, Jesus Christ. But in the end, he'll turn so many, and it's because of their the stupor that God put them in that salvation comes to the rest of the world and it's glorious but how much more glorious when they're restored Paul tells us in Romans chapters 9-11 so moving on here he says that the works of the earth will be burned up since all these things are to be destroyed in this way what sort of people I love this ought you to be in holy conduct and use by a godliness. Godliness is the Christian spiritual life pioneered by Jesus Christ and passed in its operational type to all believers from 30 AD on, which includes The complete ministries of God the Holy Spirit. All seven ministries of God the Holy Spirit. Name them for me. I won't make you do that. And the central importance of the Word of God. Not just having it. but letting it be in you. For we have the mind of Christ, but let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. 1 Corinthians 2.16 and Philippians 2.5. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. That is a mindset of utter humility and dependence upon God. That's what we're here for. If that's how He had to live, that's how we have to live. because he left us an example that we might follow in his footsteps. And his obedience was nth degree obedience, which means he never questioned God. And we shouldn't either. We should not question him about the circumstances of our life and the various aspects of his plan that is implemented daily in our lives. He said, come to me, draw near, come boldly to the throne of grace that you might find grace, all the grace you need to help and mercy for the alleviation of suffering. In Hebrews 4.16, and that comes from the Word of God alive and active and taking you apart putting you back together the right way so that you think right choose the right things and do the right things in life especially in the light of the last days of living in the last days it couldn't be more important as you see the day approaching and gathering together not forsaking the assembling of yourselves together as is the bad habit of some but doing it much more frequently as you see the day approaching Now that means something, doesn't it? When you talk about living in the light of the last days. He says you don't want to be apart from the Spirit's teaching ministry. And the Spirit teaches one on many in the local assembly through the ascension gift of pastor-teacher in the weakest of men. And notice I said men. It's in the weakest of men. Because women are not permitted to exercise spiritual authority over men in the church. For the sake of the angels, it embarrasses them. He doesn't like that one bit. And it's not because women are inferior. Women are equal to men in every possible way, and there's no male or female in Christ. It's just there's gender-specific truth in the Word of God because of the Constitution or makeup of a woman versus the makeup of a man. Women are better teachers than men, naturally. God doesn't use natural. He uses supernatural. He wants to be glorified by it. In giving somebody an ability, And an acuity that doesn't belong to them naturally. Like me. Here I am. I don't teach anybody. I'm not a patient teacher. But he somehow gives me the ability to bring insights from the Word of God and gives them to me so graciously so that I can pass them along to you. And I think maybe it's helped some of you. You know, every now and then. I hope so, anyway. I know if I listen to it objectively, I get helped by it. So, that's just the way He does it. To His glory, praise, and honor. And to fulfill His plan in human history. And there's an order in creation. And He is a God of order. He's not a God of disorder. Not a God of confusion. And so, we'll talk about that again sometime. What sort of people are we to be in holy conduct and godliness? Looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God. That means looking for and preparing for it. Being fully awake, fully alert, and fully alive. That is, living by means of the Word and the Spirit. With Jesus Christ's life coursing through every part of our spiritual being our soul body and lighting the whole house having that lamp lit right in the center of the house as it shines into every room it's not a time to lurk in the shadows but it's a time to come out in the daytime and be transparent and to shine that light so that men might see and glorify your Father who is in heaven. People are looking for what you have. Just let it be. Let it shine forth. He doesn't say turn on the switch. He just says let it shine. Not do, but be. Just let him make you all that he's made you to be. Let him manifest all that he's made you to be. Let him manifest Christ through you. And how do you do that? You just be. That's all. You don't do, you be. So, since all these things are going to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people are we to be? There you go. Just to be in holy conduct and godliness. You survive a Christian spiritual life designed by God. Pioneered by Jesus Christ. perfected by Him the past to each one of us with its means that is the power of God and in full instruction which is the Word of God especially the New Testament Scripture when combined with the new I mean combined with the old it's old and new you need the whole Bible you don't just need the New Testament you need the whole Bible The New Testament contains it all, so does the Old. When