View Full Transcript
Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Peter's second letter and chapter three, the third chapter of the second letter of Peter.
[00:00:14] I'm going to read this evening from the revised standard, version two, Peter, chapter three, from verse one.
[00:00:29] This is now the second letter that I have written to you, beloved, and in both of them I have aroused your sincere mind by way of reminder that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles.
[00:00:48] First of all, you must understand this, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own passions and saying, where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things have continued as they were from the beginning of creation.
[00:01:09] They deliberately ignore this fact that by the word of God heavens existed long ago, and an earth formed out of water, and by means of water, through which the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished.
[00:01:27] But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist have been stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
[00:01:40] But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some count slowness, but is forbearing toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
[00:02:03] But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and the works that are upon it will be burned up.
[00:02:19] Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of persons ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be kindled and dissolved, and the elements will melt with fire.
[00:02:40] But according to his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you wait for these be zealous, to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace, and count the forbearance of our Lord as salvation. So also our beloved brother Paul, who wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, speaking of this as he does in all his letters, there are some things in them hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures.
[00:03:22] You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, beware, lest you be carried away with the error of lawless men and lose your own stability, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ, to him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity.
[00:03:46] Amen.
[00:03:51] Now, in this series of studies that we have been taking together, we have been considering the words of scripture, the commands of the word of God concerning our being prepared for the coming of the Lord, what the word of God says about being prepared and ready for the end times and for Christ's second coming.
[00:04:23] And I think now we have gone a little too far to review the number of words that are in the scripture which we have considered. But tonight I would like to take up another, and in the time that we have the ability that the Lord gives to try and take perhaps three more points tonight. And the first is this. We find it in the passage that we have read together in two Peter, chapter three, let us live lives of holiness and godliness.
[00:05:07] Peter the apostle, speaking of the final conflagration out of which a new heaven and a new earth will emerge, asks us all to consider what kind of people we ought to be in the light of that end.
[00:05:31] He speaks by the spirit of God, of lives of holiness and godliness. One, Peter, two, Peter, chapter three, verse eleven.
[00:05:48] That is it. In the revised standard, lives of holiness and godliness. In the new international version it reads holy and godly lives, and in the new American Standard Bible, holy conduct and godliness. In the revised Version, the American Standard Version, holy living and godliness. In your old authorized version, holy conversation and godliness.
[00:06:26] It would be well for us to consider more closely this phrase, lives of holiness and godliness.
[00:06:37] The apostle Peter does not talk about all the sequence of events at the end. He doesn't sort of fascinate us with all kinds of details about the Lord's second coming, except that we have the most remarkable description of what we would call today a nuclear explosion, elements melting with fervent heat, heaven and earth catching fire and dissolving.
[00:07:13] It is quite remarkable, seeing that all these things will be burnt up, that they will melt, they will be dissolved.
[00:07:22] He then says, what kind of people ought we to be in all holy living and godliness? In other words, he does not put the emphasis upon a technical sequence of events, being clear about what follows what. But where he puts the emphasis is upon spiritual character and behavior, lives of holiness and godliness. Now we ought to note the word holy.
[00:08:01] Holy conversation, holy conduct, holy living, holy.
[00:08:13] The greek word translated holy or holiness is also the same word from which we get the word in English, sanctification, to sanctify and saint.
[00:08:27] All three words come from the same root, fundamentally, it signifies being set aside, separation from sin. That is, in the new testament, from sin, from the flesh, from the world, from the devil. Being set aside, separated from these things for God.
[00:08:59] Now, the interesting thing is that it is not really negative, but positive. Amongst the greeks, they used this Word about people being dedicated to the gods.
[00:09:13] Dedicated to the gods, set aside, holy to the gods.
[00:09:19] And this word was used in the New TeSTaMent for the hebrew word also, which means to be set aside for God. Kadesh or kodesh. In Hebrew, we get a lot of different words in Hebrew from this same root.
[00:09:37] So we have a remarkable idea here. Far removed from many people's ideas of holiness.
[00:09:51] Essentially, it is a question of being separated or set aside to the Lord.
[00:10:04] So true holiness is not something dreary, something dull, something artificial, something dark, something permanently sombre. I don't know why. But, you know, many young people, as soon as they hear the word holiness, and many older ones for that matter, they nearly die a million deaths. Because immediately they think of people who are dreary, dull, dusty, old fashioned, square, somehow or other, just out of not really living, half dead.
[00:10:41] And the idea of holiness is that as long as you have a very sad face.
[00:10:47] And always speak all the time. About the afflictions and tribulations through which the child of God must go. And somehow or other, you dress in dark and sombre colors.
[00:11:01] And are really sort of very sort of careless about your appearance.
[00:11:07] You're holy.
[00:11:10] That's not what the word of God speaks of as holiness.
[00:11:15] The word of God speaks about something which means that by an act of God, you have been set aside for him. By an act of God, you have been separated from your sins.
[00:11:31] They've been. You've been loosed from them.
[00:11:35] You've been cut off from them.
[00:11:38] You have been taken out of this world. You have been delivered from the powers of darkness. And translated. Transferred into the kingdom of his dear sons. That's the idea.
[00:11:52] By an act of God, you have been transferred out of one world into another. Out of one realm into another. Out of Adam, into Christ, out of an old creation, out of an old man into Christ, into the new man, into the new creation. By an act of God.
[00:12:18] There's nothing dreary or dull about that.
[00:12:23] The very fact that we're set aside to God. Means that we begin to understand. That our bodies are temples of the living go of the living God, temples of the Holy Spirit.
