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Showing posts with label God says listen to the words of Jesus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label God says listen to the words of Jesus. Show all posts

Sunday, August 4, 2019

We Must keep Things in Perspective

Keeping Things in Perspective

Book of 2 Peter Chapter 1:11-21


There are two words we see often in the Scriptures and they are "therefore" and "wherefore" and they are very important in our understanding of those Scriptures.

The word "therefore" means: For this reason and in the Scriptures, this refers to some verse or some passage that was previous to the word "therefore".

The word "wherefore" means: For which reason and in the Scriptures, this refers to the reason the next passage is written.

The Bible will never cause confusion if we understand these and other lead words in the Scriptures.

In our lesson from last week, Peter gave us a precious passage about Christian growth and in today's lesson Peter will show us the benefits of growing Christ.

We must remember all the lessons the Holy Spirit has given to the writers of the Scriptures!

The most important lessons of course, are those that teach us how to grow our "faith". Without faith we cannot even please God!

Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

If we go back to last week’s lesson, we should understand how the Holy Spirit cautions us about these things!

2Pe 1:8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2Pe 1:9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.

We must base our faith on the promises of God and then diligently add, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness and last but most important charity.

These are real things that show we are established in the truth of God!

*****2Pe 1:12 "Wherefore" I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth.

The Holy Ghost writes that because of what we learned in last week’s lesson we need to remember them all the days we have left in our Christian walk with the Lord Jesus Christ.

In fact there is nothing in the written Word of God that we are ever told to forget except for the sin we have been forgiven of!

Psa 119:109 My soul is continually in my hand: yet do I not forget thy law.

Psa 119:16 I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.

There are too many benefits from the Lord to ever forget that He has blessed our souls!

Psa 103:2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:

You see, these things in 2 Peter 1-11, are so important that all Peter's remaining days He preached this same message!

Peter reminded all believers of these things all his days and it would be well with us if we would refuse to forget them ourselves!

This would be neglecting to walk as Jesus walked!

How do we memorize, we repeat the things we want to memorize over and over until they are implanted in our mind!

All the things of our salvation are much too important to ever forget!

The gifts of God are far too important than to just treat them as everyday things!

Without these things we will never experience the life that Jesus Christ died to give us!

These are the tools that make us witnesses for the Lord Jesus Christ!

There are not many places in the Scriptures where we are admonished to remember these things more than in this passage in the Book of 2 Peter!

As far as Peter was concerned, it would have been negligence on his part not to teach and caution us not to forget all these things!

These are the things that cause the Church to be established!

Act 16:5 And so were the churches established in the faith, and increased in number daily.

Col 2:6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:
Col 2:7 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
Col 2:8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

Peter just continues to emphasize the importance of remembering these things, especially knowing his days were numbered.

We will all reach this point one day and what will we want our own children to remember the most?

*****2Pe 1:13 Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance;
2Pe 1:14 Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me.

If you are like me, as I have gotten older, I have realized just how short a time we spend in this world. I certainly am ready whenever the Lord calls me home!

But I would also love to see my grandchildren blossom to their full potential and somewhere in the future there will be great grandchildren and I would love to see them.

Like Peter it is in my best interest to put my children in remembrance of the things of salvation and I will certainly see them when they have reached their full potential in the Lord, for they will join me in Heaven.

Another thing we must not miss here is the fact that the soul is far superior to this body we are so proud of!

We will put off this body as some old worn out tent and that soul that is eternal that has blossomed into perfection will return to the Lord, who gave it, if it has been filled with the Holy Spirit.

Ecc_12:7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

Our soul is the seat of our knowledge and our sensation, and our body is nothing without our soul, but a mud pie made by God Himself from the dust of the earth.

There is nothing upon this earth that will be allowed in Heaven.

Yes, we will have a new body but that new body will not be made of the material of this earth!

Today we should take much better care of our soul than this body which only ages every day!

When pour body has left us, it is our salvation, our virtue, our knowledge, our temperance, our patience, our godliness, our brotherly kindness and our charity in these things of God, that will standout, and it is these things that will have earned our rewards in Heaven.

