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Second Peter, chapter one, verse 8.
Or if these things see in you and abound, they make you that ye should neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind. You cannot see it far off, and have forgotten that he was first from his old sin. Wherefore the rather brethren give diligence to make their calling and election cure. Or if you do these things, you shall never fall, for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly.
Into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though you know them and be established in the present truth. Yeah, authenticity, as long as I'm in this Tabernacle to stir you up by putting you in remembrance, knowing that shortly I must put off this my Tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ has showed me. Moreover, I will endeavor that He may be able, after my deceased, to have these things always in remembrance.
For we have not followed comingly divided, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we're eyewitnesses of His Majesty. For He received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to Him from the excellent glory. This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven, we heard when we were with Him in the Holy Mount. We have also a more sure word of prophecy.
Where on the EU well let you take E doesn't do a light that shine it in a dark place until the day dawn and the day star arrives in your heart, knowing in first that no prophecy of the scriptures of any private interpretation.
For the prophecy came not in old times by the will of, uh, man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the holy world.
If you all want to know how that patients and and love and particular time, but it should be something that is part of her.
Well, Christianity, as we've been saying, is characterized by diligence, and Peter uses that word several times as we've noticed in practical still notice. And when these things are a reality in our soul, it's going to motivate us to live the Christian life. Some run into people, but they read to us this morning about purpose of parts. Barnabas went down and ignored the brother with purpose of parts that they would leave unto the Lord.
And purpose of parts is really when there is a desire motivated by an object.
And when there's, there's real motivation, then there's diligence. When the athlete is motivated to train and to participate, well, then there's action too. He doesn't just sit on the sidelines. He doesn't just stay at the, uh, starting, starting line of the right. No, he runs with endurance. The race has been set before him. There's motivation. And so I believe that's what he's saying here. When these things really get down into our soul, not just the truth. That said intellectually.
I'm not really gonna motivate. We might know the truth. We might know all about how to walk the Christian pathway, but there has to be motivation. Let me go back to a little illustration we use the other day. But you know, you and I might go all about how we get home after these meetings. We might know what to do in our cars, how to go to the airport and check in and all that. We have it all up here in our in our head. And you ask me how I'm gonna get back to Smith's Falls. I'm gonna tell you. I'm gonna do web check in later today and tomorrow. I'm gonna go to the airport and I know how to go through security and I know how to board a plane.
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But if there's no motivation, I would stay. I could stay in Regina till the Lord comes. I'm not trying to be facetious, but I'm just saying there has to be more than just the mental ascent to knowing the truth. And brethren, if we sit in these seats and take up this chapter and it doesn't get down into our soul, it doesn't get down into our hearts, then we're not going to go away anymore motivated than when we came.
But if the practical things of God that we've had before us in these meetings affect our conscience and our heart, we're going to go home a different way. And I'm not saying a different highway or a different airline or whatever, but a different way in the sense that we're going to go home with a deeper and greater motivation. And we're not going to be idle in our Christian pathway. Let's, let's be very practical about this. We're going to go home and seek to be a help in our local assembly. We're going to go to doctor worker school and we're going to.
Seek to be a testimony to those around us. We're going to seek to help out other members of the body of Christ, whatever it might be. And that's what's going to bring about fruit in our Christian lives. And what God wants, brethren, is fruit. And what is fruit? Well, if we were to go back and read the 15th chapter of of John, if we were to read in Galatians where you have the fruit of the Spirit, fruit is really the expression of Christ in a believers life.
And brother, that's what he wants. I'm not. Yes, it may involve gospel work. It may involve ministering the truth in one way or another. But what God really wants in your life and mine is a reflection of Christ. That's what real fruit is, may take on various other forms. You want to bear fruit for God's glory. These things and what are these things? They're the things we talked about yesterday.
That precede here. If these things are a reality in our souls, we're neither going to be idle in our Christian pathway and we're not going to be unfruitful. We're going to have a reflection of Christ in our lives for his glory and for the blessing of others.
I was thinking about these things being in you, that brotherly kindness by this shall omen know that you are the disciples, that you have loved one to another. And uh, I was, uh, not too long ago, uh, someone was telling us about the blessing that the Lord was doing among other people. And this jealousy welled up in my soul. I thought, what is this I'm jealous of that God is using somebody else.
