God's Plan for Regeneration

Matthew 19:28: "And Jesus said to them, 'Truly I say to you who have followed Me: in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit upon the throne of His glory, you also shall sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.'"

Here Jesus was speaking to Peter and the disciples, and this is the statement He made after Peter said to Him:

Verse 27: "…'Behold, we have left everything and have followed You. What then shall be for us?'"—and He answered in v 28!

In this world today, we regeneration, and that is what is I'm going to concentrate on. What is the regeneration referring to as Jesus made that comment to the disciples of that time?

As an introduction leading to this, we know that in today's world, we received a lot of information. We receive a lot. We are able to read it. We were able to hear it through many channels available to us.

It becomes difficult to sort through all the information out there and to know what is useful and what is not. We try to establish that, but it's very difficult in this world today, and we are left in a dilemma that we really don't know what is true, and what is not true from all the information and the media sources that we have available to us.

A lot of knowledge, as many of us have determined is out there, but it's usually produced by some type of an agenda. It's manufactured and packaged for an intended purpose, whatever that case may be. We are not privy to a lot of the sources of the material that we hear. So, knowing what is actually true in this world and what is fake is sometimes nearly impossible. It has the effect of turning us at times into hardened skeptics.

We have by all doubts and reservations because we cannot sift through all the material and stuff that we see happening in hear today in this world. We always must ask ourselves, is this the absolute truth? We have doubts and reservations with that skepticism. That's a frame of mind that mistrusts. It mistrusts ideas, and it also mistrusts people.

It produces a strong field of negativity in this world and we see it all over. We can be very, very well aware of that as we are out in the world today.

There are many times that we can hear something through the media and other sources and we will truly ask ourselves"

• Is that the truth?
• Is that not the truth?

The world is heading in a terribly negative direction and we know that Satan is a liar. He is the father of lies. He does not stand in the Truth and he has a healthy hand on this society and the environment as it stands at the present time.

We all know that we cannot change the course of the world and that God is in total control. What are we to do? It seems to me to be an environment perfectly set up to produce an attitude of not being hot nor cold, and a little bit indifferent.

The more we become skeptical and mistrust, the more we will withdraw into ourselves. By that I mean mentally we withdraw into ourselves and we begin to trust ourselves. We get to the point where we can say, 'I am rich and in need of nothing' because I am trusting in myself.

• Have we ever had thoughts like that?
• Have we everexperienced that type of situation in our lives?

The person comes to the point that he only trusts himself. This can be dangerous, and potential for some profoundly serious spiritual malfunctions given in the negative environment that we live in.

So, today I want to give you some positive direction with the intent of unifying and strengthening and not allowing that skepticism to come between us as individuals because it can develop an attitude of mind that we do not trust each other.

We know that God has called out in an ecclesia, a group of people in this end-time negative environment that we live in. He knew well what the environment was.

We have to be careful that we do not gain an attitude of mind that we do not trust each other. Daniel was told at the time of the end, 'none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand.'

So, it is possible to understand what is going on around us. Yes, our social environment is heavily negative. But as Christ so clearly stated prior to His death, 'they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.' Then He asked the Father to sacrifice them by their Truth. 'Your Word is Truth.'

The 'ecclesia' operates by a vastly different paradigm than the world does. We all are aware of that and also part of that.

So, if we lift our eyes from the swamp of Satan's lies and deceits, we need to look cold-heartedly at what God is doing and gain a positive momentum in our own lives. Even if the times are difficult, as we see now, it is very important that we look to what God is doing and gain that momentum, that positive momentum in our own lives.

Matthew 19:28: "And Jesus said to them, 'Truly I say to you who have followed Me: in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit upon the throne of His glory, you also shall sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.'"

This is what is going to happen. There will be individuals that can sit on thrones and oversee the 12 tribes of Israel. This is not the point I'm trying to draw to your attention here, but rather to this is the term of the word: regeneration! Christ said "…in the regeneration…"

When I returned and I sit on My Throne and the Kingdom of God is administered over this earth, then this is what is going to take place.

