I would just like to read the Scripture. In the Gospel of John, chapter 1—this says so much in just a few verses.
John 1:1:
In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
The same was in the beginning with God.
All things were made through Him;
and without Him was not anything made that hath been made.
In Him was life;
and the life was the light of men.
And the light shineth in the darkness;
and the darkness apprehended it not.
In Him was life. And so, we thank God this weekend that we have experienced the very life of our Savior, the Lord Jesus. In Him was life.
You know, we get into the rut of striving and trying to get things in so many different areas of our life. Day by day, the more we get, the more we seem to need; the more we want. It just goes on and on.
But this weekend we have come back to Him. In Him was life. And to find real life, we only have to look to the Lord Jesus.
This whole weekend has been a great time for us. We have wanted to be together like this for a good while. I think our last time together as men, with the men’s conference, was ten years ago. You know, that is too long—way too long to go like that.
It has been such a pleasure to have our brother Dana and our brother Stephen with us, to give us some lessons and to be with us. So, Brother Stephen, you come and give us what you have today. Praise the Lord.
Thank God we have come to the last session of this time together.
I will just read the remaining verses from the text, 2 Peter 1.
Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure:
for if ye do these things, ye shall never stumble:
for thus shall be richly supplied unto you the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Wherefore I shall be ready always to put you in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and are established in the truth which is with you.
Let us have a word of prayer.
Dear Lord, we want to thank Thee again for bringing us together this time, and we want to thank Thee for bringing us to this last session. Thou hast been gracious to us. Thou hast been present with us and art good to us.
Lord, we just desire that, at this last session, Thou wouldst still continue to reveal Thyself to us through Thy Word, warm our hearts, draw us closer to Thyself, and prepare us for Thy return. We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.
We have been sharing on this matter of the making of a man of God. First of all, we find the calling of a man of God. God has called us—not just a few, but God has called all of us—to be men of God, because that is His eternal will for man.
When He first created man, He created him in His image, according to His likeness, with the thought that man would receive His life; that man would be like Him, taking upon him the character of God Himself, that God might be glorified.
So, it is the will of God that every one of us whom He has called should be a man of God. And as we mentioned, He calls by His glory and virtue. It is a tremendous calling.
I often feel that we do not realize how great a calling we have been called to. When we realize it, it almost paralyzes us, because we feel, “How can we answer to that kind of call?” But thank God, He made provision.
By His divine power, He has given us all things that pertain unto life and godliness. Life is the very basis, and godliness is the end result of it. He gave us many great and precious promises that He is going to do it.
That is our calling. Then, in the second session, we talked about the making of a man of God. We have been called. God has provided. He has promised that He would do it. But this is not something automatic.
On our side, we have a responsibility. We have to respond to His calling. We have to use diligence in growing in that life and allowing that life to really express itself in many ways. It begins with faith, and it ends up with love. That is what we shared in the second session.
This morning, we would like to talk about the blessing of a man of God.
The calling has something to do with the past. You know, God actually chose us even before the foundation of the world. So far as election is concerned, that is ancient—even before the foundation of the world. God chose us in Christ Jesus, and He marked us out for adoption, for sonship, that we might be holy and without blemish before Him in love.
So, our calling is really in the distant past. But in Scripture, we find that He uses the perfect tense. It means that it has been carried all the years over, even to our time. So it is still there. God is still calling us, and He is still making provision for us. He is still promising us that He will do that.
Now, so far as the making of a man of God is concerned, it is in the present. Use diligence. We have to do it today. We have to use diligence today, cooperating with Him, committing our lives to Him, responding to His grace, and allowing Him to work out His perfect salvation in us.
That is our responsibility, and this is something that has to be going on day by day, as long as we live. But there is something in the future for us.
If we are diligent in responding to the calling of God, then first of all, with diligence we make our calling and election sure.
Now, so far as God’s calling is concerned, we know it is sure. Because in Romans 11, we find that the gifts and the calling of God are without repentance.
So, if God gave us the gift of life, and He gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit, and if He has called us to godliness, to be men of God, that calling never changes. That gift is never taken back. In other words, so far as God is concerned, it is sure. There is no doubt about it.
This gives us assurance. You know, people are sometimes afraid of talking about election. But to me, I feel that election gives us the greatest confidence and assurance.
