The end is near!
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7 The end of all things is near; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer. 8 Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Be hospitable to one another without complaint. 10 As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 11 Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
4 points concerning the position of the Church in the End Times
Be sound in Judgment.
Be Purposeful in prayer
Love one another.
Be hospital
Steward you talents well.
1. Be Sound in Judgment
1. Be Sound in Judgment
Be sound of judgement and alert.
The Greek word here for judgment is sōphroneō: meaning, be sane, be in a right state of mind, be sensible, be clear minded, have sober judgment.
So judgment here means, mind. be of sound mind and be sober in spirit.
8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
In the Greek ‘be sober’ means, be free fr. every form of mental and spiritual ‘drunkenness’, fr. excess, passion, rashness, confusion, etc. be well-balanced, self-controlled.
It it a necessitate that in the last days we remain sober and have a sound mind.
why?
Because the The devil be going forth as a roaring lion.
Even more intensely as the days grow shorter.
12 “For this reason, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time.”
It not not time to lose it and go crazy. God wants us to think clearly and have peace and this is the very reason he has given us the Bible and told us these things in advance.
33 “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”
In the world you have trouble.
We can not allow the trouble that is going on in the world drive us crazy or make us loose our peace and joy.
we must remain steady, and have courage.
not being overtaken by worry and fear.
7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
Power, love, and what????
A sound mind, our judgement. meaning we wont be controlled or make decision from the place of fear but with sober minds.
Well, how do we maintain a sober mind in a troubled world?
7 The end of all things is near; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer.
2. Be Purposeful in Prayer
2. Be Purposeful in Prayer
I had conversation with a friend and he said,
“If you don't have a vibrant prayer life in the last days, you won't make it.” Derrick’s friend
Prayer keeps us sober.
In Act 2:16-20
16 but this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel: 17 ‘And it shall be in the last days,’ God says, ‘That I will pour forth of My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, And your young men shall see visions, And your old men shall dream dreams; 18 Even on My bondslaves, both men and women, I will in those days pour forth of My Spirit And they shall prophesy. 19 ‘And I will grant wonders in the sky above And signs on the earth below, Blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke. 20 ‘The sun will be turned into darkness And the moon into blood, Before the great and glorious day of the Lord shall come.
Peter was quoting Joel 2:28-29
The prophetic promise of the outpouring of the Spirit that Joel prophesied was not completely fulfilled in Peter’s generation.
The fullness of what Joel prophesied has still not yet happened.
This is evidenced by significant differences betweenJoel 2 and Acts 2.
Only a portion of it was fulfilled in Peter’s day.
Joel said that the sun and the moon would grow dark and signs, such as blood and smoke, would be seen.
The early church did not see these signs.
Joel prophesied a worldwide outpouring of the Spirit on all flesh, meaning all nations.
In Acts 2, the Spirit only rested on120 local Jewish believers in Jerusalem, and then on 3,000 who were saved that day.
The fullness of Joel’s prophecy requires a global dimension.
Peter understood that Joel’s prophecy would only be completely fulfilled whenJesus returned to earth to restore all things during the millennial kingdom
What precedes the outpouring of God spirit?
15Blow a trumpet in Zion,
Consecrate a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly,
16Gather the people, sanctify the congregation,
Assemble the elders,
Gather the children and the nursing infants.
Let the bridegroom come out of his room
And the bride out of her bridal chamber.
17Let the priests, the Lord’s ministers,
Weep between the porch and the altar,
And let them say, “Spare Your people, O Lord,
And do not make Your inheritance a reproach,
A byword among the nations.
Why should they among the peoples say,
‘Where is their God?’ ”
What did the Church do before the day of Pentecost?
14 These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.
3. Love one another
3. Love one another
Prayer gives us the grace to love
44 “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
If we are going to do those 15 things we talk about last week we must remain in the place of prayer, because as the end draws nears it will be hard to stay in the place of prayer.
11 “Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. 12 “Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. 13 “But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.
We must endure in love till the end.
We must love one another
16 We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
The place of prayer helps the believer abide in God.
Love for one another produces hospitality.
4. Be hospital
4. Be hospital
9 Be hospitable to one another without complaint.
Hospital in the Greek is the word philoxenos meaning, “love of strangers”
Taken from 2 works in the Greek
1. philos, meaning “friend”
2. chenos, “stranger”
namely, a stranger treated as a friend.
35 “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
We just read Matt 24:12
12 “Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold.
Hospitality speak of open up your heart, not closing it.
Don’t allow the age in which we live make you become closed off and distance to other.
And don’t complain.
A couple of years ago God was dealing with me about complaing and feeling sorry for myself.
He sent me to Lam 3:27-28
27 It is good for a man that he should bear The yoke in his youth. 28 Let him sit alone and be silent Since He has laid it on him.
God was telling me to sit down and shut-up.
last one
5. Steward you talents well.
5. Steward you talents well.
10 As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 11 Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
I think of Matthew 25 or Luke 19
When a nobleman gives 3 man talents or Money.
All 3 get something
This story speaks about the kingdom of God.
and the commend of the noble man in ver 13 of Chapter 19 is
Luke 19:13 (NASB95)
.... ‘Do business with this until I come back.’
The end of all things speaks of the time before the return of our Lord and noble man Jesus Christ.
He has given us all special gift and we must be good steward of them.
This noble man will return and when he return he will inquire about what he gave you.
The one he gave 10 he doubled it. He did work
The one with 5 did work and doubled it
But the one who needed the least hid his gift. Sit on it.
20 “Another came, saying, ‘Master, here is your mina, which I kept put away in a handkerchief; 21 for I was afraid of you, because you are an exacting man; you take up what you did not lay down and reap what you did not sow.’
This last servant had a wrong theological understanding of Christology and eschatology
He saw God as hard sticked and not kind and loving. He saw God as unfair.
This was the result of this wasteful man
30 “Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
and if you have no teeth, they’ll be gnashing of gums.
You gift is needed for a time as this.. be a good steward!