[00:12:35] We need to be alive. We need to be presentable. We need to be rightly attractive. Because we are set aside unto God. We are his witnesses, we are his representatives.
[00:12:50] But isn't it strange, in christian circles you associate holiness missions with all that's dull and dreary?
[00:12:59] Not in their beginnings. When I think of misses Chm, misses Morris's marvellous rollicking hymns. Those early days of the holiness movement must have been terrific.
[00:13:16] I've always wanted to meet misses Morris because of the hymns she has written. You know, about the honey and milk dripping from every tree. That's one of her hymns. Half has never been told. And dozens of other hymns like that. Somehow they didn't somehow go with what we now associate with holiness. But let's forget our preconceptions of holiness and let's get to the root of the matter. It's something very, very wonderful. By an act of God we have been separated from this world, our links with the powers of darkness severed. And we have been joined to the living God, made one with him.
[00:14:07] I say, that is simply wonderful. It means that we have become partakers of the divine nature, partakers of his Holiness, to use another scriptural phrase.
[00:14:22] Therefore, you see that it is not in the first place to do with outward trappings, but inward character, this matter of holiness. There's an old saying in Scandinavia that it is easier to wear black stockings than to have a pure heart.
[00:14:47] Oh, how true. It is much easier to look the part of being a pietist than to really have an inward spirituality character.
[00:15:01] But it is the heart that God first looks at, and that is the thing that is of supreme importance to him.
[00:15:14] So I think that we have to understand this, and then we have been. We have to understand that we have been by the grace of God alone, separated from our sin, from the world, from the flesh, from the powers of darkness, and joined to the Lord. That is the beginning of true holiness.
[00:15:35] I cannot emphasize it enough.
[00:15:39] Holiness, sanctification, being a saint is not some position or title or quality which we attain to. You see, we have all suffered from this catholic idea that somehow or other we attain to sainthood.
[00:16:02] After many good works, after much tribulation, after somehow or other striving and being zealous and devoted, we might, through the mercy of God, attain to being a saint. And as you know, the Catholic Church canonizes certain people normally a hundred years after their death, and they are finally declared to be saints. Now, the Bible doesn't know anything of this. I mean, the apostle Paul is always writing letters to the saints at so and so. They weren't dead for a hundred years and they hadn't been canonized by anybody.
[00:16:43] Who are these saints that he writes to at Corinth? Now, if there's one church I would have thought that was devoid of saints, it would have been Corinth. Yet he speaks of the saints there and in every place.
[00:17:00] Is he blind? Is he stupid?
[00:17:04] He goes on to talk about people taking lawsuits against one another, getting drunk at the Lord's table, immorality of the grossest and most depraved kind. Is the man blind that he calls these people saints? I would have thought that he should have at least kept that word out of his vocabulary when he wrote. He could have wrote to sinners saved by grace, but he writes to saints now. The point is simply this, that it is not something we attain to either the title or the position or the quality.
[00:17:47] It is something into which we have been called by the converting grace of God.
[00:17:58] The moment God, by his spirit, converted you, you were called into this glorious position of being a saint, sanctified.
[00:18:12] Now, the sanctification may not as yet have worked out in your life, but the fact of the matter remains that that is your calling, and that is your standing. You have been called into this grace.
[00:18:28] You have been called into this position. Every redeemed child of God, as far as God is concerned, is separate from the world. Separated from their sins. Their sins have been cancelled out. They can't be converted unless their sins have been borne away by the lamb of God, cancelled out by the justifying grace of God. They have been declared righteous, just as if they had never sinned. Separated from their sins, separated from the world, they are no longer, as far as God is concerned, in Adam, they are in Christ, every one of them, to the very weakest, the one who only a few moments ago, somewhere in this universe, whispered a prayer to the Lord and asked him to come into their heart. That person is as much in Christ as I am.
[00:19:20] Thats what it means.
[00:19:22] Oh, then its something very, very wonderful when you look at it like that. We are saints by the grace of God. Thats our calling. Thats our title.
[00:19:31] Thats what the grace of God has done for us all.
[00:19:37] Such a standing, however, and we must get clear on this standing, whoever we are, whatever we are, we must get clear on it. Such a standing, however, is not to be merely a legal standing.
[00:19:51] It is to influence our whole life, our whole behavior, our whole conduct.
[00:20:01] Thus we have here holy conversation. Now, of course, the word conversation today does not mean what it meant when the translators of the authorized version got to work and therefore, we think of conversation as something we do with our mouths and not with our lives, not to do with our lives, but with our mouths, whereas the word in its original meaning meant more to do with our lives. Therefore, you have this word in your new american standard Bible, holy conduct, and in other versions, holy living and others lives of holiness and godliness. The word is just behavior, manner of life.
[00:20:54] And then you have this other word in this 11th verse of two, Peter, chapter three, godliness.
[00:21:03] And this word signifies reverence, devoutness or piety, the real kind of piety that comes from the fear of the Lord. And a very interesting thing in this verse. It is in the plural, signifying, really acts of godliness or expressions of godliness. That's why the rabbi standard version, heaven put lives of holiness and godliness, meaning that somehow this isn't just a matter of spiritual character, it is a matter of manifestation in conduct and life in behavior.
[00:21:46] So this isn't only a matter of our legal standing before God, but somehow or other, this holiness, this being set aside to the Lord, this being joined to the Lord, this being part of a new man, of a new creation, is to influence the whole of our behavior and conduct of our living.
[00:22:06] Now all this adds up to an inescapable conclusion, and that is that in the light of the end, we need a holiness and a godliness which is clearly manifested in character, living and conduct.
[00:22:28] Now look, take your Bible and look at another verse in this same chapter. Look at verse 14.
