One Tool Every Christian Needs For The End Times | 2 Peter 2 | Austin Hamrick

[Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] my name is austin i'm one of the pastors here on staff and i oversee our young adults ministry and it's such a joy and a pleasure to do so you know hearing from my dad every wednesday and every sunday it's like getting ice cream i mean it's like being fed ice cream you look forward to it it tastes amazing with me tonight it's kind of being like fed vegetables all right you don't really look forward to it but hopefully it's healthy and you learn something from it and it's beneficial so nonetheless i'm excited to bring the word tonight and i'm glad to learn tonight with you from our bible study and our bible study is going to take place in the book of second peter so i'm going to invite you to turn with me there if you have your bibles second peter chapter two is where our bible study takes place for tonight you know we just finished revelation and we just wrapped up the book i hope you all enjoyed that bible study in revelation and all of the question and answer services we just finished revelation but honestly i thought rather than just teach something random rather than just teach something completely unrelated i thought i would hold us here for just one more bible study and talk to us tonight about something related to the end times last year this past year has felt a little bit apocalyptic am i right i mean the global pandemic the global shutdown the virus and vaccines i mean remember just about this time a year ago remember how many of you were at costco running over people trying to get toilet paper and it just had this very apocalyptic setting and this this apocalyptic scenery the global pandemic and the global shutdown something like out of a sci-fi movie and so here in the last few months as we begin to continue into 2021 things hopefully will begin to settle down a little bit um i'm praying things settle down you know as as we move forward into 2021 um businesses hopefully will be opening back up to the full restaurants and movie theaters uh we'll be open and you know we can go to the movies and all that stuff and as things begin to settle down as i pray that they do there's one thing that i pray does not settle down one thing i pray that does not settle your heart on fire for jesus christ and the urgency you feel to preach the good news as you await jesus imminent return amen this is what cannot settle down as our environment around us begins to settle and as things begin to calm down which i pray that they do and continue to settle as we move in throughout this new year the bible calls us as believers in jesus christ to have hearts that are always burning aflame for the love of jesus christ and what happens is here's the problem and i'm guilty of this myself at times our hearts are only stimulated for jesus christ to the degree that our environment around us is shaken up at times we are guilty of this as believers that our hearts are only stimulated for jesus christ to the degree that our environment around us has been shaken up and this happens throughout our our lives our different hills and our different valleys and it might go like i was just diagnosed with an illness i need to get right with god my marriage is in jeopardy i need to read my bible and what happens is the environment around us is shaken up and so it does something within our hearts to get right with the lord and this is what happens as we measure the urgency of our environment but my heart is and my prayer for myself and for us is that as as our environment begins to settle a bit that our hearts would still be set aflame for jesus christ i'm not saying that god causes these things to happen but rather sometimes god will allow us to go through earth-shaking things to wake up our faith and in the same way the urgent apocalyptic feel of this time has led many to check their spiritual health why because the apocalyptic like urgency of our day makes us better understand just how fragile we are and the brevity of life and then it drives many to question their belief system to then check the gauge of their spiritual health and to get right with god and so as our environment begins to settle may we not be a church that spiritually settles but may we not be stagnant in our faith but be on fire for the lord because the fact of the matter is jesus return is imminent and we learned that as we made our way through our study in revelation that jesus he is returning and the events that have occurred this past year it's shaken up our world spiritually and as things begin to normalize you know what begins to happen is satan takes advantage satan takes advantage and he uses our comfortable environment to his advantage and he creates complacent christians who have no sense of urgency jesus in the gospels he tells us in luke 21 28 he says your redemption is drawing near and so i think that it's a healthy reminder for us tonight to once again take gauge of where we are even though we've closed up our study in the book of revelation and even though our environment as we move into this year begins to settle down a bit i pray that we still stay ready that we stay faithful that we stay prepared and that we stay on fire amen and so the topic of our bible study tonight is related to the end times and here's the title for our study tonight what one tool every christian needs for the end times we're going to talk tonight about one tool one tool that every christian needs for the end times before we get started let's settle our hearts and let's pray and then we'll dive into our bible study in ii peter and lord this is our prayer as we begin to read your word we just pray even now that you would begin to open up our hearts lord to hear from you we don't want to be settled stagnant christians we want to be on fire for you and we want to pursue holy living we want to still have this sense of urgency because your return is near and so i pray now that as we read your word and study your word lord open up our spiritual ears to hear from you we invite your holy spirit here you're our teacher lord and so would you teach us through your word now as