No ands, ifs or buts, no questions asked! There will be a regeneration!

Just so we don't stop, and think that has to do only with the 12 disciples at that time. We are included in this total concept; we can be part of that program!

Verse 29: "And everyone who has left houses, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for My name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and shall inherit eternal life. But many of the first shall be last, and the last first" (vs 29-30).

We have read this many times. This clearly indicates that we are included in this whole concept of regeneration.

In the regeneration something marvelous is going to take place. What I'm trying to draw to your attention is to hear that our role in this regeneration that Christ is addressing will involve what we are doing now.

Verse 30 envelops the present! This is God's positivity, a positive direction that we can all embrace and remove any skepticism and give us some positive momentum of what comes in the future. The wise shall understand!

1-John 5:18: "We know that anyone who is begotten by God does not practice sin; for the one who has been begotten by God keeps himself by the power of God, and the wicked one does not touch him."

The delineation between the 'ecclesia' and the rest, which is made noticeably clear here as John comes to an end of this first epistle.

That's an immensely powerful delineation between Satan:

• the liar, the father of it
• the one who inspires all this misinformation, false information, half truths
• and so on and so forth in this world today

There is a clear line being drawn here between those born (begotten) of God and those influenced by Satan!

Verse 19: "We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the wicked one. And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us an understanding, so that we may know Him Who is true; and we are in Him Who is true, and in His Son, Jesus Christ. He is the true God, and the eternal life" (vs 19-20).

The wise shall understand; the wicked will not! We are given some understanding that we are expected to take and work with.

Verse 20: "And we know that the Son of God has come…"

We in the world we know is influenced by a father of lies, and there is no truth in the father of lies, namely Satan! We need to really appreciate what God has given us, each one of us, to allow us to be separated from the works of this world.

The word born here being used 'begotten of God' (v 1)[transcriber's correction] is 'gennao,' to procreate or to regenerate.

To be begotten by God's Holy Spirit there is something quite different about an individual who is begotten of God, and an individual that is not begotten of God. God called us! That is a blessing in itself. That we can be part of that 'ecclesia.' This in itself is a work of regeneration!

We are given understanding outside, and apart from the Satan influence—negativity—that negative field that is being produced worldwide.

We start off here from the position of God's perspective. This gives us an introduction to the greatness of God that is impossible for us in human terms to really fully grasp. We look through a glass very darkly when we look at God.

Isaiah 57:15: "For thus says the high and lofty One Who inhabits eternity; Whose name is Holy; 'I dwell in the high and Holy place, even with the one who is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.'"

We start off here from the position of God's perspective. This gives us an introduction to the greatness of God that is impossible for us, in human terms, to really fully grasp!

We look through a glass very darkly when we look at God. This is the great Creator God, the Almighty God—El Shaddai—that we are talking about here—He inhabits eternity—and God has given us this understanding. We try to appreciate where God's Throne is, and all that surrounds that throne. The majesty and the greatness and the mightiness of that.

He dwells with an individual, a human individual "…even with the one who is of a contrite and humble spirit…"

Nobody gets to be contrite and humble in the spiritual sense on their own part, apart from God's involvement in the intervention in their lives. God has to be involved. God is involved!

The word contrite could also be crushed. This is an especially important aspect of repentance. It is exceedingly difficult to get that across to people. Is also exceedingly difficult to experience personally. That is why repentance is a process:

• it takes time
• it takes prayer
• it takes fasting
• it takes reading
• it takes studying

to really grasp what is going on with repentance!

God dwells with that individual who has a contrite and humble spirit, and that's what we must all work toward.

That crushed aspect is not that the individual does not have any life or any reason to live, or any forward momentum in their lives. But you crush the human element of it when God revives that individual; He revives us spiritually!