[00:22:36] Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for these things, that is a new heaven and a new earth after the whole thing has dissolved and melted in fire, give diligence that ye may be found in peace without spot and blameless in his sight.
[00:23:02] In other words, there is no room for complacency here. There is no room for sort of just saying to ourselves, all right, all right. My standing before God is all of grace.
[00:23:18] My standing before God is all to do with his love and mercy and compassion.
[00:23:26] All I have to do is just trust the Lord because he is the garment of my salvation. No, there is a little more to this. We are to give diligence, to be found in peace. What does that mean? In peace with him, surely in peace with one another in the family of God, and even in peace as far as is possible with those in the world.
[00:23:53] Don't you think this matter of being at peace finds out our real holiness more than anything else?
[00:24:03] I do.
[00:24:05] I know people who wouldn't darken a cinema but are the most irritable and bad tempered, crabby people imaginable.
[00:24:16] That is not holiness. That is world.
[00:24:22] A person who gets on the phone and backbites about another person for a solid 510 minutes and yet somehow or other comes along to a prayer meeting and reads their Bible and criticizes someone else because somehow they feel that their dress is not quite spiritual, is far more worldly than the person they criticize.
[00:24:51] You see, it all comes back to this. We are to give diligence, to be found in peace, in peace with one another, in peace in our families, in our relationships, at peace with one another in the church of God. Not only in the local company, of course, but with others elsewhere. Some people escape from the fact that someone they can't bear the sight of, thank God, worships in another company a hundred miles away.
[00:25:24] We'd rather die than be seen with them.
[00:25:28] But my dear friend, our unity is not a question just of somehow geography doesn't matter. We're supposed to be at one piece, you know, this is what finds out our holiness. Oh, it finds out. And some people, you know, they can treat the unsaved in a way they wouldn't dream of treating the Lord's people, because somehow or other they feel the unsaved are the unsaved. And it doesn't matter.
[00:25:54] Now, once or twice I've found christians slip up on this matter. They think they can treat an unsaved person in the office, an unsaved boss, an unsaved colleague or co worker in a way they wouldn't dream of treating a Christian because they're unsaved.
[00:26:11] Can't do that.
[00:26:13] Give diligence to be found at peace. Now listen to what he goes on without spot. The word is unspotted or unstained and blameless.
[00:26:28] That doesn't mean that you don't make mistakes at time. But to be blameless, that's something very wonderful, isn't it?
[00:26:37] You cannot be blamed. Sometimes we do things that are wrong, unfortunate. We make mistakes. But oh, if we could only be in the end blameless. It's a high standard, isn't it?
[00:26:54] But that's what he speaks of. Now we go on. We find once we start that this matter of being, of living lives, of holiness and godliness somehow or other goes right through the New Testament in connection with his coming. For instance, turn to revelation, chapter 19, six and seven.
[00:27:15] Hallelujah. For the Lord our God the almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be exceeding glad, and let us give the glory unto him. For the marriage of the lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready, and it was given unto her that she should array herself in fine linen, bright and pure. For the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints, the righteous acts of the saints. Has that got something to do with the bride making herself ready?
[00:27:53] So this isnt just a matter of saying, the Lord will do it all. The Lord will do it all. The bride has risen up in faith and taken hold of the grace of God. The bride has risen up by the power of the Holy Spirit and taken hold of that provision made available to her by the Lord and in the Lord righteous acts. How interesting. Look at revelation, chapter 16, verse 15. Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked. And they see his shame.
[00:28:34] Easy to let go of our garments so that our shame is seen.
[00:28:44] And then again, look at revelation 22. And another very interesting comment on all of this. Verse eleven he that is unrighteous, let him do unrighteousness still. And he that is filthy, let him be made filthy still. And he that is righteous, let him do righteousness still. And he that is holy, let him be made holy still. Now don't you think that goes to the root of the whole problem?
[00:29:19] It's a marvelous commentary on this whole thing. In other words, unless by an act of God you've been called into the holiness of God, into this sanctifying power and grace of the Lord, into this position in Christ, you cannot do righteous acts.
[00:29:36] You cannot be made holier still if you understand.
[00:29:42] He that is unrighteous can only do unrighteousness.
[00:29:45] He that is filthy can only be made more filthy.
[00:29:53] I hope that helps you just a little look at Titus, chapter two.
[00:30:04] Titus, chapter two, verse eleven. For the grace of God hath appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to the intent that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world, looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of the great God and our savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a people for his own possession, zealous of good works. Now he is purifying a people for his own possession, zealous of good works. But we also have a responsibility to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts.
[00:30:56] Can't get the Lord to do that for us, that we have to do ourselves.
[00:31:03] Now we have, again, another interesting comment on this in one john the first letter of John, chapter three, and the first three verses.
[00:31:14] This is another very interesting point.
[00:31:18] Behold what manner of love the father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God, and such we are. That's our position. We are saints, we are sanctified, made holy. For this cause. The world knoweth us not because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we children of God, and it is not yet made manifest what we shall be. What a wonderful word that is often pondered on it. We know that if he shall be manifested, we shall be like him, for we shall see him even as he is. And everyone that hath this hope set on him purifieth himself even as he is pure.
[00:32:15] Did you notice that the other was the Lord purifying a people for his own possession, zealous of good works? But here it says, everyone that hath this hope set on him that is of his coming again, and avow being joined, caught up to be with him, purifieth himself even as he is pure.
[00:32:38] Now turn to the Old Testament, to Daniel, chapter twelve, and we have a confirmation of this same thing concerning the end days.