These are the people of God. Christ is being exalted. And I'm wondering, you know, you know, they're not doing it among us. So those things are really, these things are very practical. You know, that if our heart isn't taking in every believer, you what's on your heart is not what's on God's heart. Every believer is precious to him.
But what we had yesterday was just as precious.
That we walk in a way that pleases the Lord. And so those things that they're not balanced in our life, then we these things are not in US really.
He asked a question, the, uh, this fruit that you speak of, umm, we have the wedding garments mentioned, uh, yesterday and there were those righteousnesses of the Saints and, uh, I'm wondering whether some of these things you speak of, would they be learned? Who spoke of, umm, a stitch, uh, in that garment are, are these things with this pie? I'm asking, yes, I believe someone has said that, that the righteousness is of Saints. There that garment that, that everything that a believer is done for the Lord is another stitch in that garment.
But there can be a lack of these things too, if we're not careful and watchful in our Christian pathway. And so he brings that out in verse nine. Now there's two conditions here that he speaks of. He speaks of blind and cannot see a far off or short sighted. Now I want to go to first John for a moment and and then make a little contrast here because there's a condition similar in first John, but I believe in a little bit different context.
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First John, chapter 2.
And I won't read all of this, but he's talking about a person who hates his brother and so on. And then in verse 11 he says, but he that hateth his brother is in darkness and walketh in darkness and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes. Now I'm going to suggest that in first John it's an unbeliever. Is that right, Bruce? It's an unbeliever because in John you have one or the other. We're we're in the light or we're not in the light.
Where a child of God or we're not a child of God, it's one or the other. So the one that's blind in first John is an unbeliever who's walking in darkness apart from God, because apart from God it's darkness.
But I suggest here that it's a little different context because what he's saying, I believe, is that, well, we are always in the light. And I want to stress that, brethren, we are in the light. If we know Christ as our Savior, if we're part of the family of God, we're in the light, but we can close our eyes and walk in darkness.
If I close my eyes to the light, I may walk down the sunniest side of the street in Smiths Falls that there is. But if I close my eyes, I'm not going to see where I'm going and I'm going to start bumping into people. I'm going to fall off the sidewalk. I'm going to hurt myself and maybe get run over by a vehicle. And so we are in the light. But it is possible for a believer to act or walk as if he's not. But then two, there's another condition here.
I may not completely close my eyes to the light and stumble. If I close my eyes to the light, the present things that are in front of Maine, I'm going to triple over. But I can also be short sighted. That is, I lose sight of what is ahead because it tells us in Proverbs chapter 29 where no vision is the people perish or the people cast off restraint and brethren, what is going to motivate us to live the Christian life?
And to walk for God's glory in a practical way now, while here in this world.
It's to have a vision of what's ahead, and Peter's going to go on and talk about that. An abundant entrance into the everlasting Kingdom.
Gonna talk about what's ahead for the believer in a future day as we reign with Christ and so on. And the day's gonna dawn. The daystar rises in our hearts and so on. It's to have vision. And so we must have vision. So there's two conditions. I close my eyes to the light. I stumble on what's in front of me. That's, that's, that's what's right there. I'm short sighted. I'm not seeing the end of the pathway.
I'm not looking on to the glory. I don't know if that commends itself, but I just suggest that.
We get a picture of those that you're talking about in the walk with their eyes shut. Shall we say Christians are walking their eyes shut not knowing where they go, Do we? Is that a picture that we get in Philippians chapter 3 where it speaks of?
Brethren, be followers together me and mark them which walk so as we have us, you have us for an example. And then he says for many walk, of whom I have told you often, and I'll tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction.
Well, it's those again that only lift the eyes above as far as the horizons of this sad world. And it is possible for a Christian to fall into that kind of a category. You know, it's interesting with Abraham and Lot, you have that contrast. Abraham on a number of occasions was told to lift up his eyes.
And he lifted them up to heaven, and God blessed him in that way. But you read too that lot lifted up his eyes.
And he beheld the well watered plain of Jordan. He only lifted up his eyes as far as this world, the horizons of this world. And what was the result? He was a real believer, but he only lived for present advantage.