The word revive here is a particularly important word because it plays into regeneration. God is regenerating something to procreate, to regenerate through the spirit that is now in that individual born (begotten) of God. God dwells with those whose attitude is produced by being begotten of God, referring to the indwelling presence of God's Spirit!

The word revives as it is used in v 15 means to live. Once the individual kills off the carnal part of self that is produced by Satan's environment and Satan's mind, God then comes along to give Life to that person while they are still a physical human being.

• to revive
• to give that Life

Psalm 147:3: "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds."

• as we go through a genuine repentance process, we become brokenhearted
• as we become aware, we become aware of our shortcomings, and our sins

It's that growing awareness within the concept of repentance of just what we are! That awareness never stops developing.

No matter how long you have been baptized, there should be a growing dimension, a growing awareness in each of our minds as to what we are.

I would suggest that the longer you have been a baptized individual, the deeper that appreciation should be. It needs to be there in our relationship with God.

But He heals; God heals "…the brokenhearted" and He "…binds up their wounds." He revives us and He gives life back to us. It is a process of renewal and restoration! So, I stressed three words there:

• process—it's an ongoing step-by-step process of renewal and restoration

To help us see this with a motivational understanding point of view toward that of regeneration, let us cover some main points:

• God is going to restore or regenerate Israel

Jeremiah 24:5: "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'Like these good figs, so I will acknowledge the exiles of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good'"

God is talking about a corrective period of punishment and captivity. That is an extremely negative scenario as they go into this situation. But it is interesting: God says "…for their good"!

God is doing something incredibly positive through it all. Through this extremely negative period of time in which they are living. We must know that if God is doing it, we know it is positive and it is good! We must keep that in mind.

Verse 6: "For I will set My eyes on them for good, and I will bring them again to this land. And I will build them and not pull them down; and I will plant them and not pluck them up. And I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the LORD; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God. For they shall return to Me with their whole heart" (vs 6-7).

They will become born of God, if we can put it in New Testament vernacular. That is going to happen. So it becomes noticeably clear, and definitive, that the process that God is going to do with His people is clearly stated:

Ezekiel 11:17: "Therefore, say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "I will even gather you from the people and assemble you out of the countries where you were scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel. And they shall come there, and they shall take away all its detestable things and all its abominations from it. And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. And I will remove the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh"'" (vs 17-19).

So, they go through a process of identification of those things that have been an abomination to God. Those things that were detestable, that they deal with, that they get them out of their lives. Then they come into a born (begotten) of God relationship.

Verse 19: "And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. And I will remove the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh, so that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances, and do them. And they shall be My people, and I will be their God" (vs 19-20).

Here we see a process of restoration. What we are going through today is part of also that process. The negativity that we see around us that we talk about is a part of the decline and the degeneration. of God's people, and that's for an exceptionally good reason:

• they have rejected God
• they have turned their back on God
• they vilify God and they misuse God's name

For their good,  God is going to let them go into captivity, and in that captivity, they will come to identify who they actually are. Israel does not know who they are today! They are lost; lost to themselves as well as simply lost to the world! They do not know who they are!

But through captivity, God will bring them to their senses as to who they are and why they are in that condition!

At the same time, what His plan and purpose is for that full restoration, so that His Plan of Salvation can go forward. It does not get much more positive than that!

But this is the negative stage as we go into that decline prior to that captivity. For Israel, it will be a process of growing in understanding, and that understanding being processed into walking in God's statutes and judgments—God's Law! An awareness of growing into a family relationship.

• it will be changed attitude toward God
• it will become a regeneration

Paul would have written this process as recording all things to himself. Same thing, just another way of saying it. Shortly after the day of Pentecost, Peter spoke of this regeneration in Acts 3.There is a discussion going on here after a man had been healed.

Acts 3:19: "Therefore, repent and be converted in order that your sins may be blotted out, so that the times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord."

• conversion
• converted

There is a part of the process that we have to go through. I stress, it's only part of the process. "…blotted out…" We all understand that part of it. We go through it very personally with repentance and baptism.