[00:32:50] Daniel, chapter twelve, verse ten.
[00:33:00] Many shall purify themselves and make themselves white and be refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand.
[00:33:14] But they that are wise shall understand the same thing as in revelation. Him that is filthy, let him be made filthy still. He that is unrighteous, let him do unrighteousness still.
[00:33:28] But it is interesting here it says, many shall purify themselves and make themselves white. Now you and I cannot make ourselves holy, but we can cooperate with the Lord. We can will to do the will of God.
[00:33:47] And there is enough in the book about this in the light of his coming, that this matter of holiness cannot be left as merely a matter of legal standing before God, which it is, it has got to work out in our lives.
[00:34:07] Now we have it again in Daniel, chapter eleven and verse 35. And some of them that are wise shall fall to refine them and to purify and to make them white, even to the time of the end, because it is yet for the time appointed.
[00:34:27] Now come back to two. Peter, chapter three. Finally, and listen to this, verse 15.
[00:34:37] And count the forbearance of our Lord as salvation.
[00:34:45] Isn't that wonderful? What does it really mean? Does it mean literally and the salvation of God? I don't think so, initially in our conversion and new birth.
[00:35:01] But doesn't it mean count the forbearance of the Lord, a time in which we can explore and decide, discover and experience to the full the salvation of God. Don't you think so?
[00:35:16] Why look upon the end time as something dark and terrible and fearful and horrifying and everything's going to be against us and it's going to be so dreary and hard. Why count the forbearance of the Lord as salvation? Here is a marvelous opportunity to discover the salvation of God in its fullness, untapped resources in the salvation of God given to us in Christ. Count this forbearance of the Lord, this long suffering of the Lord, this, as it were, holding back of the Lord his coming. Count it as salvation.
[00:35:51] And then I find something else very wonderful in verse 17 and 18. I'm going to read it to you again in the revised standard version. I think it's most aptly put for the days in which we are now living.
[00:36:03] You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, the world doesn't know what's going to come. We do, knowing this beforehand, beware, lest you be carried away with the error of lawless men. Now, the new American Standard Bible says unprincipled men, in other words, the exact type of society that we're moving into, men who will not have the law of God in their minds.
[00:36:37] They refuse the moral law contained in the ten words, the ten Commandments.
[00:36:43] It is a lawless society in which everyone can do as he or she feels right now. It is exactly that error that can creep into the new generation in the church and lead us to laxity concerning marriage, lead us to a laxity concerning chastity, lead us into a laxity concerning a whole attitude to a 1001 things. It is the error of unprincipled men, men who have left and departed from the law of God.
[00:37:18] And then what does it say?
[00:37:23] Beware, lest you be carried away with the error of lawless men and lose your own stability.
[00:37:35] Do we have to accept as inevitable that christians are going to be unstable?
[00:37:43] I mean, of course, I think, and I'm not getting at the old ones here, but I think that it is always true that the old ones speak of their days as being different, you know, oh, we didn't do things like that when we were young. I mean, we did this and this and this.
[00:38:03] But even so, we are moving into a society in which it will be more and more difficult to be stable. But why should we accept it as inevitable?
[00:38:16] The grace of God will be even more available for those in the last days. You know, the Lord is so wonderful. There's never more manner than you need. So if the days are going to be greater in tribulation, greater in antagonism, greater in pressure, the grace will be greater.
[00:38:40] So why look upon the dark side of the coin all think about the antagonism and the difficulties and the pressures and all the rest of it. Why not look on the other and say grace? More grace. How wonderful. We're going to have more grace available to us than Grandpa did.
[00:39:00] Of course. Why lose your own stability?
[00:39:03] The only way you can lose your own stability is by being carried away by the error of lawless men. And then listen to what he says. But grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ.
[00:39:20] So we can grow in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ right up to the day of his coming, come wind, come weather, we can grow in grace. And, well, now here's the choice for you, which one you're going to choose. You're going to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ right up to the day of his coming.
[00:39:44] I can hardly believe that he will be disappointed with you if you do that. You will be ashamed at his coming if you do grow in grace. Well, now we need to live lives of holiness and godliness. Now, if you will turn to another point this evening, and it is again, a little to do with this and a little to do with last week when we talked about having grace to offer service well pleasing to God. It is the need to endure.
[00:40:22] The need to endure. There will be a need of spiritual steadfastness and spiritual grit, the ability to endure whatever comes our way.
[00:40:38] Now, such character, listen to me, does not develop overnight.
[00:40:46] The ability to endure hardness, the ability to endure affliction, the ability to endure a society that is wholly contradictory to the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ does not come overnight.
[00:41:06] It needs to be produced and tempered through years of training.
[00:41:15] Now let's look at the scriptures. If you will take your Bible, turn to the New Testament. First of all, Matthew, chapter ten.
[00:41:24] Matthew, chapter ten, verse 22.
[00:41:30] And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake. But he that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.
[00:41:43] Now you will notice that that is in a whole passage to do with persecution.
[00:41:48] Now will you turn to Matthew, chapter 24, verse 1324. Matthew, verse 13. But he that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved. Will you notice that just before he says, and because of iniquity, because iniquity shall be multiplied, the love of the many, of the many, believers shall wax cold, but he that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.
[00:42:20] Will you turn to mark, chapter 13, verse 13, and ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake? But he that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved. Now, this statement of our Lord that I have read three times, precisely the same words, he that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved, is only found in the New Testament in connection with persecution, affliction, or tribulation.
[00:43:00] In the last two of these references we have looked at, it is specifically to do with the end times.