you put them together, then you have the full picture because you have every spiritual example, type, and illustration of everything that is consummated in the New Testament. Just like Genesis is the beginning of all things, the seedbed of the Word of God, Revelation is Grand Central Station. That's where it all comes. to fruition all comes to completion and the whole thing goes full circle you go from paradise to paradise you go from the first creation in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth to the recreation of the new heavens and the new earth, wherein only righteousness dwells, nothing else, no more sin at all, and no more evil. Christ paid and vanquished sin in his first advent, and in his second advent evil. that is the evil plans of arrogance and unbelief will be forever dismantled and it will not exist again ever in the universe of men or angels for all eternity and Jesus Christ will rule that universe in perfect righteousness and all will be in agreement we won't have any differences we won't have any debates we won't have any Disagreements at all at that time and it'll be wonderful there will be unity at last filter Those things won't even matter because our unity will be as it is as it should be now the person the glorious person a Wonderful person the perfect person of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ we have much more in common with believers than we think much more common than we do have differences with them and even though we make a big deal out of differences in what people say and what people think. The thing is, none of us knows anything as we ought to, so we should be very careful about expressing opinions and our dogmas, like dog dirt sometimes, because we don't even know what we're talking about. God makes that clear when He speaks to Job. And He says, what do you know, Job? Where were you when I laid the foundations? You're speaking like somebody that was there, and you weren't there. And the things you say are just speculative. They're not absolutes, they're not eyewitness reports, and you don't even know what you're talking about. And then one comes who's younger than the other, three miserable counselors of Job, and Job himself, his name's Elihu, and he has divine viewpoint, and he brings divine viewpoint, and he says, God's patient. He was patient with you. He's patient with Job. And now, Job, we will restore you and give you double what you had before. Elihu's like Jesus Christ. He's a wonderful spiritual person, even as Christ was the prototype spiritual man. And he restores Job's fortunes, gives him twice as much in the end, and then makes him pray for his friends so that they might be restored also. So God is not judging them or condemning them, but he's bringing them or leading them to repentance. That's what he does. That's what he's doing for us. You may wake up tomorrow and the things that you thought were so founded and grounded in your soul, you might find that you didn't understand them at all and now all of a sudden you have a new perspective. Won't that be nice if that happens? Happened to me over a period of months where almost everything I thought was right was dismantled. I had to start over again. But it's good if you do that because then you're not going to lag behind or think that you know something when you know nothing as you ought to. And knowledge only puffs you up. That's all it does. But love builds you up. And you have lots of opportunity to express God's love right here in the body of Christ. And it's a wonderful thing. It's a precious thing. And it's a beautiful thing. It's a pleasant thing for brethren to dwell together in unity. It's like the oil, the anointing oil on the head of Aaron that runs down from his head over his beard and down to his garment and covers the whole body. That's how good and how pleasant it is for the brethren to dwell together in unity. And we are to maintain the unity of the faith in the bond of peace Because we have more in common than we think we have one Lord one faith one baptism One hope of our calling one God father of us all one spirit And we maintain the unity of spirit in the bond of peace with all believers don't look for differences just focus on what we have in common, the Lord Jesus Christ. And if He is between thee and me, then we have a peaceful relationship, an edifying relationship, one with another. We're supposed to build one another up, not tear one another down. We're called to love one another, not judge one another. And there are certain people that you do mark and avoid. That's also true. Those who bring division, those are the ones you mark in a void. The ones that bring unity, you don't. You say, well, they don't believe this, or they do believe this. They believe in tongues. Well, good for them. Let them jibber jabber all they want. You don't do that, but don't make it the main issue of your discussion or disagreement. Just say, well, I don't believe that that's so, if it comes up, and just go on to another subject. But what about that Jesus? Isn't he wonderful? And they'll say, yeah, but what about, I said, let's talk about Jesus. Okay, let's talk about him. Then everything will be great. And you will have bought or taken advantage of your opportunity in time. So, but according, verse 13, according to his promise, we are looking for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore beloved since you look