we study together we love you god and it's in jesus name that we pray and everybody said together amen so the book of second peter could be somewhat considered an end times epistle an end times letter because he writes about in ii peter he writes about the judgment of the ungodly that's going to come he writes about the current heaven and earth that's going to pass away by fire he also writes about the new heaven and earth that's to come and then he also writes about the return of christ and the coming of the lord and he does this in 1st corinthian or in where are we second peter in second peter chapter 1 in the very first chapter there's only three chapters in this book in the very first chapter in chapter 1 verse 16 he says for we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and the coming of our lord jesus christ then he jumps to the third chapter and he again writes about this he says in chapter 3 verses 3 and 4 scoffers will come in the last days walking according to their own lusts and saying where is this promise of his coming so he bookends this book with the coming of the lord in chapter 1 the coming of the lord in chapter 3 and then he has the meat within the middle he binds chapters 1 about the coming of the lord and chapters 3 about the coming of the lord he binds it with chapter 2. and chapter 2 is his main central theme and he describes what the end is going to be like and right smack dab in the middle of this book the meat of the sandwich the passage that binds chapters one and three together is where he presents this main theme and actually right before he dives into his main central theme in chapter two at the end of chapter one he actually tells his readers that he's gonna die soon and he mentions this in verse 13 of chapter one he says yes i think it is right as long as i am in this tent okay he's referring to his body i think it's right as long as i'm in this tent to stir you up by reminding you knowing that shortly i must put off my tent i must put off my body just as our lord jesus christ showed me so right as about right before he is about to dive into the meet in the heart of his passage concerning the coming of the lord he tells them listen my time is short pretty soon the lord has already revealed to me that it's time for me to put off this body and he kind of sends them away with this last letter you know farewell addresses have been very prominent in our nation around the world george washington he penned a 32-page farewell letter to his fellow citizens after his 20 years of public service to the united states many presidents after that followed suit they wrote farewell addresses from their places of leadership and authority when they were about to retire and this is the mindset i get when i read this passage here that peter in a in a sense he's giving this farewell address he's like i'm about to die i don't have much time left and he basically says if there is one more thing that i can tell you if there is a final word that i can speak to you before i'm about to leave this tent before i'm about to die and before jesus christ returns if there's one final word one tool that i could give you to equip you for the coming of the lord it is this one tool the tool of discernment he says use discernment this is how he binds chapters one and chapter three chapter one the lord is coming again chapter three scoffers are going to be there in the last days because they're going to scoff at you make fun of you and say when is the lord returning and he binds those two passages about the coming of the lord with use discernment the tool that every christian needs the spiritual tool that every christian needs as the lord's return draws near it's the main theme of the letter discernment the spiritual tool that everyone needs every christian needs to exercise as we draw near to the lord's return and he emphasizes the need for discernment in the life of the believer as we approach the end times because peter's going to say and argue that discernment is a needed function within the church because in his first letter in first peter he says that the devil your enemy prowls around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour and then at the end of the book in second peter 3 17 he says beware lest you also fall from your own steadfas steadfastness being led away with the error of the wicked so he's going to argue here in chapter 2 that discernment is a needed function of the body of christ as we approach the end times so tonight i want to talk to us more about this spiritual tool called discernment using our passage here in 2nd peter 2 so let's read together in verse 1 of chapter 2. second peter chapter 2 verse 1 peter writes but there were also false prophets among the people even as there will be false teachers among you who will secretly bring in destructive heresies even denying the lord who bought them and bring on themselves swift destruction and many will follow their destructive ways because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed by covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words for a long time their judgment has not been idle and their destruction does not slumber jump to verse 12. verse 12 but these like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed speak evil of the things they do not understand and will utterly perish in their own corruption and will receive the wages of unrighteousness as those who count at pleasure to corrals in the daytime they are spots and blemishes carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin enticing unstable souls they have a heart trained in covetous practices and are accursed children they have forsaken the right way and gone astray following the way of balaam the son of beor who loved the wages of unrighteousness but he was rebuked for his iniquity a dumb donkey speaking with a man's voice restrained the madness of the prophet these are wells without water he's speaking of these false prophets these false teachers they're wells without water clouds carried by a tempest for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever for when they speak great swelling words of emptiness they allure through the lusts