[00:43:12] Now, this word, translated endure, means literally to abide under or to remain under. In other words, to abide under suffering, to abide under affliction or whatever, to go right through to the end. It means to bear up courageously, or, of course, simply as we have it translated, to endure.
[00:43:44] What does the Lord Jesus mean when he says, he that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved? Does he mean that many of us could lose our salvation?
[00:43:54] He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.
[00:43:58] Shall be saved.
[00:44:00] Does this refer to physical survival and deliverance or to the salvation of God? Now, it is interesting that just as in English, in Greek, the same word is used of physical survival and deliverance as well as of spiritual salvation.
[00:44:20] We say the same in English, don't we? We say there was an air crash. So many people were saved. We also speak about believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. It's the same word.
[00:44:31] Now, in the New Testament, we had the same thing. If you look at acts chapter 27, I'll just give you two examples of this. Acts chapter 27, verse 20.
[00:44:42] And when neither sun nor stars shone upon us for many days and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was now taken away because Paul was speaking about physical survival. Then again, in verse 31, Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved.
[00:45:09] Exactly the same. Again, physical survival.
[00:45:16] Now, there would be much to point to physical survival, to the coming of the Lord as the meaning of this he that endures to the end, he that bears up courageously, he that refuses to compromise or to deny the Lord in the face of tremendous persecution, that one will come through.
[00:45:43] However, there is a very interesting point to make just here before we accept that, and that is if you turn to Luke 20 119. Now, Luke was a remarkable man. He was not only a doctor, but again and again, he was very, very careful in the way that he records things. And now and again, whereas the other gospel writers, Matthew and Mark, will use pretty well the same words, Luke is not afraid to use slightly different words to give us the key to the whole thing. Now, this is how he puts it. It is the same passage as in Matthew 24 and also in mark 13, and this is how he puts it. In your patience ye shall win your souls.
[00:46:33] And the word patience, there is the same word, endurance.
[00:46:37] In your endurance, in your spiritual steadfastness and grit you shall win your souls.
[00:46:49] Now you will see again that in the ver down the the margin some of you will have lives, because there is the question of what this soul means here softened, the soul here looked upon as linked with the flesh. So the two go together, so it can still mean physical survival. But isn't this interesting?
[00:47:10] So I would say it covers a bit more than physical survival.
[00:47:15] It seems to me that here we have something to do with not compromising, refusing to deny Christ or devalue him.
[00:47:28] And if we refuse to compromise, to devalue him, to deny him, we shall gain our souls. We shall gain and possess our inheritance.
[00:47:44] We need patience, endurance, steadfastness.
[00:47:52] Now to add in a little more confusion those who believe in a partial rapture, and there are quite a few who do see in these references support for such a belief.
[00:48:07] He that endures to the end will be the one who will be caught up to be with the Lord.
[00:48:18] They also see it in the same chapter, Luke 21 and verse 36. But watch ye at every season, making supplication that ye may prevail to escape all these things that shall come to pass and stand before the son of man. How can we escape all these things that are going to come to pass unless there is some kind of rapture? This is the argument of those who believe in the partial rapture.
[00:48:41] I am not going to enter into that matter, because in these studies I said we would keep out of all this matter, of the sequence of events and so on. But I do want to underline it just here.
[00:48:53] And to say this, that whatever way we look at this matter, one thing is abundantly clear. We will need much persevering courage, much spiritual steadfastness and grit if we are not to succumb in the last days.
[00:49:23] That will not come overnight. I wish it could.
[00:49:29] Oh, I wish we could have some glorious experience and suddenly be full of endurance.
[00:49:37] Full of patience. But the very word means that we have to endure.
[00:49:45] Only God can work in us an ability to endure. Now, when I hear people moaning about the smallest things, I feel sick inside.
[00:50:00] I know that if I dare say to anybody, you're moaning about this, what do you think is going to come upon the world in another year or two? Someone says, I can't. I can't. I can't do it anymore. It's no good. It's no good.
[00:50:16] Quite. Sometimes supposed to be quite responsible christians, sometimes. Christians who've been in the way for years and years, and they can't do this, they can't do that. Some little thing here, some little thing there. Something about time, something about circumstances. Oh, dear, dear, dear, dear, dear.
[00:50:31] If we can't endure in the day when all is so with us, whatever is it going to be like in the day when everything is against us now? Get my point? I'm not just trying to give you all a bad time. What I'm trying to say is, quit moaning, quit grumbling, quit complaining, and start to allow the Lord to train you. Don't blame everybody else all the time. Oh, they've done this, all they've done that, all they've done the other. It's too much. The last straw on the camel's back. Thank God for it. That last straw, you thought, on the camel's back is no last straw on the camel's back.
[00:51:14] There are going to be many more, many more. Thank God for it. Take it from the Lord and say, oh, Lord, thank you so much. So and so, I believe, is misjudging me in this thing, but thank you, Lord. I'm going to learn to endure. This is a priceless bit of discipline.
[00:51:36] If you learn to endure now, there will come a day when you will be able to. You know, in the old days of the missionary training colony, they did the most dreadful things to them. They actually sawed off four inches on their bedroom doors and got a fan going in the corridor on very cold days, so they would have lovely draughts, all of them, for their cold time. The idea was that people who were going to be pioneers had got to go through the mill or they'd never endure.
[00:52:05] Dear old Miss Grapes, may she be forever blessed, who founded the Redcliffe Missionary Training College. Oh, my, what a spiritual dragon she was.
[00:52:21] She was deliberately so.
[00:52:23] I remember Mary Reese telling me how she came in and seized her accordion and said, how dare you play an accordion?