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He lived like this was this world was all he had, and he built everything for present advantage. Sad to say, to see it all burned up and and gone because everything in this world only has present advantage. It's all reserved under fire and you and I need to live rather than in light of eternity. If we get short sighted, we're gonna get discouraged, we're gonna fall, we're gonna get cast down. But I believe to live in light of eternity.
Is what a Christian is exhorted to do in the New Testament. It's running the race with the prize in view. In Philippians where you read it it What's the prize in the Christian life? The prize in the Christian life is always Christ in glory.
That's what the prize is. It's looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of of faith. It's to have more than just the horizons of this world. And an earthly minded Christian is a Christian who's not going to exhibit these things, but what is what makes an earthly mind a Christian? They lock these things or they're not. You notice Mr. Darby's translation. They don't have these things as a they're, it's not present with them.
We have them. They're they're available to us. It's the tool box we spoke of the other day there. It's all available, available, but they're not availing themselves of the present resources that they have.
I know it's a little different, but in in the 46 Psalm, it says he's a present health. He's there, but do we avail ourselves of the resources that we have in him? That's what's going to make an earthly mind a Christian. We lose sight of Christ, we lose sight of the end, and now we only take up with the things of this world.
That's why we need to have the Word of God before us continually. And this is Peter. It's interesting. I think you mentioned it before, but he uses this little term, these things five times in verse eight. If these things be in you and abound, they'll make you that you shall neither be barren or idle nor unfruitful. And then verse 9. But he that lacketh these things is blind and short sighted. And then in the end of verse 10.
If you do these things, you shall never fall. And then in verse 12 in the middle, and I will put you in remembrance always, always in remembrance of these things, though you know them and be established in the present truth. And then in verse 15 after my deceased, to have these things always in remembrance. And so it takes focus.
I would give a little bit of an illustration. I sometimes when I'm on the highway and I've got a place to go and I've got miles to put on.
I'm focused and I want to get there and I look at the billboards all along the road and I, it's like a game that I play, uh, with these billboards, they're, they're, there's some effort by someone spent a lot of money to try to get me off the highway.
And into their establishment and whether it's the price of the fuel or whether it's something else, there's billboards the whole way and they're trying to get me off the highway and to lose my focus. Well, a believer to bear fruit for the Lord.
Needs to have purpose of heart and needs to have energy in the path of faith and needs to be reminded of these things. He uses this word as well. Remember remembrance. I think three times in verse 12 put you always in remembrance of these things.
Verse 13 put you in remembrance, and verse 15 always in remembrance.
We need these things brought before us continually, and we need to remind one another as well, and to remember that the world is going to have all kinds of billboards try to get us out of the path of focus and energy and the things of God.
And off into some other rabbit trail.
There's two directions to that. We can be short sighted in what's ahead. We've spoken of that. But we can forget where we've come from too. We he forgets that he's been purged from his old sins. And brethren, we never want, we want to look back to Calvary and never forget what happened there too. To remember what took place there and to remember the work of grace in our souls that gave us these things. So I think sometimes we forget.
What God has done and so we take up with the things of the world, forgetting that those we've been purged from those things. Those things have no are are not to have an effect on us. Now those things were taken care of Calvary and we've been delivered from those things, but we go back to them. We go back to that which we've been delivered from and we start practicing again that which we have been delivered from. We've been purged from those things.
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You know, you often see a believer when he's first saved and he's, as we often say, on fire for the Lord. And there's a real change, a turn around in their life and they've left the old things that they once were involved in, but then they forget. They get a little short sighted in forgetting that they were delivered from those things and that there was a time when they had left those things behind. So we need to have the future in before us, but we need to look back to and never forget what we've been delivered from and to remember the grace of God.
That has delivered us from those things.
We find that the, uh, the, uh, Thessalonians Saints, when they got, when I heard the word of God, uh, there's a, there's a good report went up on them showing that they were, they were falling the, the word that was given to them. And of course, Thessalonians chapter one, the apostle says, umm, uh, for from you sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and IKEA, but also in every place your faith to Godward is spread abroad so that we need not be to speak anything.
For they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we add unto you, and how ye turn to God, come idle to serve the living and true God, and to wait for her tongue from heaven.
So there there was a going on. It was not forgetting those things that they had heard, but to to they had an object before them, and that was the coming of the Lord Jesus and that kept him going on in the right time so that they're they're their activities, their their character was should was being shed abroad through all the all those around in a chaos and the apostles, no, didn't even have to say anything because they were speaking.