for these things be urgent Diligent that means urgent spoo day in the Greek which means where we get our word speed be speedy Be urgent be diligent to be found and found by Him in peace. What's peace? It's Irene, which means that you have unit integrity. Remember that term? Unit integrity? That means that you have a soul that is integrated. That means that you always have thought presiding over emotion. You remain objective, but at the same time you're open to the still small voice of God the Holy Spirit. That's the important thing, to be led by the Spirit, to be filled with the Spirit in the last days. Then you won't miss anything God's doing. And He'll actually bring you front and center into every event and include you in everything and envelop you in everything that He's doing. It's amazing what He does. He wants to do that. That's why Jesus took Peter, James, and John up to the mountain where He was transfigured before them in a cloud and enveloped them. Because God includes us. He wants us to witness all of these things because He wants to make us just like He is and bring us in. to the full slate of what He's planned and prepared for us in eternity to be members of the Godhead family forever. Kings and priests to sit upon the throne of Christ with Him. The promise made to those who overcome in the age of Laodicea were the people rule by comity instead of the Word of God ruling and God ruling and reigning and Christ ruling and reigning as King of kings and Lord of lords. And so, we avoid that at all costs. I really don't value people's opinions about how we should do things differently here because, you know what, I don't even touch it myself. I don't put my hands on the ark because God might kill me. You know what happened when Uzzah steadied the ark, don't you? It looked like the right thing to do. It looked like it was going to topple, and you're not allowed to touch it. So he went and touched it. He grabbed it and went to steady it. And what did God do? David was really upset when that happened. It took him a while to recover from that. Why would you do that to us? Because, don't put your hand on what God's doing. Just let Him do it. Let Him will and work inside of you. You don't have to manipulate anybody, including your own mind. Just relax and stand still. and watch the deliverance of the Lord. He's not going to let the ark fall off and break in pieces and need you to steady it. That means that the church of Christ is an organism of divine origin and under divine control and people don't decide what the church is going to do. God does. So you stand back in awe and reverence and in utmost fear of God for the glory of God, so that He might manifest His glory in your midst, and that you will know that He is God. And that the church is not a human organization, it's a divine organism. And you've been placed into the body of Christ. You're just probably one of those unmentionable parts of the body. But necessary, very necessary, if you know what I mean. Because some of us are. So, we're looking for that new heavens and new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent, urgent, to be found in Him in peace. Peace is, that is, having inner peace and peace among. Believers and being at peace with God by having the God of peace ruling in your hearts and being peaceful being at all times in a position, a posture of humility and trust. Trusting God. Not sometimes for some things, but all the time for everything. That's what He wants you to do. He doesn't help those who help themselves. He lets those who help themselves help themselves to a heap and helping of misery. That's what He does. Have a heap and helping of misery. Because that's what we create for ourselves. It's not what other people do to us, it's what we do to ourselves that is most devastating. And we like to blame everybody for what we do to ourselves too, but that's not true because you have the choice as to how you react to people or how you respond to God. It's up to you. And that's always before you, it's always your prerogative, it's always your option. And so if you say, oh no, look what they did to me, then you live in what's called a victim mentality rather than a victor's mentality. The victor's mentality says, you know what? I am what I am by the grace of God. And I understand that good things and bad things happen. I understand not everybody's going to like me. I understand people will try to do me harm. But God can override all of that by his providence and by providential reversals. Men meant it for evil, but God turned it all into good. For He is able to do that in every instance, no matter what happens to you. Turn the bad things, the worst things that happen to you, you see in retrospect often times are the best things that ever happened to you because what it did was it really drove you and dragged you to God. Drove you or dragged you to His grace. and now you know what it means to be dependent on him because before you were independent and you did whatever you wanted to do but when you are old like he said to Peter another will dress you and take you where you would have never gone and you'll go gladly because Christ will be your life instead of just a part of it. That's important to understand. Not a part of my life. My very life. And the Word of God won't just be a part of your life. The Word of God will be your life. It will be what you think. It will be how you decide. It