Peter writes, in hope that after he is gone, we to will keep things most important things, after our names are written down in the Lamb's Book of Life.

*****2Pe 1:15 Moreover I will endeavour that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance.

Peter knew that we would never remember these things until we had learned them!

To be honest, the most dangerous teachers are those who were never learners. They are all the masters of error!

In the Church we are not teachers unless we teach the Word of God!

We cannot teach the Word of God, if we do not under Holy Ghost supervision learn the Word of God!

The major denominations of today have not learned the Word of God or they have rejected its truth so, they are unable to teach what God has said for us to learn and then apply to our souls that will then direct our lives.

What did Paul teach?

Heb 5:11 Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing.
Heb 5:12 For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
Heb 5:13 For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.

When we reject these things in this passage of Peter, we have rejected the truth of God!

We are to teach the oracles of God!

The Bible has some accurate History of our world, but it is not a History Book.
The Bible has some accurate Science of our Creation, but it is not a Science Book
The Bible contains many things of life, but it is not a Social Economics Book.

The Bible is, the truth of God written to the Church, so that it can then be taught to a lost and dyeing world before it is too late!

Too late meaning, before the Lord returns to take His Church to Heaven. Those left behind will see the wrath of God.

After this God will deal with the Jews and those who help the Jews for 1000 years!

You see the Bible is the truth and the world spits out the lies of Satan, the Devil, Diabolos, the Deceiver!

*****2Pe 1:16 For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

There have been myths since the time of Noah and probably from the time of Adam.

We know that there was the myth of the angels coming down from Heaven to get with the women of the world and creating giant men of power and this is a myth!

This would mean that God lost control over His creation for a period of time, which is impossible!

There are the Greek gods, and the Roman gods but there were also the gods of the Philistines and the Egyptians, and the Chinese and every other group of people, because every person who has ever lived has been searching for a god to rule their lives.

There is the Sun-god, the Sea-god, the River-god, the Dawn-god, the Moon-god, and the many man-gods. Everyone wants to have their own personal god!

There are no atheists in this world. They, just like most of the world, just reject Jehovah God, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the true and only God!

Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Joh 1:2 The same was in the beginning with God.
Joh 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

Joh 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Mankind all their years have created man-made gods and man-made religions, great value systems and great man-made laws, seeking to preserve the peace in this world and man-made laws simply will not work!

Only laws derived from the Word of God will bring peace to this world!

America prospered when the laws of God were the rule and America has gone downhill since an immoral standard is being used.

Science is not the answer.
Technology is not the answer.
Religion is not the answer.

There is nothing that men can provide that will solve the issues of this world, but to listen to what God has to say and then obey!

If you believe in evolution, then you have to admit that since the dawn of mankind, man has never been able to solve the issues of this world!

We know for a fact that nothing that man makes or provides can last, it fades away with time!

Man has searched for the meaning of life and it has not been found.
Man has search for the means to extend life and it cannot be found.
Man has searched for the way to avoid death and it eludes them.

It is because of these things that Jehovah the true God has made Himself known in order for mankind to know the truth, yet this truth is rejected as just another fable!

The Apostle Peter was an eyewitness to the things of Jesus Christ along with more than 600 other human beings and yet Peter is called a liar!

Even Doctor Luke is called a liar.

Luk 1:1 Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us,
Luk 1:2 Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word;
Luk 1:3 It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus,
Luk 1:4 That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed.

You see the Holy Ghost, who is God, inspired all the Scriptures of the Bible so even He is called a liar.

2Ti 3:16 "All scripture" is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

It is only the Almighty God, Elohim, who can provide all the needs of man, and salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ is His means of preserving all mankind.

God will meet all our needs and it is He who must show us how to live with the purpose He has given us!

The Lord Jesus is God in the flesh who came to this world to get us out of the darkness of this world and into the light of the things of Heaven!

"God says listen to the words of my Son"

Peter was eyewitness to the Transfiguration of God.