So the point here is that we must keep our focus in the right direction. We lose sight of that. We're going to go back to our former lifestyle. We're going to adopt those old sins and habits. And he goes on in verse 10 and says, wherefore rather that gives you the opposite.
Brethren, give diligence to make your calling an election sure he would rather be to see them to to go on in such a way as that all around would be sure to see that we're there has been a real change in our lives. There's been real conversion and we truly are the elect of God. So the making the calling and the election sure is in the eyes of our fellow man. God doesn't need to know it. He of course knows it and we know we're elect, but our lives should show that to others and they should be able to see.
We truly are the elect of God and we have that confidence too that our, Our Calling an election are sure and and you do what you bring out is uh, our brother Ken now has just told us how the Thessalonians were going on. But when he gets to the 4th chapter, he says avoid fornication. When I see that, I think Paul, why are you talking about this? These people are going on because he realized that they got away from the Lord.
To go back to the things that they came out of. And that's the word that should be used here, purged from his old sins or from his former sins. It should be translated. When you see people adopting former lifestyle, the pre conversion sins will come into their life. It's because they have lost sight of the focus that he's mentioning here. And he's persuaded that this should not be true of the Saints. And so he's saying that you need to give diligence rather to make your calling and your election. Sure.
How do we give diligence? Well, by adopting these seven things that we mentioned in the previous verses last time we were together.
Is that right? Yes, and it's to keep the freshness of Our Calling and election in our own souls. And again, it goes back to what we said earlier. Because if if I have in my own soul the freshness and reality of my calling and election, it's going to show in my practical life. It has to start with within. But then there's going to be the practical. And as Bruce said, that's what he's saying here. So by their fruit she shall know them. It's a sad condition when a believer.
Returns to their former way of life as when they were unbelievers, and we have to say the Lord knows them that are his. That's a sad condition of a believer and it's true. The Lord does know them that are his and it's true.
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You know, Lot was never restored to the Lord this side of heaven. If it wasn't confirmed to us in the New Testament that He was a believer, that He was a righteous man, we might well wonder if we were going to see Lord in heaven. But He was a righteous man, but He never was restored in this life. Sad condition, but that's not the way it's to be with a believer. He wants us to keep before us due diligence, to keep this calling an election fresh in our souls so that there will be a practical outward manifestation of it in our lives. That is really what the point of this verse is.
I it is not the fact, and I know we all understand, but let's just reaffirm this is not the fact that there's anything we have to do with Our Calling an election as far as God's work, God called God. We were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. The calling was his. He worked in us both to will and do of His good pleasure. It's all we were electing. The foreknowledge of God and so on has nothing to do with us, but it has everything to do.
With keeping it fresh in our souls and giving testimony to it, as to it, to the world around us, Peter makes a promise.
Peter makes a promise at the end of that tenth verse, and if you do these things, you shall never fail. That word should be translated, uh, fall. It should be translated stumble, apparently from Kelly's translation. I think it's interesting, uh, and significant that, uh, believers are not viewed as falling in the sense of because that's a word that's used in the New Testament for apostasy. Believers can backslide and go back, but it's interesting that the word is stumbled here.
And uh, that's not the normal Christian life to be a stumbling along, bouncing off of every Hard Rock and making a bunch of mistakes in our life. He wants us to live the victorious Christian life, so to speak. And so these things are so necessary in our lives.
If you do these things, you see how He's bringing the responsibility of man before us in these verses, we had the sovereignty of God supplying all the need, all the tools for us to do it. Here the onus is directly on our shoulders. We need to do these things and we will not stumble. Let's re. I'm sorry.
Let let's wait in that connection. Go to the book of Jude and you see something similar. And this is a guarantee as well. And again, you have to go to Mr. Darby's translation to get the sense of it. But again, in Jude, he's exhorting us at the beginning to earnestly contend for the faith to go on in spite of the giving up of the truth. And the day's very parallel to the days in which we find ourselves this this morning. But notice what he says at the end of his exhortation, verse 24.
Now unto him that is able to keep you from it ought to read stumbling again. A believer has never looked at as falling in the New Testament, and so it's able to keep you from stumbling. I want to use a little illustration of sometimes used before.