of the flesh through lewdness the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error while they promise them liberty they themselves are slaves of corruption pause with me there peter in this passage he's referring to false prophets basically what he says is in the old testament there were prophets that the lord spoke to good godly prophets whom the lord used to write scripture the scripture that we still read today in the old testament good godly prophets who were tools in the hand of god he says but at the same time that those good godly prophets prophets existed there were false prophets among the people and it led to the people's destruction and then he goes on to say so as there were false prophets in the old testament so there will be false prophets among you in the end days in the end times and here's what he says they'll bring these false prophets he says that they'll bring destructive heresies in verse one destructive ways in verse two and deceptive words in verse three so look with me he says in verse one but there were also false prophets among the people even as there will be false teachers among you who will secretly bring in okay destructive heresies bad theology even denying the lord who bought them and bring on themselves swift destruction and many will follow their destructive ways okay bad behavior because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed by covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words a bad message so he says that these false prophets they're going to have bad theology they're going to have bad behavior and they're going to speak a bad unbiblical message this is what these false prophets will bring and he uses the word destruction or destructive four times in just those three verses it's the greek word apollya and it means to die or to perish he said they're bringing their destructive heresies in ways their deceptive words and it will in turn lead to your destruction if you're persuaded by it so he tells us that these false teachers they're going to bring these teachings and these ideologies and these philosophies they're destructive and if you follow these destructive ideologies and philosophies then it will in turn destroy you so this is what he says what they'll bring and then he goes on to describe how they'll bring it and he tells us first he says this is how they're going to bring those destructive theologies and ideologies they're first going to bring it secretly look with me at verse 1 again but there were also false prophets among the people even as there will be false teachers among you who will secretly bring in destructive heresies and then in verse 3 this is another way how they're going to bring in their false teachings he says by covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words so they will bring it how they'll bring it deceitfully then in verse 14 he says they're going to bring this bad theology this bad message they're going to bring it enticingly in verse 14. he says having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin enticing unstable souls and then another way they're going to bring it is alluringly in verse 18. verse 18 for when they speak great swelling words of emptiness they allure through the lusts of the flesh through lewdness so he mentions what they'll bring they're going to have bad theology bad behavior and unbiblical message and they're going to bring it in secretly they're going to bring in it in deceitfully it's gonna sound enticing and it's gonna be really alluring it's gonna draw you in and i love what he says in verse 19 he says they actually promise you freedom this message actually sounds like it liberates you but it actually enslaves you this is so descriptive of our descriptive of our day and age a lot of things sound great a lot of things sound popular a lot of things sound enticing and he says that the things that the world has to offer you it promises freedom hey if you just indulge in this hey if you just continue to pursue this you will find joy you will find freedom and he says actually it's going to enslave you even further and that's what sin does satan always loves to tell you about the beauty in sin but he never tells you the consequences and sin is so enticing and there are different ideologies and philosophies and movements out there that sound alluring and enticing and yet in the end when we follow those things when we follow the pleasures of our flesh it will not only reel you in but actually will enslave you even further and the word of god says that the only thing that can provide true freedom is when we're found faithful to obey the word because in it's in obedience to the word of god that leads to our true freedom we find the instructions from god's word to be restrictive but when in actuality the instructions that god provides us actually benefits us allowing us to live an even healthier fuller more enjoying life i was talking to the young adults on monday night and gave this illustration when i go on walks with my daughter ava i hold her hand you know any any good dad who you know my daughter ava she's three any good dad going on walks they're gonna hold their three-year-old's hand she finds my hand-holding restrictive she wants to run out in the road it would make her very happy to run out in the road and she finds my hand-holding to be restrictive but what she doesn't realize is that my hand-holding actually will provide her more happiness and freedom in the long run it's a bad dad who says whatever you want whatever you feel like doing whatever makes you happy just go run in the middle of the road because that in turn will lead to her destruction and she doesn't even know it but what she finds restrictive will actually be the very thing that provides her more happiness and freedom and this is how people view the word of god this is a book of rules this is a book of restrictions it's going to limit my fun and freedom and i say no in turn when you live by the instruction and direction of god because he created you and he knows what's best for you this instruction will actually allow you to flourish even more in your environment and when you follow things that sound enticing that