Vision
2 Peter 3:13Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
As the kingdom of God comes, it requires new measures of new things...new measures of patience, new measures of peace, new measures of humility, new measures of Revelation.
That is what Peter is talking about in this passage.
This requires a fruit salad of character traits we would call the "fruit of the Spirit"... love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness...etc...these all mixed together taste like humility. To grow in this takes vision...looking for a new heavens and Earth.
It takes vision to not quit when God is doing a new thing. Peter learned this the hard way in the Garden of Gethsemane...he didn't listen to Jesus' warning about how to not fall...how to not stumble. Jesus was about to do something brand new, although it was foretold, and Peter wouldn't get a soft heart to hear it, or a firm heart to bear the fallout of it. What Peter learned from not listening to Jesus, not praying with Jesus, and then denying he even k ew Jesus eventually became a main warning of his teaching.
We are supposed to learn from Peter:
2 Peter 3:13Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
14Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless;
15and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you,
16as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.
17You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked;
18but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.
Right now, there is a lot of new information...a new look at very old Bible passages. This is offensive to those who don't have confidence that they can hear God, too. If they had confidence, they would rightly discern the word. Instead, because they are untaught, unstable, and also have a history making mistakes with the word, they twist this new look into "heresy".
The Bible warns that this is a very real danger. The things Paul taught are still hard to understand. It takes a soft heart and a growing confidence that I can hear God, I can hear other people, and rightly divide the Word myself.
There is a move right now in the church calling for people to be "fathers".... Worship fathers, and apostolic fathers, teaching fathers....with many beginning to call themselves "fathers."
This generally isn't what the Bible is calling the Bride to. There is one Father. The Bible is calling us to be sons and daughters of God.... Children of God carrying the heart of the father. This is the season all of creation has been groaning for (Romans 8). Don't let anyone twist you out of it with subtle leading into pride. Its one thing to carry the heart of a father, and another to begin calling yourself a father.
The Tabernacle of God will be with men, and there will only be one Father.
Matthew 23:seats in the synagogues,
7“greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, ‘Rabbi, Rabbi.’
8“But you, do not be called ‘Rabbi’; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren.
9“Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.
10“And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ.
11“But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.
12“And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.
13“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.
Ephesians 4:11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,
12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,
13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ
Apostolic networks are eventually going away according to Ephesians 4, and what is emerging are children of God who aren't childish. I will always be my mother's child, but I put away childish things. Being a child is talking about my humility to sit under my parent (The Father) and not try to steal his role, as well as my sense of belonging to Him and to a family.
The warning is that at just the right time unstable people will twist Paul's truths about this and other ideas that are unique to his teaching, and lead many away in error. We can see this in the great "apostolic networks" of our day, which are pushing to grow, not diminish. Many of these are full of arrogance, have twisted a truth about freedom and belonging, and are selling the children of God wholesale into rebellion against God's plan to raise up a humble family in this hour that has one Father , one Groom, and operates like a body.
It's easy to see. Yes, I am talking about that "apostle." Pick any one... The resume of many of the modern day "apostles" is nothing like the resume of an actual apostle:
2 Corinthians 11:12But what I do, I will also continue to do, that I may cut off the opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the things of which they boast.
13For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ.
14And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.
15Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.
16I say again, let no one think me a fool. If otherwise, at least receive me as a fool, that I also may boast a little.
17What I speak, I speak not according to the Lord, but as it were, foolishly, in this confidence of boasting.
18Seeing that many boast according to the flesh, I also will boast.
19For you put up with fools gladly, since you yourselves are wise!
20For you put up with it if one brings you into bondage, if one devours you, if one takes from you, if one exalts himself, if one strikes you on the face.
21To our shame I say that we were too weak for that! But in whatever anyone is bold—I speak foolishly—I am bold also.
22Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I.
23Are they ministers of Christ?—I speak as a fool—I am more: in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often.
24From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one.
25Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep;
26in journeys often, in perils of waters, inperils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;
27in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness—
28besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches.
We are actually supposed to test those who claim to be apostles by this standard set up in the word. An apostle embraces the place of least.
Revelation 2:2“I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars;
On the other side of this road is a warning to not lack love. When we see all these things happening, we need to look up...lift our heads, for redemption is drawing near. I can see the apostolic corruption and fall into the other ditch of not loving if I'm not careful:
Revelation 2:3“and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary.
4“Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 5“Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.
Falling into either ditch is what the Bible describes as "falling away."