Because when my girls were little, we would go out for a walk and when we would come to a rough spot in the ground, I would often take their hand.
Because we were going over some tree branches, some Stony areas, a little hill or whatever it might be, and I could keep them from falling, but I couldn't always keep them from stumbling and so they would.
Trip on that tree branch and they would stumble. They wouldn't fall because I was holding them tight, but I could not always keep them from stumbling. But brethren, isn't it amazing if we walk in communion with our God and with the resources and the tools that have been given to us? There is an absolute guarantee, both in our chapter here and what we've just read in June, that we don't even have to stumble in our Christian pathway.
If I stumble in my Christian pathway, it's not God's fault go. It's not because God has let go of my hand. It's not because He hasn't provided the tools to live all things we had that pertain unto life and godliness. If I stumble in my Christian pathway, it's because I have not availed myself of all the resources that I have in Christ through God the Father.
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Is that right? Yes, it is. We often say Peter had a fall. If you want to be technically accurate, you should say Peter stumbled. Falling in New Testament is apostasy, and so we're distinguishing two things here. I might add also that there are two kinds of departure from God, backsliding and apostasy. They're both bad, but ones infinitely worse. A believer can backslide, but he does not apostatize.
And falling or falling away is used in the New Testament to describe the apostasy. Not a believer, uh, backsliding. So we could say that Peter stumbled. Judas on the other hand, he fell. And it says that in Acts chapter one.
If your daughter had a responsibly participated with that guiding hand, she would not swim very good.
And that's really the point of, of these two matters here in this chapter of the sovereignty of God and our responsibility. We tend to, uh.
Put it on cruise control when it comes to the sovereignty of God.
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What you said Bruce, in Ephesians 5 four, tell us what that means. I mean not Ephesians, Galatians 5 four about fallen and how does that how does that figure in there?
Read it. Christ has become of no effect unto you, whosoever you are justified by law.
Ye are fallen, or you have fallen away from grace.
We can fall from grace. We can fall from our steadfastness. That's the last, second, last verse of our epistle.
But we don't fall away.
As apostasy speaks of, so we can follow the idea of falling there, slipping.
It turned to the last chapter of our epistle that we're on second Peter chapter 3.
And verse 18 grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Now the verse before that, verse 17 Ye therefore, beloved, seeing that ye know these things before, beware, lest also you be LED away.
With the error of the wicked, and fall from your own steadfastness.
And again, it's the same idea of slipping from your your steadfastness. It's not the thought of apostasy. Yeah, because he's talking to dear believers. He calls him beloved.
And that's what we've been saying. Isn't it wonderful to have this opportunity this afternoon or this morning and this weekend to sit and hear the Word? But in itself that is not enough. But just our time is going. And just to go on to the 11Th verse, we find there that He put something before them, the future. But you'll notice here, it's not to have an abundant entrance into heaven. Brethren, we're all going to have an abundant entrance into heaven when the Lord comes.
Every believer is going to hear the shout, they're going to have an abundance and he's going to usher us himself into the Father's house. But it's an abundant entrance into the Kingdom. That's quite another matter because you know, there will be degrees in the Kingdom, there'll be degrees of reward and administration. And so, and I know the language is figurative, but he says be thou over 5 cities, be thou over 10 cities, and there will be loss at the judgment seat of Christ.
Not lost for what He can not lost as far as our salvation, of course that is secure in the hand of God in Christ. But there will. It refers to there being lost, loss of that which He can reward us for.
So the LO age-old illustration has often been used about the two sailing ships and they leave port and they both go through a storm. But one sailing ship has been I'll rigged. They haven't taken proper supplies on board.
They haven't re roped the sales, they haven't repaired the sales. They perhaps don't have such a competent captain. They've got a crew that isn't that experience and they bought those ships. Both go through tremendous storms on their way to port, but the other ship, it's made the proper preparations. They haven't experienced captain and crew and not only have they upgraded the rigging and the sails and so on.
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But during the storm and the journey, they keep upgrading and they keep repairing and so on. What happens when those ships enter the port at the other side? Well, one ship enters battered, a mast is broken, the sails are torn, the ropes are gone.