[00:52:32] Ladies do not play accordions, remember? Oh, Mawi, she said. I just said, lord, get me under those palm trees as quick as you can away from Miss Grapes. But Miss Grapes did it deliberately. She knew very well that in the end, Mama Reese would take out her little accordion squeeze box and play it to the folks out in Congo. I would be used up, Lord. But she was breaking her.
[00:53:00] I remember Ina Buckley telling me how she was asked by Miss Grapes very graciously, would you give a word at prayers to Morrow? And Ina thought how wonderful and preened herself a little, sought the Lord and got a word, stood up and gave it. And then in front of all the girls at breakfast, Miss Grapes said to her, and Miss Buckley, how did you feel your contribution went this morning? And Ina said, oh, very well, Miss Grapes. I feel the Lord helped me.
[00:53:35] And then Miss Grapes snapped, not half as much as he could. If you were half as proud, less half as, you know, little proud.
[00:53:49] And Lina said she just collapsed in a heap.
[00:53:55] There was a long list that long in which they had to clean every single thing in the bedroom. Miss Scrapes bedroom.
[00:54:02] And the girls used to say, why should they clean Miss grapes bedroom now? Can you imagine it today?
[00:54:09] But this, of course, is 60, 70 years ago.
[00:54:13] And then she would stomp in like a colonel and inspect everything. And she would wipe, this shade is filthy. And if the girl said, oh, but I cleaned. You did not, you will clean it again.
[00:54:29] But, you know, they. They couldn't bear Miss Grapes. They looked upon her as some dreadful old dragon. But there's not one of them who did not, in a few years, speak of Miss scrapes as the greatest saint in their lives.
[00:54:45] Why?
[00:54:46] Because, well, afterwards they found her as a friend. Once they had come through the course, they suddenly found the most warm hearted, loving woman servant of the Lord. But you see, she said, I am here to stop people from getting to the so called field who can never see. Stick it.
[00:55:08] Now, of course, you couldn't do that today. There'd be a revolution.
[00:55:12] Can you imagine it? Oh, boy.
[00:55:16] There'd be an absolute revolution. But then we. We haven't got that stickability either. Now, don't worry about that. We're living in different days, young folks. But, no, listen. In church life, there is still a. A lot of discipline. There are these misunderstandings we have, these disillusionments with one another, these things that go wrong. These circumstances where we're asked to do something and then we feel it's too much for us and all the rest of it. Don't throw it up. Look upon it as an opportunity for the Holy Spirit to train you in the ability to endure. If you can start to learn how to endure in small things, there'll come a time when you'll stand like a rock in the day of crisis and storm, learn to endure. Now, lastly, this evening, the need of clarity.
[00:56:08] One of the features of the end times will be false prophets, false messiahs, much which claims to represent the Lord, but which is in fact not his work. At all of this we are warned again and again. I can only give you a few examples. But if you turn back to Matthew 24 and verse 23 to 25, then if any man shall say unto you, lo, here is Christ, or here believe it not, for there shall arise false christs and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. Behold, I've told you beforehand.
[00:56:57] Then again, if you will turn to Luke 17, Luke 17, verses 22 to 24 and he said unto the disciples, the days will come when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the son of man, and ye shall not see it, and they shall say to you, lo, there, lo, here, go not away, nor follow after them. For as the lightning when it lighteneth out of the one part under the heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven, so shall the son of man be in his day. Mark 1321 to 23. And then if any man shall say unto you, lo, here is the christ, although there believe it not, for there shall arise false christs. False prophets shall show signs and wonders, that they may lead astray if possible. The elect. But take ye heed. Behold, I have told you all things beforehand. Now theres one thing here we need to say straight away. Undoubtedly in the last day there will come people who say, I am Jesus.
[00:58:07] In my knowledge, there have been at least three people who've come into the garden tomb, who in Jerusalem who have gone up to the administrator, colonel or Dobby and said, I am Jesus.
[00:58:22] And he, with his usual british politeness, has shown them all round making so well, of course you will remember this and you will remember that, but this does not just mean false jesuses. We make a great mistake, unfortunately, in our new testament with the word Christ. So many people think of it as a kind of surname of Jesus.
[00:59:01] Christ, of course, is the Hebrew Messiah.
[00:59:04] There will come many false messiahs, false prophets. Now, when we see it like that, although there will be those who will claim to be Jesus, far more dangerous are those who claim to be false messiahs, leading into a golden age, bringing in paradise, bringing in a new era of prosperity and unity to mankind, there will come many false messiahs, false prophets, speaking as from the law, what is a prophet he says, thus says the Lord. He speaks from the Lord with false signs and wonders, not meaning something that you can just see through, dear friends, but something which is as much a sign and a wonder as those worked amongst us who are the people of God. But it is essentially false, not fraudulent, false, because it is the power of evil and demonic spirits and not the power of God.
[01:00:16] It speaks here of even the elect, if possible, being deceived.
[01:00:24] And the feeling one gets is as if there's a tremendous determination on the part of evil. If it is at all possible to deceive the elect. In other words, now listen, the elect will be the target.
[01:00:41] What a need then for spiritual clarity and perception.
[01:00:45] Now, dear friends, don't all just sort of say, oh, well, it's no good for me, you know, I'm just not one of those people who has that kind of spiritual perception. And it's so good that we've got so and so amongst us and so and so amongst us and so and so. They've got this kind of perception that's not good enough. There will come a day, perhaps, when we will not be able to meet.
[01:01:05] Therefore, every one of us now must begin to ask the Lord. Lord, give me spiritual perception, give me wisdom.
[01:01:14] If any man lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally and upgraded, that shall be given him if ye ask in faith, not wavering.