will be the basis of everything that you do, just like it was for Jesus, the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us in John 1.14. So, be found with Him in peace, spotless, Well, how are you supposed to be a MoMA spotless? How are you supposed to be that way? Well, because any time that you get a spot, you get it out right away. That is, every time you sin, you confess your sin immediately so that God can purify you from all wrongdoing, all unrighteousness. When you confess the sins that you know that you did in the Holy Spirit, You just agree with God, homo legeo, which is the word for confess, which means I agree with you against me, against myself. And then God, because you're simply honest with him, he purges the results and the negative consequences of your bad decisions. And even if you have to rise some of them out, in the end he turns them all into good. works them all together for good that is for his glory and he says you know what you were nothing special but you had you had a special kind of faith and trust and reliance upon me and so I could turn everything around for you and that's what he wants to do Is it the story of your life? It is mine. He's turned everything around. Oh, I can't even list for you one good thing I've ever done, because I don't think there ever was one. But I can tell you about the good things God's done for me and how He's rescued me every time. Many of the afflictions of the righteous, but God delivers them out of them all. And guess what? He delivers us from all of our destructions. That's all the things that we have done that should result in destruction, but he doesn't allow us to be destroyed. Instead, he destroys our enemies and exalts us and gives us the greatest Blessings and the greatest happiness is possible in time and it comes through the word in the spirit So we need to learn and be recommitted to the filling of the Holy Spirit Which we'll get to in just a moment if I ever get through this passage He says then therefore beloved since you look for these things be diligent to be found in him in peace spotless and blameless You know what blameless means? That means that you can't be blamed and you don't blame others for what you do to yourself. You just keep a clean slate at all times. Blameless means that you are not, it doesn't mean you're sinless, it just means that you're blameless because those sins have been not only cleansed but purified in terms of their negative consequences in your life because God turns them all around and you're not one that lives in a victim mentality but a victor's mentality. You don't blame other people for what you did to yourself. because you came under their spell, because you came under their charisma, under their pressure, under their dominion. No. You answer to God. You don't answer to men. And you know what? There are certain things that you just have to say no to, that people want you to do and tell you to do and pressure you to do and try to manipulate you to do, and you don't do it. You go the other way. Because God wants you to live a certain way. And who are you responsible to? People? You're responsible to your wife? You're responsible, ultimately, to your boss who wants you to live and to do things and to give more and more and more and it'll take more and more and more until they take your whole soul and suck you dry? No. That's not how you're to live. Some people would have you live that way. And there's a big difference between that and doing your work as unto the Lord. Because the Lord gives you a balanced life. And it's not anxious, and it's not fretful, and it's not fearful. And you're not fearing that you're going to lose your job if you don't do what the boss says. So what if he fires you and God has something else for you? That doesn't mean that you're insubordinate, because you're never insubordinate. because you always submit to authority, because authority is from God. All authority is from God. But sometimes there's unfair authority. And they told Peter, stop preaching the gospel, could he? No. So they had to put him in prison. They beat him a couple times, put him in prison. They told Paul not to talk about Jesus anymore. And did he do it? No. He went to prison and ended up being beheaded, as legend has it, because there's no record of it. But anyway, so we obey the Lord. We don't ultimately obey men. And you are not to allow any man, woman, boy or girl, that's your wife, that's your children, that's your relatives, to be an umpire in relation to your spiritual life or the way that you practice your Christianity. Now you follow the instruction manual, which is the Word of God. especially in the last days. You've got to decide these things. You've got to choose these things for yourself, because that's how God wants you to live. He wants you to live independent of man, but completely dependent on Him. Independent of man. Paul says, from now on, everybody leave me alone. I bear in my body the brand marks of the Lord Jesus Christ. And, in other words, I'm done with people. because everybody wants something else from me. They'll suck your soul dry. And we're here to serve one another in love, but we're here to serve the Lord Jesus Christ and to be those who are always ready to build up and not to tear down, not doormats by any means. Or, not to be the one who you think that you're going to manifest Christ by cutting your neighbor's grass. That's