God has elected us according to His foreknowledge, as we find in Romans 8. According to His own knowledge, He has predestined us to be conformed to the image of His beloved Son.
For whom He foreknew, He also foreordained to be conformed to the image of His Son,
that He might be the firstborn among many brethren:
and whom He foreordained, them He also called:
and whom He called, them He also justified:
and whom He justified, them He also glorified.
In other words, you find that so far as God is concerned, once He decides, it is done. He will never fail. So election is really the greatest assurance to us.
Dear brothers, you are elected even before the foundation of the world. You are elected in Christ Jesus. And you are elected to be what? To be men of God—to be conformed to the image of God’s beloved Son, to have His character fully developed in you, and to be brought into glory.
That is our whole election. That is God’s election. That is God’s calling. And there is no repentance with Him. He will do it.
One day, in spite of us, this will be finished. But God’s desire is that it can be finished today.
You know, He gave us this life, this present life on earth. This is the time and space that He has given to us, with the hope that what He has purposed may be fulfilled. In that sense, we have a responsibility.
So far as God’s calling and election are concerned, that is sure. There is no doubt about it. But so far as we are concerned, we have a responsibility today to make our calling and our election sure.
In other words, if we are not diligent, if we do not apply ourselves, if we do not respond to the grace of God, if we do not commit ourselves to Him for His purpose, and if we are not willing to deny ourselves, then in our days this calling and election, so far as we are concerned, is very uncertain.
We are not sure that we are called. There is no proof of it. We are not sure that we are elected, because we do not look like it.
You know, our Lord Jesus said, “Many are called, but few are chosen.” Now, we have been called, but are we sure we are chosen? What are the evidences, the proofs of it?
This is something that really concerns us. There is a responsibility on our part to make His calling and election sure in our lives. To Him, there is no problem. He will eventually finish it. But to us, He requires cooperation. If we do not give Him that cooperation today, it will not be sure today.
So it is pretty serious, brothers.
Then you find it reinforced. He said, “For if ye do these things, ye shall never stumble.” Now, put it negatively: if you do not do these things, you will fall. You will stumble.
Now, does it mean that we will lose our salvation? I believe, brothers, you know we will not, because eternal life is the gift of God. When God gives that gift, He will never take it back.
You know, He is not like a little child. You see children playing together with their toys, and sometimes, in the midst of their playing, something happens. You find one shout, “This is my toy!” He wants to take it back. He will not allow you to play with it.
But God is not a man, that He will repent. Once He gives eternal life, it is a gift to us. You do not earn it. It is not because you behave that you are rewarded with it. So you cannot lose it if you do not behave. Once given, forever given. That is God.
So you will not lose your salvation. But you will lose something. You will lose some reward.
In 1 Corinthians 3, Paul said he is like a master builder, a wise man, and he laid the foundation, which is Christ Jesus. There is no other foundation that can be laid. But each one of us is building upon that foundation in our daily life, in our daily walk.
We are building on that foundation. If we build with gold, silver, and precious stones—if we build with the same material as our God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—then one day, when the fire shall appear, it will stand. Not only standing, but actually through the fire it will be glorified.
But if you build with wood, hay, and stubble, that is trouble. It will be burned. In other words, after you believe in the Lord Jesus, all the life after that is burned up because you build with your flesh, with everything that is human instead of divine.
For the Bible says everything will be burned up, but you will be saved—barely saved. You are still saved, but unfortunately, the days after you believe in the Lord Jesus until the day you appear before the judgment seat of Jesus Christ seem to be lost. You stumble. You fall.
Then there is something more. He said, “If ye do these things, ye shall never stumble.” But what will you have?
For thus shall be richly supplied unto you the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
In other words, there is the past, there is the present, and there is the future.
Not only today can you make your calling and election sure—this is your responsibility. He will do it, but you have to cooperate to make it sure, so that you do not miss out.
Then He promises us, “Now, if you do these things, then you can enter into the everlasting kingdom of our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ,” abundantly, richly entering.
There is a kingdom before us: the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. One day, by His grace, we will enter it. But how do you go in? Is it richly supplied to you? Is it barely? Or do you not make it? Now, what does this mean?
You know, I think this matter of the kingdom is a very important thing. Peter mentioned it. He said, “I am just trying to remind you. You know all these things. You know the present truth.” Now, what is the present truth? You know it.