The sailors are hungry because they didn't and thirsty because they didn't have the proper provisions on board. But the other ship makes an abundant entrance. It comes in with all sails out and blowing in the wind, and the crew is healthy and everything, everything looks wonderful. That's an abundant entrance. And that's what he wants us to have into the Kingdom. He wants to be able to say to us, be thou over 10 cities, we're all going to get rewards. That's true. Every man is going to have praise of God.
But if we live for His glory now, availing ourselves of the resources that we have for the blessing and good of others, then we're going to be able to have an abundant entrance. And then he's going to be able to say, well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. So this verse 11 is not got to do with the rapture, no, but the appearing of Christ. And you'll see a little later he'll bring in the Kingdom.
Near the end of the chapter as well, and I think it's important to see that that it's to do with the the the results of the judgment see put on display in the Kingdom. As you've been saying to us. I remember my uncle Stan used to say at the rapture. Responsibility is not taken up. He's the bridegroom coming for his bride and responsibility is not addressed at that moment were to be in his arms and were taken into the father's house and be great rejoicing. We're finding united together forever.
Then the judgment seat will take place, then the Kingdom after the seven years of tribulation is on. Then the Kingdom will be set up and that's when the responsibility will come into view. What is I, what is Bruce Anstey been doing in his life? Well you're going to find out when the Kingdom is comes into display because we're all going to be manifest in that day before the wandering worlds. Why does it call it everlasting?
Wayne, would you, you know, for that the Kingdom is that just for 1000 years. Daniel Chapter 7, It's really perhaps referring to Daniel Chapter 7, the same language, the same, umm, everlasting in connection with the, the Jews had to do with everything that had to do with the present age or the present world. And so, umm, Chapter 7 and uh, let's read verse 13 of Daniel.
I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of Man, came with clouds of heaven, and came to the ancient of Days, and they brought him near before him, and there was given him dominion and glory, and a Kingdom that all people, nations, and languages should serve him as dominion is of everlasting dominion.
Which shall not pass away in his Kingdom, that which shall not be destroyed. So nothing will supersede the Kingdom of the Lord, and in that sense is an everlasting Kingdom.
And you find that expression in the song of Israel on the banks of the Red Sea. He shall reign forever and ever. I like the way John Ruskin Gill. I don't remember John Ruskin Gill, but I remember hearing a reading a quote from him. He said the Millennium is the front porch to the eternal state. And while it's true in the eternal state, it's not referred to as a Kingdom because a Kingdom gives the thought of something that needs to be ruled over, suppressed, brought into order, put down or whatever. And he's going to put down all enemies, and then he's going to turn the Kingdom over to the Father.
That God may be All in all, you get that in one Corinthians 15. But what is established in the Kingdom in that sense, though, will go on into the eternal state without it being without there being anything that has to be put down or corrected or or ruled over. So perhaps that's the thought, but maybe you have a thought for no, no, that's, that's I thank you. That's a good answer.
It's an important point, really, that he brings out in connection with the Jewish believers.
About this Kingdom because that's really what they had in view as an earthly Kingdom and their identification with the Lord Jesus within that Kingdom. And so the writer, the Hebrews, says in chapter 12 of the Hebrews, the Epistle to the Hebrews. And that, umm, verse 27 yet once more signifies the removing of those things that are shaken as of things that are made and that thing, those things which cannot be shaken.
00:45:03
May remain, wherefore we receiving a Kingdom which cannot be moved. Let us have grace. And so he sets before them a Kingdom that cannot be moved and will not be moved, that everlasting reign. And we know that it's not referring to heaven that, uh, because we're not, we don't gain heaven on the basis or the principle of good works. And so it's not that we keep these things and then we, the reward is that we get to heaven. So this verse of scripture really can be taken out of context. It's not heaven.
It's really the Kingdom I see.
Well, moving along, verse 12 marks another paragraph and he brings another thought in here altogether. He's not changing the subject, but he's still speaking about those things that are necessary for us to be kept in an evil day. But he brings in another thing, and that is the importance of being established in the present truth. Learning the truth and being established in it is necessary. Now we often hear people say that the truth won't keep you, but, and we know what they mean, they're probably trying to say the truth alone will not keep you. But the Bible does teach us the truth keeps the believers as long as he's kept in communion with God.