not how you manifest Christ. You manifest Christ by not talking about them. Not slandering them. Not doing them harm. It doesn't say that you do good to them. It says that you don't do them any harm. And people try to do good things. They cut the grass for the neighbor and go, he doesn't even appreciate it. You just ruined the whole thing. Plus, when we do those good things for our neighbors and we try to extend ourselves, that doesn't mean that somebody doesn't have the ability to cut their grass, that you can't go cut their grass for them. But you certainly don't boast in the things that you've done. Because all that does is bring glory to man. It takes glory away from God. You know what God wants to do? He wants to do the good. He might use you to do it, and therefore He receives all of the glory, all of the merit. That's what He wants. He doesn't want man to take that glory. Nobody's going to really think you're Jesus. They might see something of Jesus in you, but they're not going to think you're Him. They might think you're the most wonderful person in the world. What does that do for God? Nothing whatsoever. He wants all the glory because it's only due to Him. It's not due to man. And He shares His glory with no one. So, but in the end He will with us. If we lay aside our desire for vain glory here. So, verse 15. And regard the patience of our Lord as salvation. The longer He waits, the more people get saved. And we get set apart more and more. Just as also our beloved brother Paul. It took a lot for Peter, a lot of humility for Peter to mention Paul in his swan song epistle. When they had such disagreement in Galatia, that Paul had to ream Peter a new one, if you know what I mean. Because he was a hypocrite. He withdrew from the Gentiles, who he ate with every day, was having a great fellowship. and drew that Jewish barrier again that God had torn down. He says, you know what, if you build up again what God has torn down, you're a transgressor. It's one thing to transgress against the law, another thing altogether to transgress grace. When Christ has done so much for so many, that is for all mankind. And you don't draw distinctions when there are no distinctions. And pride and arrogance, which God hates more than anything else, in Proverbs 6.16. Six things he hates, ye seven, are an abomination to him. A proud look is number one. So we don't want the proud look. Hey, when you give somebody a proud look, do you feel that little prick in your heart right away? Boy, do I. And who are you to think that you're something better than somebody else? You're absolutely nothing. Zero. All of us are. That makes God everything. And we're nothing. Then He'll make us something in the end if we maintain our nothingness here. And he says, according to the wisdom given to him, wrote to you, as in also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things in which are some things that are hard to comprehend, hard to understand, maybe like the things I'm talking about this evening, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they also do the rest of the Scriptures to their own destruction, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That means you keep receiving what you don't earn or deserve, what you can earn and what you don't deserve from God. And you keep letting Him will and work inside of you. You learn what that means, to let or allow Him to will and work inside of you according to His own good pleasure for His glory. His honor and His praise. So that Christ might be everything that you need Him to be. And that He might live large right through your humanity. That He might be manifest in your mortal flesh. 2 Corinthians 4, 10 and 11. That's what God wants to do with all of us. He wants to manifest Christ through our mortal flesh. Our mortal flesh means these bodies right here. in this world that needs to see him desperately in the last days. And he says, as also in all his letters, speaking of them of these things, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. What should you be doing? You should be growing in the grace, that is, in your, in the skill set that learns and knows how to receive from God. Not to do for Him, but to receive from Him. God doesn't receive glory from what you do for Him. He only receives glory from what you receive from Him. Because what you do isn't good enough to bring glory to God. But what God does always brings glory to His name because of His own perfection. It meets the standard of His perfection. It's a high standard. You can't meet it, but He'll do it by working inside of you, by His Word and by His Spirit. Therefore, we have being filled with the Holy Spirit, filled with Holy Scripture, which is the believer's holiness, or use of by, godliness. in expressing the life and manifesting the life of Jesus right through our mortal bodies. He says, then, that's the end of that passage. That's a good passage. It gives us a lot of instruction for the last days. Jeremiah 23. We'll finish up with this. This is long, long ago. This is in the times of The Babylonian captivity, Jeremiah 2320, kind of spans the Assyrian and Babylonian captivity. It's spoken before the Babylonian captivity and addresses the Babylonian captivity, which came afterwards, after the Assyrian captivity. Assyrian captivity was 726 B.C. And the Babylonian captivity was 586 B.C. It lasted for just about 70 years and then they were allowed to