the world loves to offer it will actually enslave you even further and this is what peter talks about and so he closes this book by saying in the very last verse when he goes through the descriptions of these false prophets what they're going to bring bad theology bad behavior a bad message how they'll do it they'll do it secretly it'll seem enticing and alluring and then he says he closes this book by saying in chapter 3 verse 17. he says you therefore beloved since you know this beforehand he says beware beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness being led away with the error of the wicked he says beware beware it's the greek word fulasso and it means to have an eye on to observe he's talking about discernment watch out for these things discernment in its simplest definition is the ability to observe the difference between truth and error the spiritual ability to discern the difference between truth and error in other words the ability to think with discernment is synonymous with the ability to think biblically i love what charles spurgeon actually said about discernment he said that discernment isn't just being able to know the difference between right and wrong but discernment is being able to understand the difference between right and almost right there's a lot of things that sound almost right in our world sounds almost good and so peter here he says that we need to use discernment now discernment is a spiritual gift that paul mentions in first corinthians chapter 12. it's a spiritual gift some people are given the spiritual gift of discernment now you might say that's not me i don't have the spiritual gift of discernment and then you think so i can just check out i don't have to use discernment it's not a spiritual gift of mine but no the bible says that discernment though yes it's a spiritual gift it's the responsibility of every believer to exercise in first thessalonians 5 21-22 paul says examine everything carefully this is instruction to every believer examine everything carefully hold fast to that which is good abstain from every form of evil john would later supplement that message when he says in first john 4 1 do not believe every spirit but test the spirits to see whether they are from god because many false prophets have gone out into the world the key to living an uncompromised grounded and fruitful life that honors god lies in one's ability to properly exercise discernment all right track with me on this failure failure to distinguish between truth and error leaves one susceptible to false teachings if one is susceptible to false teachings it will lead to an unbiblical mindset and one who has an unbiblical mindset it will naturally lead to disobedient living so when we don't properly exercise discernment and we don't properly distinguish that which is truth from that which is error it leads us to being susceptible to all kinds of false teachings and when we're susceptible to that it leads to this unbiblical mindset a wrong view of god a wrong view of theology a wrong view of jesus and when we have wrong ideas of who god says he is we when we have unbiblical mindsets it leads to unbiblical living and so it's important that we use discernment church you know this there are a lot of voices out there there are a lot of opinions there are a lot of articles there's a lot of new curriculum being pumped into the loudoun county public school system and we as parents need to use discernment as to what is biblical as to what is healthy we need to exercise discernment in every area of our lives when it comes to politics and policies when it comes to the books and the movies and the media that we consume when it comes to different organizations and movements we have to be careful not just to hop on every bandwagon simply because it is popular because as peter says here the things the idol the ideologies the philosophies that false teachers and prophets will attempt to bring as we approach the end times it'll be popular it'll be enticing and it will be alluring and that's why peter says beware be on guard keep an eye out observe use discernment let me illustrate this example um by pulling from a famous book and many of you you know i can already feel the tension you're like i love that book don't don't like this book a very popular book called the shack it was later turned into a really popular movie in 2017 very famous actor sam worthington he's been in cool movies like clash of the titans um what's the other movie like with the blue people avatar all right my fellow dorks out there avatar so you know sam worthington cool actor um actually really good friend of mine personal good friend i'm kidding false teachers i'm kidding um he he was in this major motion picture the book was called the shack it was a book written by paul young it sold tens of millions of copies one of the best-selling paperback books of all time was then later made into a famous feature movie starring sam worthington 2017 it was called the shack and many christians were excited to read the book they loved the book many christians were excited to see the movie all that jazz because there were a lot of spiritual elements to it and if you're unfamiliar with the book or you never saw the movie it's about a father named mac and just brief synopsis mac was the dad and he was going on a camping trip with his daughter and then his daughter got kidnapped and she was taken to this shack and there was a whole police investigation and the father mack he was all distraught about it and then he receives a letter from god and in the movie god in the book they call god papa all right that should have been signal number one like reading the book and you'll be like papa like this is a little bit strange okay so matt gets a letter from god who they call papa and god tells mac go back to the shack and on mac's way back to the shack he runs into jesus and then jesus leads mack on this journey and leads mack to god papa and to the holy spirit and it's this beautiful journey of inner healing okay fine concept but when you take a close look at the book and at the movie the god that paul young talks about is not the god of the bible in the book just