So the truth alone will not keep us, but because we have to hold it in communion with God. And I'll give you a verse in Psalm 40 which shows you that the truth does keep us in that in that way. Psalm 40.
Psalm 40.
And verse.
11 Hold not withhold not thy tender mercies from me, O Lord, let thy loving kindness and Thy truth continually preserve thee me. Notice it's coupled with the enjoyment of His loving kindness.
And so it brings in the thought of communion. And so the truth does does have a a keeping effect if we're kept in communion with God be established in the present truth. He's remember he's talking to.
Converts from Judaism who were well established and Judaism, Judaism and Judaistic principles and the law and all the statutes and knew their responsibilities more or less with regard to that old economy. But they had been saved and brought into Christian economy and they needed to get established in the present truth. And that is important that we understand the calling that we have. It's entirely different from what Israel has and it is distinct in every way the Israel. The more you study Scripture, the more you'll find.
That Israel and the church are so vastly different in their calling and in their destiny, their character and so on. And the need for a believer is to, especially one who's come out of Judaism is to get established and what characterizes true Christianity, it is not a mixture. And this has been the enemy's work since the get go from Pentecost onward, is to mix Judaism and Christianity. And there's nothing that will confuse you more than to start mixing up Christianity with Judaism. And we know that.
But oftentimes we we belay our our confession and ask questions and we'll make statements to show that we do want to mix these two together. So it's important that we keep these things distinct.
Yes, I think so. Good, good. Now we need to make a little practical suggestion too. When we minister the truth of God, when we minister from Scripture, if we make an application, say it's an application.
I think that's very helpful because I think sometimes we've grown up hearing applications of scripture and we heard them so often and they were right applications, but we began to think they were the interpretation or the meaning of Scripture. And so we take Old Testament stories and portions and yes, we do. We, we, they are pictures and illustrations and applications. But let's make sure and even with New Testament scriptures.
Maybe we take scriptures in Matthew where it's really in its interpretation, the Lord is referring to the Kingdom and it's, it's uh, Jewish in its character. We can make applications, but let's be clear that that is what they are. I I find that very helpful for my own soul. At least we've just done that. Yes, and that's good in Philippians when it talks about for many walk of whom I have told you often and tell you even weeping that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction.
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Whose God is their belly, and whose glory and their shame, Who mind earthly things?
You find 10 times in Revelation these men spoken of, they have rejected heaven and they have chosen earth.
And they take up with the Antichrist. They're, you know, they're the people who.
Are have no time for Christianity, but they want to abort the babies and save the whales or they want they're all taken up with ecology, the things of this earth and have no time for for God. So that's the difference. There's a difference between being earthly minded and worldly minded.
Yeah, I, I no, that's right. And I'm gonna make an application now from this little expression in our verse, the present truth. You know, there's so much today that would look for some new or fresh revelation. But brethren, the truth we hold in our hands in this word is the present truth. That is, it's relevant to what we are, our situation today. It's just as relevant today as it was when Paul wrote or when Peter wrote to the Saints.
It's just as relevant today as it was to our grandfathers. It's just as relevant today as it was when some of us were in this room last year. It is the present truth. It fits what's happening today.
And if we take up the Word of God and read it in that light, we're going to get a blessing and we're going to get light and instruction for our pathway even in 2015. It is the present truth. Don't go and look for something else. Don't look for fresh light or fresh revelation at the end of this dispensation. And don't shove it off by saying, well, that those scriptures were good back in the day or that applied back when things were a little different, no.
The truth is good for all time. That's an application.
I'd like to ask a question. Does not this present truth has have something to do with knowing the truth and applying it to our circumstances in the day of ruin? Because this is second Peter. Yes, I was going to say that actually. I was going to say that actually my brother-in-law insists on that. But this is more than just knowing Christian doctrine as opposed to Old Testament truth. Both are truth, one is present truth. But he said present truth goes even beyond that.
To take in its special application to the Saints walk in ways in a day of ruin because that's the subject of the second Timothy, the 2nd epistles that we're reading. And so we do need to know how to conduct ourselves when the truth has been given up by the masses and there is a path to set up before us and we're called to walk in a in a in remnant testimony days. So he includes that with it. I think that that's right, Robert.