Verse 19: "Therefore, repent and be converted in order that your sins may be blotted out, so that the times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord."

So, what I'm saying here with Israel will come, a future thing to look forward to. We are going to get to the point of understanding that this is part of the process today of regeneration!

Verse 20: "And that He may send Him Who was before proclaimed to you: Jesus Christ Whom the heaven must indeed receive until the times of restoration of all things, of which God has spoken by the mouth of all His Holy prophets since the world began" (vs 20-21).

All things have to be and are to be restored. There is a regeneration of what God's Plan and purpose is, what He intended from the beginning—restoration of all things—when the Son of man sits on the Throne in His glory!

The point is clear that there is a need for regeneration. Israel had decayed so much; it has to be renewed and restored. In its decay it generates an incredible amount of negativity!

We are also in a decay period in our lives. What is our focus with all this knowledge that comes to us every day and every way? You can only slow it down, you can't really stop it completely unless you maybe go out and live as a hermit somewhere, with no Wi-Fi, no signal on your phone, and you have nothing.

You can avoid some of that, of course. But we are not meant to live that way. We are going to pick up some knowledge that is out there that is creating a negative feel. There is no way we can sort through it all, and there is no way that we can know exactly what is true and what is false when we hear it.

• What is your steady mental diet?
• Is it from the negative feelings that we get?

or

• Is it from God's positive feel?

I think this is a reasonable question to ask of ourselves!

Deut. 30—we see God's intention. I thought I would mention this because it does give us God's incredibly positive intention long before any of this other negative stuff comes into place. Here is what God had in mind:

Deuteronomy 30:6: "And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your seed, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live."

If you were born (begotten) of God, your heart has been circumcised!

Here is God in the Old Testament preparing Israel to go into the land of promise. It's God's intention for man to be born of God!

You know everything went off the rails, everything went south. So, there is some need for restoration, and with that restoration, regeneration will come!

One other factor we should also throw in here, on a little larger scale, is simply the earth itself the earth itself needs to also regenerate!

As we have just gotten over Pentecost, the upcoming Holy Days lead us through a series of events that are yet to happen in the future. When you get Trumpets, and go forward from there, they are all future.

Then there are some terrific things that are going to take place on the face of the earth, as we all know and understand.

It's not going to be a total 'tohu and bohu' of  Gen.1, where there is simply no ability for life to exist. There will be human life, but it is going to be pretty tough—droughts, famines, pestilences and earthquakes—one-third of the important things relative to live on this earth will be destroyed. One-third of all those things that help support life on this earth are simply destroyed one way or another.

The earth itself will need regeneration and it will need renewal and restoration:

Isaiah 35:1: "The wilderness and the desert shall be glad and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing; the glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the LORD and the majesty of our God" (vs 1-2).

This earth will become a wilderness and it will be a wasteland. There will not be that many human beings on it, speaking to where we are today.

How does this all happen? Well, it happens by a Divine fiat, a formal authorization, a proposition, a decree at the flick of the finger!

Isaiah 55:12: "For you shall go out with joy, and be led out with peace; the mountains and the hills shall break out before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn, the fir tree shall come up; and instead of the brier, the myrtle tree shall come up; and it shall be to the LORD for a memorial, for an everlasting sign which shall not be cut off" (vs 12-13)

These trees, of course, will take time. That is not a Divine fiat. It is a changing regeneration of the environment that we, mankind, will be living in. It is going to take time for these things to come into place.

Isaiah 61:11: "For as the earth brings forth its bud, and as the garden causes that which is sown to grow; so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to grow before all the nations."

Here's the principle of a garden, the earth bringing forth its bud. It must be put into a condition where it can regenerate!

The 'desert will blossom as a rose,' a plant at a time, not instantly. Ecosystems can regenerate. So, the point I want to make here is that it flows on into us. It is a very important stepping up point for us to appreciate what God is doing now.