a couple of quotes papa god says to mac i don't need to punish people for sin sin is its own punishment it's not my purpose to punish it it's my joy to cure it can you hear that mack god god says to mac i don't need to punish people for sin okay yes jesus came to cure sin jesus died on the cross for our sin to take away our punishment but the book of romans says that the wages of sin the punishment of sin is death god is a holy god he's a righteous god he's a god of justice god punishes sin but not the god of the shack the god of the shack says that god doesn't punish people for sin another quote from jesus in the book jesus tells mack i am the best way any human can relate to papa not the only way but merely the best way okay i watch that movie i read the book and then i run it through scripture and then i come across john 14 6 i am the way jesus says i am the truth i am the life no one gets to papa but through me and yet many christians are going around talking about this book hey you got to watch you got to read the book you got to watch this movie those are just two examples that i quickly pulled from out of the many heretical different points of that book and you might think come on pastor austin aren't you being a little bit harsh it's just a book it's just a movie okay i understand but if a new believer not grounded in the faith if your child your high school student wavering in their faith reads the book watches the movie they watch that movie and then they come away with thinking god doesn't take sin seriously and jesus isn't the only way to heaven two fundamentals of the christian faith so this is what i'm talking about about using spiritual discernment very popular book very popular movie has a lot of cool spiritual elements very alluring very enticing good entertainment i'm not against movies i'm not against books but this is what we need to exercise as we approach the end times because there's going to be a lot of different spiritual stuff out there that we need to be aware of and properly use this tool that peter mentions biblical discernment so the question as we bring our bible study to a close in the next 10 minutes that we have is i want to answer this question how can i develop spiritual discernment in my life and the very first thing is to simply ask ask the holy spirit ask the holy spirit discernment is a spiritual gift that paul mentions in first corinthians chapter 12 verse 10 and jesus says that we have not because we ask not so sometimes in my own life i don't have certain things or i'm not exercising certain wisdom or judgment that i should be using and the lord reminds me austin you need to ask me and sometimes i forget the simplicity of this relationship that we have with our father in heaven that we can go to the lord the writer of hebrews says we have access to the throne room of god because of what jesus christ has done for us and we can go to our heavenly father and we can just simply ask and what we need to do with discernment is just ask the holy spirit lord give me discernment give me discernment number two how can i develop spiritual discernment number two grow in grace grow in grace i want you to look with me in second peter chapter 3 verse 17. after peter gives all of this warning about these false prophets that are going to come in our day in the end times he closes this letter by saying in verse 17 you 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 verse 18 but instead grow in the grace and knowledge of our lord jesus christ grow in grace now how do you grow in grace well do i grow grow in grace by continuing to sin because then god's gonna pile on the grace paul addresses that in romans chapter six he says should we keep on sinning so that grace may increase he says by no means but rather to grow in grace means to come to god with an attitude of humility to grow in grace to further understand and appreciate the grace that you've been shown because when you further understand the grace that god has given you it will drive you to want to read your word more and it will bring this passion and love that a further love you have for jesus christ when you appreciate truly appreciate the god-given grace that he's shown you so to grow in the grace of god means to go to the lord with an attitude of humility lord i don't pretend to have all the answers i don't pretend to be right on every hot button topic that's in our society so lord i submit myself to you and i ask you for discernment and i humbly come before you and i want a further understanding of your grace so that i might fall more in love with you lord so give me discernment as i humbly submit to you lord ask the holy spirit grow in grace and then finally number three know the word because if you noticed at the very end of that same passage in chapter 3 verse 18 peter says but grow in the grace and knowledge of our lord jesus christ how do you get to know jesus more you get to know jesus more by reading the book that he wrote and so you got to know the word it's important that we know our bibles grow in the grace and knowledge of the lord jesus christ knowing his word is the key to discernment second peter 2 1 says that these false teachers are going to bring in their destructive ideologies secretly and you can only do something secretly when someone's not paying attention and so we've got to be paying attention to the word so when we are faced with the different teachings that our world and our society is going to put in front of us we know the word and we're not surprised because we're paying attention because peter says they're going to try to do it secretly so you need to be paying attention and the way you pay attention is you get your nose in this book because heresy can only be pulled over on somebody who doesn't know the truth the antidote to heresy is to know your bibles and to not just rely on messages that you hear on wednesdays and sundays but to get in the word daily to open up the word and to say god this is a confusing book and i don't understand all of the details and intricacies but i humbly submit myself to you i want to grow in grace i want to ask the holy spirit and i'm going to do my best to diligently be in