[01:01:24] It is a constant source of amazement to me how real believers get mixed up with things that are not of God. For example, I think of this terrible reunification Holy Spirit reunification business of doctor moon, that korean false messiah. He says that he is the messiah.
[01:01:50] I find it amazing when I go around universities and find young believers in the christian unions who have got caught up with this reunification, Holy Spirit reunification of the church business.
[01:02:06] I can't believe it.
[01:02:09] And yet some of you know, believers born again believe who have actually got caught up with this korean thing.
[01:02:17] Then you've got this unity school of Christianity, a bigger bucket of bilge I've never seen. I've read all the unity school of Christianity books. I've never read such rubbish and nonsense. It takes scripture, Paul's words, and makes them mean something quite different to what they meant, and also lifts quite a bit of money off people too, in the process.
[01:02:46] But there are real believers who get caught up in this kind of thing.
[01:02:50] There's one thing after another. I don't want to attack anything, but I even think of such things as the children of God, which is much more a believing thing. But when I hear them talking about Colonel Gaddafi as a prophet of God, then I begin to wonder, good heavens, how do believers get mixed up in these things?
[01:03:17] How do I meet people who come to me and tell me that they are Christian? They have left their husband and three children, Seattle, Oregon, because the Lord told them. And now they're here, some in charge of some house where they're all meeting. I don't understand that.
[01:03:34] And then I'm told that the scripture, if you love father and mother or brother and sister more than me, that this is the scriptural basis for this thing, I suspect that these marriages were not happy.
[01:03:55] I remember years ago when watchman knee was preaching on throwing down the rod, and he said, when you throw it down, you find it becomes a serpent. So it is with everything, whatever it is, he said, it is with marriage.
[01:04:10] You cannot grasp your marriage. You must give it over to God. Throw it down and you see the serpent in it. And he saw a man beaming from ear to ear.
[01:04:21] Sure enough, he trotted up afterwards, said, brother knee, I'm so glad you said that.
[01:04:27] I am going to obey the Lord on this matter to do with my wife. And brother knee said to him, wait till the next session before you do anything, will you? And the man said, yes, yes, I can wait. I'm so happy, he said, and went off so, so joyful. And the next session, Babini spoke about taking up the rod again in your hands.
[01:04:58] I'm afraid that people get mixed up in the most extraordinary things and twist scriptures in the most remarkable manner in order to satisfy their own whims or fancies.
[01:05:10] But isn't it amazing when believers get caught up in these things?
[01:05:16] We have been forewarned by the Lord himself that during the disturbed period at the end there will be much claiming to speak for God to represent his will and mind, to be Christ himself or the messiah.
[01:05:34] Certainly we know that there will be a worldwide church, probably representing all faiths, but preeminently christian in inverted commerce.
[01:05:50] This the Bible calls the harlot. And if you want to read about it, you can read about in revelation 17 and the first six verses, we are told of something that is called the mother of harlots, the mystery great Babylon.
[01:06:11] And it is perfectly clear when we read that chapter that this woman is gilded with gold and precious stone and pearl.
[01:06:21] And it is a picture that we have of a prostitute in chapter 17 and 18. And in chapter 19 and 21 and 22 we have the bride. And we find that the bride is made out of pure gold, transparent as glass, precious stone and pearl. But this prostitute, she is a virgin, the bride. But this prostitute is only skin deep.
[01:06:52] Outwardly, it's all gold, encrusted with pearl and precious stone.
[01:07:00] Now, the interesting thing is this. Many people will say to me, oh, but believers will never get caught up with that kind of thing, surely? Oh, very much so.
[01:07:10] Many will be caught up with it. Many will be caught up with it, caught by ring through nose on a false idea of unity.
[01:07:19] And the evidence for that is in revelation 18 and verse four, where the Lord says, and I heard another voice from heaven saying, come forth, my people out of her, that ye have no fellowship with her sins. Now, if the Lord has to say, come forth, my people out of her, it means that a lot of his people are involved with it.
[01:07:41] Can you believe it?
[01:07:46] From revelation, chapter 13 and verse one and two, it appears reasonably clear that you have the beasts. A great worldwide system. I personally do not believe it is communism.
[01:08:03] I believe it will be a new form of sort of socialist fascism, if you can believe such a mixture.
[01:08:12] But that's what it will be. Probably something like that. But it will be. It will come out of a period of great trouble, and the whole world will go after it.
[01:08:21] And they will say, we must have a world government with a world army and a world police force and sufficient power in a world cabinet to enforce peace in the whole world.
[01:08:36] Now, the interesting thing is this, that if in that same chapter you look at verse eleven, you find a false prophet, and this false prophet also comes out of the earth, the other out of the sea. But this has two horns, like unto a lamb, but speaks as a dragon, a false messiah, just like the lamb.
[01:09:01] But it isn't the lamb.
[01:09:04] It looks like the lamb, but it is the voice of the dragon.
[01:09:11] In other words, you have the religious side of this great world political system.
[01:09:17] Now, when you bring these three things together, a false prophet, be a kind of head of a united worldwide church consisting of all faiths but preeminently christian. And then you have a worldwide political system headed up by the political head, the antichrist, as the Bible calls. And then you have the harlot, those three.
[01:09:46] What a need, then for you and I to have spiritual clarity and perception. No wonder the apostle says in two, Peter, sorry, two Thessalonians.
[01:09:59] And chapter two and verse four, he speaking of this man, he says, he that opposeth an existence exalteth himself against all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he sitteth in the temple of God, setting himself forth as God, verse eight. Then shall be revealed the lawless one, whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the breath of his mouth and bring to naught by the manifestation of his coming. Even he whose coming is according to the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders, goes on to say, the whole world will run after him.