Mar 9:2 And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured before them.
Mar 9:3 And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them.
Mar 9:4 And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses: and they were talking with Jesus.

Peter heard with his own ears as God the Father spoke about God the Son!

*****2Pe 1:17 For he received from God the Father honour 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.
2Pe 1:18 And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.

Peter was an ear-witness to the voice of God saying that this man Jesus who was transfigured before them, was indeed the Son of God, God in the flesh! 100% man and 100% God,the true Messiah, because this was God's way of saving all mankind!

The honor was God speaking of His Son.
The glory was that glorious light that thus a glimpse of the true glory of the Son of God.

I have news for you, if our God in Heaven was pleased, even well pleased with His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, then we had better be pleased with Him also.

Heb 1:2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
Heb 1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

This was no rumbling in the clouds though some may have thought so.

We had better believe this as a movement of the Holy Spirit who is always working in this world and is truly that voice of God who speaks to us.

He may use the Scriptures, He has given to chosen men to write down for us, in most cases.
He may use the mighty men God has called to preach the message of God many times today.
On this day, the Holy Spirit spoke with His own audible voice, which He is capable of using at any time and Peter was not confused about who spoke.

By the way, the Holy Spirit, He is God!

Act 2:1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
Act 2:2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
Act 2:3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
Act 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Peter was not confused with what the voice of God had said.
Peter was not confused with where he was when the Holy Ghost spoke these words.
Peter was just certain that all these things were facts, and this is the message he gives to us, facts.

The Apostle Peter was certain of his calling and he was certain of the truth of God!

The Apostle Peter knew that these things were important, especially in his life because he was convinced of the truth of God.

Then Peter says the most important witness we have is the written Word of God given to us by this same Holy Spirit.

*****2Pe 1:19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:

Yes, we would be fools not to believe this chosen man of God who was such a great witness to the things of Jesus Christ!

Peter says we are bigger fools if we do not accept the Holy Ghost inspired Word of God!

Peter said the death, the burial, and the resurrection of the Lord Christ are real, because he was an eyewitness.
Peter said before this, the transfiguration of Christ was real because he was an eyewitness.
Peter said during this transfiguration he heard the voice of God declaring that Jesus was His Son and he was an ear-witness to this event.
Peter says the greatest witness of all was the truth of the prophets who had written about all these things many years before they had taken place.

All these things are true just because they are! We can believe or we can throw the truth out of our lives, but the truth will still be the truth!

There are near 100 prophesies that are easily seen concerning Jesus the Messiah alone, that have already been fulfilled.

There is no excuse for doubting the truth of God!

God says, if you have a question just ask and you will find the answer in the written Word of God.

Jas 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
Jas 1:6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
Jas 1:7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.
Jas 1:8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

God also says when you see the evidence of the truth then do not doubt the truth!

When we read the preserved Word of God from the original Greek and Hebrew text, then we are reading the actual words of our Holy God.

*****2Pe 1:20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
2Pe 1:21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

The truth is, all interpretations belong to God!

Gen 40:8 And they said unto him, We have dreamed a dream, and there is no interpreter of it. And Joseph said unto them, Do not interpretations belong to God? tell me them, I pray you.

There are no private interpretations of the Scriptures, God means what He says, and God says what He means!

Heb 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Everything that concerns the Lord Jesus Christ is revealed in the Old Testament Scriptures!

1Co 15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;

No one believed the Old Testament Scriptures until the truth was revealed in the Lord Jesus Christ!

Rom 16:25 Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,
Rom 16:26 But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:
Rom 16:27 To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen.

What is wrong with people who want to alter the truth? They want you to be deceived into thinking it was man who came up with these things when no man has enough brains to know the thoughts of God!

The entire Bible has one central theme and that theme, and the reality of that theme, is in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ!

Joh 5:39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
Joh 5:40 And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.
Joh 5:41 I receive not honour from men.
Joh 5:42 But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you.
Joh 5:43 I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.

If you want to know the truth, then just take the time to read the 66 Books of the Holy Ghost inspired Word of God and quit listening to what the world says! Then meditate on the truth of God.

Amen

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