the word in acts chapter 17 paul he comes to this town called berea and he preaches the gospel to them and in acts chapter 17 it says that the bereans when paul came to preach the gospel to them that the bereans examined the scriptures to see if what paul was saying was true and they were counted noble for doing so and so we need to take that example and and we need to screen everything that we hear and see through the word of god don't just automatically receive what any tv evangelist or bible teacher or any just every social media influencer has to say about the word screen it through the word of god everything you hear on sundays and wednesdays from the pulpit screen it through the word of god but it starts with knowing our bibles we have to know our bible to know when we encounter biblical error in other words in order to identify something that is phony and false we first have to have a good understanding of what is right and what is true i do love movies and so one of my all-time favorite movies is a movie called catch me if you can by lena with leonardo leonardo dicaprio great movie and i love this movie he plays a character his name is frank abagnale and if you've ever seen the movie you know what i'm about to describe here so leo's character another good personal friend of mine i call him leo probably be on the phone later tonight hey have the bible study go austin it was great it's good you should get saved so leonardo dicaprio his character is frank abagnale and from the time he's 15 to 21 he basically is a con artist i mean honestly a genius he he understands and learns from an early age how to forge checks he becomes an airline pilot he studies to be a lawyer i mean it was it's awesome it's amazing but he's a con artist and he's uh he's pulling the wool over everybody's eyes and tom hanks is the the agent and he's running around trying to find him and solve the case okay this is a true story this movie was based off of true events and frank abagnale he was later discovered he was thrown into jail thrown into prison but then later the federal government came back to him and said hey actually we could use your help and i love it because they they basically pull him from his sentence and he then is becomes an asset to the federal government and he helps them to discern and determine uh whether something is genuine or a fake dollar bill and he he was able to through his forgery over the years he knew what was fake he he knew fake money from real money he knew genuine dollar bills from phony dollar bills from fake checks to genuine checks and i love this example because federal agents who are in this area more so than studying forgeries what they do to become successful in this area is they study true genuine dollar bills because the better understanding they have about true genuine dollar bills the easier they can spot a fake when they see one and so they study genuine bills and guys it's the same way with god's word when we are diligent to study this word when we are diligent to study the bible and we get in the word and we understand what it truly says when something of error comes across our way we can easily spot it this does not line up with the genuine word of god the more we study the real thing the scriptures the better will it will be able to discern counterfeit truth there are three questions you should ask yourself when encountering different ideas or different teachings and this is what my dad has taught me whenever different teachings ever whenever any different philosophies or ideologies come your way ask these three questions did jesus teach it did the apostles practice it do the epistles support it did jesus teach it did the apostles practice it does the new testament support it and as news teachings new doctrines new different ideologies or philosophies from our world and our culture as these different things spring up did jesus teach this what did jesus have to say about this did the apostles practice it is it something we see from the early church and do the new testament letters do the epistles support it because if jesus didn't teach it and the apostles didn't practice it and then the new testament doesn't support it i'm going to be very cautious in embracing it jesus said in matthew 7 15 beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly they are ravenous wolves paul wrote in ephesians 4 14-15 then we will no longer be infants tossed back and forth by the waves and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming instead speaking the truth in love we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head that is christ and finally he said again in colossians 2 8 see to it this is our encouragement for tonight see to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception which are based on human tradition and the spiritual forces of the world rather than on christ amen and lord that's where we pause for tonight and we ask you now we humbly humbly come before you and we ask your holy spirit would you give us discernment lord in these end days as there are a lot of different philosophies and ideologies and teachings about lord would you give us a discerning heart and a discerning mind to be able to discern and distinguish the difference between that which is true and that which is false that which is right and that which is wrong help us lord we collectively ask as a body tonight would you give us discernment lord help us lord to be diligent in reading our bibles help us lord to be diligent and getting to know you more help us to raise our kids in the way they should go help us to use discernment at work help us to use discernment at home help us to use discernment here at church among the body help us to use discernment in the classroom lord we need you and we humbly ask you for your discernment lord thank you for loving us and thank you for being a good father to us lord thank you for our time together tonight we love you and it's in jesus name we pray and all god's people said together amen

Channel: Cornerstone Chapel - Leesburg, VA

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Length: 46min 7sec (2767 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 25 2021