So far as Peter is concerned, Peter’s ministry centers upon the kingdom of God. Like Paul’s ministry is centered upon the house of God, and John’s ministry is centered upon the household of God, the family of God. Each apostle has his specialty. God entrusted them with something special.
So far as Peter is concerned, it is a matter of the kingdom of God. That is his ministry. He is one who knows the kingdom—the coming kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
You know, when he confessed our Lord Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God, in Matthew 16, our Lord Jesus said:
Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah:
for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee,
but My Father who is in heaven.
And I also say unto thee, that thou art Peter,
and upon this rock I will build My church;
and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven.
So you find that Peter’s ministry is always related to the kingdom. Now, the kingdom is a great truth in the Word of God, but unfortunately, today among God’s people, it is very little known.
There is a problem among God’s people today—a controversy, a conflict. You know, after the Reformation, with justification by faith, we are justified by faith. Just believe in the Lord Jesus and you are saved. It is not by works.
Then you find that a problem was created. Yes, we are not justified by works. Our works were dead works. We have to repent of our dead works and just rely on the finished work of Christ, receiving Him by faith. That is true. But after we are saved, then what?
Does it matter, after we are saved, how we live? Here you find two schools.
One school says, “Once saved, forever saved, so it does not matter.” If, after you are saved, you deny yourself, take up the cross, and follow the Lord—or if, after you are saved, you still love the world and enjoy the pleasures of sin—why, you go to heaven just the same. It makes no difference.
That is one teaching. It is a dangerous teaching. But, you know, the Baptists, the Presbyterians, they all believe in that. Something is not quite right.
Then you find the other school, the Arminians—the Methodists, the Church of God. They take the other stand. They say, “No, that is too dangerous. It is true that you are saved by grace through faith, but if you do not behave, you will lose it. You will lose your salvation.”
As your brother said, you have to be saved again and again. In the morning you are saved; in the evening you are lost. Then you have to get saved again.
Now, do you know what really happened? If you go back to history, you find the reason why such a thing happened. Before the Reformation, do you know what the Catholic Church taught?
They said we are saved by merit. You have to accumulate enough merit on earth; then you can go straight to heaven. Otherwise, you go to purgatory. You have to be purged.
That is the reason why, if you say a rosary, different rosaries give you different days of indulgence. You could buy indulgence papers during Martin Luther’s time.
You see, it was completely lost. So when the Reformation came, the Reformers threw out the whole thing of merit and said, “No, it is not by merit; it is just by believing in the Lord Jesus.”
When they threw the whole thing out, oftentimes in a superstition there is a little truth there. If it were all false, nobody would believe it. But because there is something in it, that is why it tempts people, and people believe it.
Actually, when they threw out that whole thing of merit, they threw out the whole thing about the kingdom.
In other words, you have only this life and eternity. But according to the Word of God, you find there is this age, the age to come, and eternity.
This age is where we are living today. The age to come is the kingdom age. One day, the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will come upon this earth for a thousand years. Then, after the kingdom, there is eternity.
Now, to enter into that kingdom, it is still grace, but it is grace responded to. It is the work—not dead works, but the work of faith. That is the difference.
You remember when our Lord Jesus came. His forerunner, John the Baptist, came out, a voice from the wilderness crying:
Repent ye; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
For four hundred years, God was silent with His people. Suddenly, a voice came: “Repent ye; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” God was calling His people.
What was the reason that they should repent? They were God’s elect people. The temple was restored. Temple services were going on. There were priests. There were Pharisees who studied the Bible. They were a pious people.
And yet God’s calling was, “Repent.” It was a total turnabout. The whole thing was wrong. What was evil was wrong; what appeared good was wrong; what appeared religious was wrong. Everything was wrong. The whole thing was wrong. You had to completely turn around.
Why? For one reason: the kingdom of heaven was at hand. You know, we repent of our sins, but here you repent for the kingdom. That is the calling.
Those Pharisees had a very high view of themselves. They were right; they were very religious and pious. There was nothing for them to repent of. So they refused the message of John. Only the sinners, the publicans, knew that they were sinners, and they went and were baptized with the baptism of repentance.
Then our Lord Jesus came. He did the same thing. After John the Baptist was put in prison, He continued with the same message: “Repent ye; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
His calling was for a people to repent for the sake of the kingdom.
