September 14, 2008
Scripture:
Ministry:
We’ve had before us this morning God’s thoughts of His own Son. Philippians 2:8–11 “And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Here we have an expression of God’s thoughts of His Son. He humbled Himself, and after He had gone to the cross His Father could say, “This is my beloved Son, on whom I am well pleased.” He walked down here as God would have Him walk, and went to that cross fulfilling His Father’s will. Leviticus 1:2-4 “Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man of you bring an offering unto the LORD, ye shall bring your offering of the cattle, even of the herd, and of the flock.If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish: he shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD.And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.” Here the sins of the offerer were transferred to the perfect - it had to be without blemish - sacrifice. And the acceptance of that offering was transferred to the offerer. We are associated with the perfect offering that Christ made. God accepted that offering, and through it we also are accepted for all eternity. How precious to know God’s thoughts of His own Son and His Son’s offering.
Hymn 232 – Christ the Lord will come again
Prayer
We have been talking about what will happen after the Lord takes Christians to Heaven. How fast will the rapture take place? It will happen in the twinkling of an eye. When all the Christians leave this world, the Holy Spirit will leave this world. What does the Holy Spirit do in the world today? It convicts of sin and prevents evil; if He were not here, there would be much more evil. So, after we are taken from the world, there will be seven years of judgement: the first half will be called the tribulation, and the second half will be called the great tribulation. Why will the second half be worse? Read Revelation 12: 7 &
Read ch. 13:1. This is the first beast, really a Gentile man, centered in Rome. He comes from the sea, which is a picture of the turmoil on earth. He will start up the old Roman empire again; and he is empowered by Satan. V. 6 tells us that he will speak against God. In vv. 7 & 8, we find that everyone whose name is not in the book of life will worship this man. Remember, all the Christians have been taken to Heaven, so that means everyone on earth.
In vv. 11 – 15, we find out about the second beast. This man is a Jew, who is in Jerusalem. He also is powered by Satan, and is called the Antichrist, because He is against the Lord. He will be a false prophet, and will teach the people lies. He will work with the beast in Rome, and make an image of him that the people will be required to worship.
We know that the Godhead has three parts: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is a trinity. During the tribulation on earth, Satan, the first beast, and the second beast will be an evil trinity on earth. In v. 17 & 18, we find that they will require everyone to have a mark on them if they want to buy or sell. This evil trinity’s number is 666; we know that 6 is man’s number.
As we look at these events, it should make us thankful for the fact the Lord will take us out of the world before it all happens.
In this epistle, Peter serves as one to remind the saints, bringing certain things to their (and our) remembrance. It contrasts Paul’s usual way of writing, which brings new truth to his readers. For where we are right now, Peter’s epistles are appropriate, since God has not revealed truth other than what is in the Bible.
Peter starts by referring to our pure minds. He is giving us the antidotes to evil in this book, in the hope that we will heed his warnings and keep our minds pure; this is similar to what Paul does in his letters to Timothy. To keep our minds pure, they must be renewed (see Romans 12:2).
One of the reasons Peter wants us to have pure minds is so that we can benefit from the prophetic writings of scripture. Much of it is of value, and there is a lot that has not even come to pass yet. God has given us such a resource Book! As an example, the book of Ezekiel has much to say about the Millennial period; yet it can be quite difficult to understand and definitely requires a pure mind.
Peter wanted to “stir up” our pure minds. That term is used in scripture a number of times. Paul tells Timothy to stir up his gift; Peter uses it in his first epistle in ch. 1:13. This is what Ephesus needed when they had lost their first love. Satan wants to lull us to sleep. He doesn’t want the world to know the difference between Christians and non-Christians. We need a little stirring up sometimes, or else our attitude will be “never mind.” We need to pay attention to what the Lord is doing around us and how Satan is trying to trap us; we should be concerned about obeying. Part of stirring up is making sure our affections, or mind, are set on things above. Read II Timothy 1:13. Ephesians calls the scriptures our sword; it’s our only offensive weapon against Satan. When the Lord was tempted, he quoted Old Testament scripture; he promoted scripture. May we stir up our pure minds!
Hymn 350 – I will make you fishers of men,
Prayer