return, but only 5% of Israel returned. The rest of them were absorbed by the general population of the Babylonian kingdom and also they were absorbed into the general population and became part of the European peoples and the stock from which the European peoples would come. and some, many maintained their Jewish heritage, whereas those in the Assyrian captivity all but lost any remembrance of any Jewish descendancy, but many came from Jewish stock from the 10 northern tribes that were lost, that were deported and never returned to the land, but were replaced with Assyrian captives from various lands. And so they lost their land. The 10 northern kingdoms lost their territories early, early on and never came back again. And then all of Israel was deported in 70 AD, which was 1878 years that they did not have national entity until May 14th of 1948 when miraculously God used the United States of America Ephraim to reestablish and Manasseh his older brother who is great that is Great Britain to reestablish Israel as a nation after 1878 years now God can fulfill the end time events and save the remnant of Israel, that is, those who know that they're of Israeli stock and those who don't know and have lost track. He never loses track of one. He's the good shepherd. He leaves the 99 to get the one and keeps it safe. So, Jeremiah 23, the anger of the Lord will not turn back until he has performed and carried out the purposes of his heart. In the last days you will clearly understand it. You see what God's going to do. You know what He has to do in the end. He has to use extreme measures for extreme times. And He says, then I did not send these prophets. There's all kinds of false messages out there, even today. Peter tells us that too. In 2 Peter 2.1 he says, just as there were false prophets in Israel, there will be false teachers among you who will secretly bring in damnable heresies, denying the Lord who bought them. And because of them, because of their pernicious ways, the way of the truth will be ill-spoken of. And that's what happens. He says, I did not send these prophets, but they ran. I did not speak to them, but they prophesied. They say, thus saith the Lord. He says, I haven't spoken. He says, but if they had stood in my counsel, that is in my word, and been available to my word, then they would have announced my words to my people and would have turned them back from their evil way and from the evil of their deeds. Am I a God who is near, declares the Lord, and not a God who is far away? Can a man hide himself in hiding places so that I don't see him? Sometimes we think we can, but we can't. Can a man hide himself in hiding places so I do not see him, declares the Lord? Do I not fill the heavens and the earth? He's omnipresent. He's all places present at the same time. Declares the Lord, I have heard what the prophets have said, who falsely prophesy in my name, saying, I had a dream. I had a dream. Turn TV on. You'll see all these dreamers. Jude calls them filthy dreamers. And you can kind of decipher what he's talking about. They had filthy dreams. And he says, How long is there anything in the hearts of the prophets who prophesy falsehood, even these prophets of the deception of their own heart, who intend to make my people forget my name by their dreams? In other words, they draw all the attention to themselves. which they relate to one another. Oh boy, it's like one-upmanship when they're together. They're telling about all these fantastic insights that they had and these dreams that they had. And that's what they talk about. And there's no true fellowship or exaltation of Jesus Christ. And he says that Verse 27, "...who intend to make my people forget my name by their dreams which they relate to one another, just as their fathers forgot my name because of Baal." That is the sun god. They ended up worshiping a different god altogether. The prophet who has a dream may relate his dream, but let him who has my word speak my word in truth." There's a good word for all those who communicate the word, and for you to communicate your own soul unto those that God puts in your periphery and gives you the opportunity to speak to, to build them up, to give them a word in season, and be a refreshment rather than a drain upon them. What does straw have in common with grain? Nothing. It's just a worthless husk that needs to be burned rather than to be ground and made into bread, to be nourishing. Declares the Lord is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer which shatters a rock. That's what it's supposed to be. Therefore behold I am against the prophets declares the Lord who steal my words from each other Oh, they're so dependent on what other people say well They're gonna take that stuff in a run with it man, but they don't have any insight of their own not from the Lord He hasn't spoken to them. They just speak to one another and they say what each other says Oh, they might change it a little bit, but they like that that was clever. They like clever things instead of truth blatant honest absolute And hard as a rock, like a hammer hitting a rock, truth, it smashes all of the structures of our present thinking when it's wrong, when it's off, so that we might think with God in categories and glorify God, grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We're done. Let's pray. Father, thank You for these things. Thank You for life in the last times.