But His kingdom is not the kingdom of Israel. That is where the Jewish people at that time were mistaken, because their idea of the Messianic kingdom was a political one. Their prayer was, “God, send the Messiah to save us from the Roman yoke, that we may be free and may be first among all the nations.”
That was their idea of the kingdom, their idea of the Messiah. But our Lord Jesus came. He was born King of the Jews. He came for His kingdom, but His kingdom was not of this world.
He testified before Pilate:
My kingdom is not of this world:
if My kingdom were of this world,
then would My servants fight,
that I should not be delivered to the Jews:
but now is My kingdom not from hence.
He came to set up a kingdom of the heavens—a heavenly kingdom, a spiritual kingdom, a glorious kingdom.
Now, in Scripture, the word kingdom, those who know Greek tell us, has its emphasis not on territory. The emphasis is on the King—kingship, rulership.
So, the kingdom of heaven simply means heaven’s rule. The King of heaven rules over His realm. People who are in that kingdom are subject to His kingly rule, subject to that heavenly rule. They take upon themselves the very character of the King.
That is the meaning of the kingdom of heaven. Everyone in that kingdom bears the character of the King. Our Lord Jesus is the King born into this world.
So He came to call us to repent. No one is fit for that kind of kingdom. We all have to repent. Even Nicodemus, the teacher of Israel, had to be born again, because he was not fit for such a thing.
We have to receive the kingly life in us. We have to allow the kingly life to rule in us. We have to allow that life to grow, so that the King’s character will be formed in His citizens. That is the kingdom of the heavens.
The Lord said that from the days of John the Baptist, the King had already come. But He had no people yet, so there was no kingdom yet. He was calling for disciples. He was calling for a people willing to submit themselves to His rule, to be disciples of Him, and to allow Him to work His life and His character into them.
Later, when you come to Matthew 11, you find that the Lord said:
From the days of John the Baptist until now
the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence,
and men of violence take it by force.
In other words, not only has the kingdom of heaven drawn near, but the kingdom of heaven is now here.
Who will be in that kingdom? Who will be the people of that kingdom? Those who do violence to themselves. You know, the word in Scripture is a strong word: violence. Not to do violence to other people—we are used to that—but to do violence to ourselves. This is the very meaning of denying yourself.
We all love ourselves. We want to please ourselves, gratify ourselves, uplift ourselves. Yet this is the kingdom of this world. The King of heaven is so different. We have to deny ourselves, do violence to ourselves, and tell ourselves, “I do not know you. You have nothing to do with it.”
Dear brothers, here you find that even when our Lord was on earth, in a spiritual sense, the kingdom of heaven had already come. He had come. He had gathered around Himself disciples who put themselves under His rulership. So He already had His kingdom here.
But this was not recognized. The world did not know it. It is spiritual in nature, and people without spiritual eyes could not see that kingdom.
But people with spiritual eyes can see that the kingdom of heaven is already here. Those are the people who use diligence. Those are the people who have faith—faith, virtue; virtue, knowledge. Those are the people who are not idle, who are fruitful. They are men of God.
These are already, in the spiritual sense, in the kingdom. But so far as the world is concerned, the kingdom is invisible. It is a mystery. People can see Christendom, but they cannot see the real spiritual kingdom of our Lord Jesus.
But thank God, one day, when our Lord Jesus comes back a second time, then He will establish His everlasting kingdom upon this earth. In other words, then the kingdom will be manifested. It will be known by all.
His kingdom shall rule over this earth. He shall rule this earth with an iron rod. Righteousness shall be the principle of the kingdom.
Today, when people sin, judgment does not come immediately. But in the kingdom age, if anyone should sin, immediately the judgment will come, because righteousness is the principle of that kingdom. During that kingdom, our Lord Jesus shall rule upon this earth.
Peter said this matter of the kingdom is not an imagination. To Peter, it was very, very real. Why? Because he had seen it.
You know, he mentioned in the first chapter. He said, “This is not something fabled. I have seen it, because when I was with the Lord on that Mount of Transfiguration, I heard a voice from above, from the Most Excellent Glory.”
This is My beloved Son,
in whom I am well pleased:
hear ye Him.
He said, “I have seen the kingdom.” Matthew 17 is a full view of the coming kingdom.
Because we find in Matthew, Mark, and Luke that our Lord said, “Some of you, before you die, shall see the Son of man coming in His kingdom. You shall see the kingdom.”