We have just a few minutes left, maybe we should pass on a little bit further. He brings another thing in here on our part to make us responsible with regard to being kept in an evil day, and that is in the latter part of the chapter.
The necessity of keeping the coming scene of glory before us. God's glorious end. What is God's glorious end? To save people. No, that's not God's great purpose. His greatest purpose is to glorify His Son in two spheres, in heaven and on earth, to save people. Yes, He does want to save people. It's His desire, and He does it in route to accomplishing His great purpose, to exalt His Son. But that's not the highest purpose of God. To save souls is to glorify His Son.
And so he brings before us in the latter verses of the chapter the Kingdom glory that's going to be displayed.
In in in the coming day and that millennial Kingdom that we've been Speaking of and he would have us to have our hearts fixed on that time and those things that pertain to the the glory of Christ in display. And he mentions in verse 19 something that's interesting. So if we could pass forward to verse 19 since we are running out of time.
Alright, we have a more sure word of prophecy. Why aren't you, if we do well to take heed as unto a light or a lamp that shineth in a dark place, or an obscure place until day, dawn and the daystar arise in your hearts.
Now he's speaking in this verse of the importance of paying attention to prophecy. This would be Old Testament prophecy. It's a healthy thing for the believer because it points you forward and keeps the focus in the right direction, which Brother Hyland has been telling us. And it's another means by which our hearts are pushed forward. But he mentions 2 lights here, and he uses them in contrast with one another. And he's using it in connection with the light that the Saints in the Old Testament had and the light that the Saints in the New Testament have.
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The two lights are a lamp and the dawning of day. You know a lamp you could is like likened to to what they had as far as lighting Judaism, it provides light, but it's not the brightest light. But what we have in Christianity, the full light of the truth of the revelation has come out now through the apostles is he he uses under the figure of the dawning of day the broad daylight. And if you hold up a lamp in broad daylight, you hardly see the light from the lamp because of the broad daylight is so superior.
To that. And So what he's saying is that we do well to take heed to prophecy because it's like a light or a lamp. But the more we study prophecy, the more we'll understand that Christianity and the Christians calling is so diversely different that it's contrasted like day dawning as opposed to the lamp. And what happens as we study those things, we begin to see how different the church is, it's calling, its destiny and so on and the great result that comes out of that.
This is a day star arises in our hearts. What's that? That's the hope of the Lord's coming, the Rapture.
Because the Lord comes as the day star and the rapture. But so the more we pay attention to, uh, the truth and learn how wonderfully blessed we are in the revelation of Christianity, the day that what happens is that the, the, the, the hope of the Lord's coming, the rapture burns brighter in our hearts because everything in the New Testament revelation of Christian truth works toward that end, toward the Lord coming. And that's our hope.
And are to be glorified with Him. And it works to that end. So may we be occupied with those heavenly things both in the Old Testament and rather those coming things of glory in the Old Testament as well as in the New.
So when he says day dawn, he's not talking about the Millennium there, He's talking about the Christian revelation of truth. Let me say that again. When he says day dawn, he's not talking about the Millennium. He's talking about the revelation of Christian truth. And he's using it in contrast to the lamp that they had in the Old Testament, which is by far inferior as far as what it produces in light.
So don't, don't, don't neglect Old Testament prophecy.
To the Kingdom glories that are that are coming.
The Old Testament could be divided into two things in connection with the Messiah. Peter speaks about it in his first epistle. He says that it really brings the forest, the sufferings of Christ and the glories that should follow the sufferings of Christ. Of course, we know what that's about. This is what He suffered when he came here as a man and when he died to put away sins and so on. But the glories that follow are referring to His Kingdom, glories that He is yet to come into. There's 2000 years between those two statements. This is Mr. Darby, put it that way.
The sufferings of Christ 2000 years and the glories to follow, which is Kingdom glories. I've heard so many times people say the sufferings of Christ and the glories that followers talking about the glories that he's in now, the mediatorial glories of Christ that he has now.
What's referred to there in Peter? Because, uh, it's talking about Kingdom glory.
Is that right, brother Vern? Yes. And Paul fills in the gap there, Yeah.
You've seen 208.
208.
And then hold your left or West belonging, your eyes waiting to see the morning star arrives.
A blossom will his adventure before the sun shines forth.
1.
Sunshine.
On his floor.
Is there anything else I can do?