[01:10:36] What a need for clarity on the part of all the redeemed. We need that kind of clarity and spiritual perception that will preserve us from being led astray or being deceived, from being even quickly shaken in our mind, confused. It is interesting that in that same chapter in Thessalonians, he starts off by saying, now we beseech you, brethren, touching the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together unto him to the end, that ye be not quickly shaken from your mind, nor yet be troubled either by spirit or by word or by epistle. As for mouth, I'm sorry.
[01:11:17] Well, we have been specifically provided for, so don't be fearful. It says in one John, chapter two, verse 18, that this spirit of Antichrist is in the world. But don't fear, he says to the apostle John, we have an anointing from the holy one. Isn't that wonderful? And do you know the most wonderful thing of all is he speaks just before that of fathers, sons, and little children, little babies, toddlers.
[01:11:47] And when he talks about this anointing, just so that no one gets it mixed up with that anointing of the spirit that comes upon us later for service, he says, little children, you little toddlers, you have an anointing from the holy one.
[01:12:06] No need to have to say, what are we going to do? What are we going to do? Lancers in prison. So and so is gone. So and so is gone. So and so has gone. What are we going to do? To whom do we turn? Who's going to tell us what's right and what's wrong? No. The littlest of us, the smallest of us, the most babe like of us, spiritually, we have an anointing from the Lord, and thats how we may learn to remain in him. You see, in verse 27, it says, you dont need teachers.
[01:12:32] It doesnt mean you dont need teaching. Thats the great need.
[01:12:36] And the teachers have been given to the church and were told to listen to them and communicate with them and do other things.
[01:12:43] Theres one of them. So why does the scripture seem to contradict itself? No, it doesnt say that. It says, you dont need to be taught what is Antichrist and what isn't. You don't need someone to say, now, now, be careful of this. This is wrong. This is right. There is an anointing in you that will tell you, and listen, those of you who are youngest in the Lord, it often works most clearly in you. Those of us who are oldest have got so used to pushing down these witnesses of the spirit and sort of saying, oh, I'm against that person. I don't temperamentally, I'm opposed or something. So we push it down.
[01:13:17] Now, thou must be fair, must be fair. So we bend over backwards and swallow the whole thing. But when you're young in the Lord, again and again, young ones come up to me and say, tell me there's something very funny about that.
[01:13:30] And one can only say, you're quite right.
[01:13:36] Because, you see, when we're young in the Lord, we're not using our head, we're using our spirit.
[01:13:46] And our spirit says, that man's words are very good. But, but something funny there, be careful, be careful. When you hear a warning bell and you sort of say, I don't know, there's something very funny about that. I'm afraid about that.
[01:14:02] See, people sometimes go to some of these meetings and they say, you know, I felt so afraid.
[01:14:08] When the Holy Spirit works, you dont feel afraid in a wrong way. Do you know what I mean?
[01:14:17] When youve got that kind of fear, it can sometimes be the anointing saying, be careful, be careful.
[01:14:23] Now, thats why we need this anointing. You know why? Because otherwise the devil will get us into a trap. And every time the Holy Spirit wants to lead us into a new discovery of the Lord, we say, oh, no, no, no, I must be careful. Nothing new. Nothing new. I've got it all in the Lord. I've got it all in the Lord. No, you need to possess everything our Lord has so dearly won for you, and you won't do it by sitting on your haunches, being afraid.
[01:14:48] You will do it by letting the anointing in you. Teach you what is of God and what isn't, and what is of God, take it by faith.
[01:14:57] Enter into it fully. And what is not of God, keep out of it. Don't touch it.
[01:15:03] So you will be led. Let us not fall into the trap that the apostle Paul speaks of in two Timothy, chapter four, when he speaks that in the last days there will come a falling away, they will not endure sound teaching or doctrine, but they will have itching ears.
[01:15:23] What a funny phrase. Itching ears. Sometimes I, I know I get into terrible trouble over this, but I sometimes think it's a perfect description of evangelicalism.
[01:15:33] Itching ears. They spend their whole time sitting on their behinds.
[01:15:39] The only thing that's interesting listening, listening, listening, listening. Pastor does it all.
[01:15:45] Listen, listen, listen.
[01:15:47] I never do a thing, but I think that's a bit unkind, really, because it means a bit more than that. See, these itching ears are the kind of ears that want to hear what they will hear.
[01:16:03] Be careful, be careful. There are some people who can't bear to hear about the second coming of the Lord. They don't want to hear because they're afraid. Be careful. Itching ears only want to hear nice comforting words, things that mollify us, that mollycoddle us, that make us feel good. So we heap to ourselves teachers having itching ears, and then we fall into a trap.
[01:16:36] We have a blind eye to whole areas of the word of God where God is trying to speak to us. May the Lord help us in this matter. We need clarity and we have been forewarned and thank God he's made provision for us. So there's no excuse. We can all seek the Lord and ask that we may begin to learn the operation of that anointing within, teaching us what is right and what is wrong. And if we start to learn now, it will stand us in good stead in the days that lie ahead. Shall we pray?
[01:17:13] Dear Lord, we do bow now in thy presence and we thank thee and we praise thee for thy goodness to us. And o Lord, we do pray that thou wilt write thy word upon our hearts.
[01:17:24] This matter of living lives, of holiness and godliness, this matter of endurance, this matter, Lord, of clarity and perception, Lord.
[01:17:37] O that we may learn these lessons in experience and we ask it, Lord, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, amen.