After six days, He took three of the disciples up to the Mount of Transfiguration. So the Mount of Transfiguration is a preview of the coming kingdom of our Lord Jesus upon the earth.
Now, in that kingdom is glory. It is the fulfillment of all the prophets and Moses. So Moses and Elijah appeared, because all that God had prophesied through Moses and through the prophets is now fulfilled in Christ Jesus.
But Peter made a serious mistake. He was so excited, and he had just awakened from sleep. He did not know what he was saying. But he loved that scene so much, and he said, “Lord, let us make three tabernacles here: one for Thee, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
But the Father said, “This is My Son. Hear Him.” That is the kingdom. Hear Him. That is the kingdom principle. If you hear Him, you are in the kingdom.
Peter said, “I have seen it. I have heard it. So I know it is real.”
He said, “We have the prophetic word made more sure.” Here you find all the prophetic words in the Old Testament. They are like a lamp shining in a dark place.
Dear brothers, we are living at almost midnight. It is the darkest time before dawn, the darkest period. That is the time we are living in today.
But we do not need to grope in darkness, because we have the prophetic word with us. As we read the prophetic Word, he said, read it until the morning star arises in your hearts.
You know, people love prophecy, especially when we are living in this end age. We are very curious, wondering what is going to happen next. Whenever you speak on prophecy, you get a crowd. No matter what you speak, you draw a crowd.
But that is not what prophecy is for. Because in Revelation 19:10, it says:
The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
We need to get into the spirit of prophecy. You read prophecy until the morning star arises in your heart.
Now, before the sun comes up, at the darkest of the night, you see the morning star. But only those who wake up early see it. If you wake up when the sun is already out, you cannot see the morning star.
Those who are watchful, who are waiting, can see the morning star. And how beautiful that morning star is. But it says, “Until the morning star arise in your hearts.”
In other words, when you read the prophetic Word and Christ begins to rise up in your heart, you see Christ. You see the beauty of Christ. You are drawn to Him, attracted by Him, and you are ready for Him—prepared to meet Him.
Now, if you are that person, when you enter the everlasting kingdom of our Lord Jesus, when His kingdom is here on this earth, you will be richly supplied in your entrance.
In other words, you will reign with Christ for a thousand years.
But if you do not see the morning star—if you are sons of light and sons of the day, and yet you are sleeping, idle, unfruitful, falling—when the sun comes up, everybody sees the sun. But it is a little bit late.
Like the five foolish virgins, they are too late for the wedding feast. Too late. They are not allowed to enter into the kingdom and reign with Christ in glory for a thousand years. They miss the reward.
Now, it is reward. Why? Because you have to be awake. You have to be diligent. You have to cooperate. You have to commit. You have to hear. You have to allow the Holy Spirit to work in your lifetime.
So, in a sense, it is a reward. Reward is not for everybody. If I am going to reward everybody, whether you prepare your lessons or not, then nobody will prepare the lesson.
Reward is selective. But remember, even that reward is grace, because you have not done anything. You have only responded to His grace. That is all.
Whoever today lives in the reality of the kingdom, tomorrow, when the kingdom shall appear on earth, will enter into it richly.
But if you do not live today in the reality of His kingdom, do not think that you are qualified to rule. To rule, you need to be qualified. Not everybody can rule. This is our training.
So how important is today. Dear brothers, every day is an important day. God is preparing us. He is making us. He is forming us, maturing us, to make us fit to be led into glory and to share with Christ in His rulership over the earth for a thousand years.
Of course, after the thousand years, you have eternity. Thank God, in eternity everyone who overcomes will be there, and they will all be kings, as you find in Revelation 22. They will serve the Lord forever and forever.
So, dear brothers, on the one hand, it is real encouragement. On the other hand, it is a warning. I do hope that we will take the warning and be encouraged, knowing that He who has called us is faithful. He will perform it. Thank God for that.
Shall we pray?
Dear Lord, we thank Thee for gathering us these days. We thank Thee for being with us. Lord, we thank Thee that Thou art preparing us for Thy return.
We pray, Lord, that we may be those who are not sleeping; may we be those who are watchful and praying, committing ourselves to Thee and allowing Thee to complete Thy calling and Thy election, to the praise of Thy glory.
We commit one another to Thee and pray that Thou wilt keep us until that day, and that we may live in Thy glory. In the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.