Instead, we need to, as a people who claim to have one Father, learn to speak the truth, but in love. Child-like, not childish:
Ephesians 4:14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,
15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—
16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
As the kingdom of God comes, it requires new measures of new things...new measures of patience, new measures of peace, new measures of humility, new measures of Revelation.
That is what Peter is talking about in this passage.
This requires a fruit salad of character traits we would call the "fruit of the Spirit"... love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness...etc...these all mixed together taste like humility. To grow in this takes vision...looking for a new heavens and Earth.
It takes vision to not quit when God is doing a new thing. Peter learned this the hard way in the Garden of Gethsemane...he didn't listen to Jesus' warning about how to not fall...how to not stumble. Jesus was about to do something brand new, although it was foretold, and Peter wouldn't get a soft heart to hear it, or a firm heart to bear the fallout of it. What Peter learned from not listening to Jesus, not praying with Jesus, and then denying he even k ew Jesus eventually became a main warning of his teaching.
We are supposed to learn from Peter:
2 Peter 3:13Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
14Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless;
15and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you,
16as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.
17You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked;
18but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.
Right now, there is a lot of new information...a new look at very old Bible passages. This is offensive to those who don't have confidence that they can hear God, too. If they had confidence, they would rightly discern the word. Instead, because they are untaught, unstable, and also have a history making mistakes with the word, they twist this new look into "heresy".
The Bible warns that this is a very real danger. The things Paul taught are still hard to understand. It takes a soft heart and a growing confidence that I can hear God, I can hear other people, and rightly divide the Word myself.
There is a move right now in the church calling for people to be "fathers".... Worship fathers, and apostolic fathers, teaching fathers....with many beginning to call themselves "fathers."
This generally isn't what the Bible is calling the Bride to. There is one Father. The Bible is calling us to be sons and daughters of God.... Children of God carrying the heart of the father. This is the season all of creation has been groaning for (Romans 8). Don't let anyone twist you out of it with subtle leading into pride. Its one thing to carry the heart of a father, and another to begin calling yourself a father.
The Tabernacle of God will be with men, and there will only be one Father.
Matthew 23:seats in the synagogues,
7“greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, ‘Rabbi, Rabbi.’
8“But you, do not be called ‘Rabbi’; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren.
9“Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.
10“And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ.
11“But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.
12“And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.
13“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.
Ephesians 4:11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,
12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,
13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ
Apostolic networks are eventually going away according to Ephesians 4, and what is emerging are children of God who aren't childish. I will always be my mother's child, but I put away childish things. Being a child is talking about my humility to sit under my parent (The Father) and not try to steal his role, as well as my sense of belonging to Him and to a family.
The warning is that at just the right time unstable people will twist Paul's truths about this and other ideas that are unique to his teaching, and lead many away in error. We can see this in the great "apostolic networks" of our day, which are pushing to grow, not diminish. Many of these are full of arrogance, have twisted a truth about freedom and belonging, and are selling the children of God wholesale into rebellion against God's plan to raise up a humble family in this hour that has one Father , one Groom, and operates like a body.
It's easy to see. Yes, I am talking about that "apostle." Pick any one... The resume of many of the modern day "apostles" is nothing like the resume of an actual apostle:
2 Corinthians 11:12But what I do, I will also continue to do, that I may cut off the opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the things of which they boast.
13For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ.
14And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.
15Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.
16I say again, let no one think me a fool. If otherwise, at least receive me as a fool, that I also may boast a little.
17What I speak, I speak not according to the Lord, but as it were, foolishly, in this confidence of boasting.
18Seeing that many boast according to the flesh, I also will boast.
19For you put up with fools gladly, since you yourselves are wise!
20For you put up with it if one brings you into bondage, if one devours you, if one takes from you, if one exalts himself, if one strikes you on the face.
21To our shame I say that we were too weak for that! But in whatever anyone is bold—I speak foolishly—I am bold also.
22Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I.
23Are they ministers of Christ?—I speak as a fool—I am more: in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often.
24From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one.
25Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep;
26in journeys often, in perils of waters, inperils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;
27in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness—
28besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches.
We are actually supposed to test those who claim to be apostles by this standard set up in the word. An apostle embraces the place of least.
Revelation 2:2“I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars;
On the other side of this road is a warning to not lack love. When we see all these things happening, we need to look up...lift our heads, for redemption is drawing near. I can see the apostolic corruption and fall into the other ditch of not loving if I'm not careful:
Revelation 2:3“and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary.
4“Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 5“Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.
Falling into either ditch is what the Bible describes as "falling away."
Instead, we need to, as a people who claim to have one Father, learn to speak the truth, but in love. Child-like, not childish:
Ephesians 4:14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,
15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—
16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
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