When man aligns himself with God's Law, and that includes the laws governing the environment, and there are laws governing our environment. Some of the things that are happening right here locally to us because of man's transgression of God's laws of agriculture!

It is not simply the moral laws that we are talking about. There are laws of how the environment should be managed. How proper stewardship should be put into place. When man aligns himself with these laws the earth will regenerate over a period of time!

Again, another positive forward view. The point is that it requires alignment with God. That brings us to the 'ecclesia.' God's work of regeneration has begun in us!

Luke 19:10: "For the Son of man has come to seek and to save that which is lost"—Christ speaking about Himself to this degree:He is saying, 'I have come to begin a work of regeneration to save that which was lost.'

Immediately, you could probably inject in there and say He is talking about the lost ten tribes. But He isn't. Matt. 9 makes it perfectly clear:

Matthew 9:13: "Now, go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.' For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."

He came to save sinners and to call them to repentance! That is the lost group to which He is pointing. There is a larger picture here than just the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Mankind is in Christ's sight when He makes these statements.

When called we begin a process of recognition of this fact of what Christ is actually doing. We were lost at one point in time. We were the ones who were lost.

Romans 5:6: "For even when we were without strength, at the appointed time Christ died for the ungodly."

He died knowing that we would be able to be called through that process. We come to a personal recognition for the need of regeneration; we come to see that we are not self-sufficient, that we are not good the way we are. That is part of the entire process of repentance.

It is such an important process, and it is part of the regeneration that is taking place at this particular time in our lives.

Of course, you are probably putting two and two together here, at least I hope you are. The negative environment that lacks truth is not conducive to us coming to the recognition of the need for regeneration!

The world is telling you, you are good the way you are! That is what we are being told:

• we are great
• we are wonderful
• we don't have to change
• we can just be ourselves

It has been telling us that for a long time. And now we are seeing the fruit of that where people believe and act on that basis.

What has the result been? With the influence of Satan, it certainly has not been good. That is the environment that we live in out there. If we are not careful, we can be influenced greatly by that environment.

IF we are not going to be addressing the regeneration process that God has begun in you, we, can become a group of people who are asleep. It reminds me of the reference to Matt. 25, talking about a group of people, ten of them, and they are all asleep. You go through this whole scenario of the end-time where Christ goes into great detail of all that is going to take place.

Go to the very next thing and what do you find? A group of people who know about this! They are waiting for the return of the Bridegroom—Jesus Christ—and yet, they are all sound asleep. Why? There's a reason they're all asleep!

I hope we are touching on some of them today. If you are wide awake to regenerate, to have that regenerative process that God is working with us today, you will not be focused on the negativity that is out in the world around us; you just won't.

You will be focused, and we must be focused on what God is doing, the positive things to look forward to, and what our part is in it, and realizing how much importance that bears on our future.

• Are we part of those who are asleep?

or

• Are we awake, alive, active and motivated?

If you have become truly deeply skeptical, you will tend to go to sleep. A little bit of self-preservation forms the skepticism. Rom. 8:2 identifies that we are the ones who needed to be saved. We were the lost ones.

Romans 8:2: "Because the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has delivered me from the law of sin and death."

So, the key to regeneration is the Law of the Spirit of Life; we have already touched on Life in renewal that we read about in the book of Psalms.

There is a regenerative process underway when the Spirit of Life is in an individual when that person is born (begotten) of God, 'gennao' in the Greek. They have God's Spirit as a living element of who they are as a human being. It is right there. It is part of who they are. So that process, that process of 'gennao'—the impregnation of the Holy Spirit—we will become born of God.

Verse 5: "For those who walk according to the flesh mind the things of the flesh; but those who walk according to the Spirit mind the things of the Spirit."

You have these two things that you can focus your mind on, the flesh and the Spirit. The flesh, the negativity that goes on in your life, in the way of life that is out there, is not going to produce Godly life.

Verse 6: "For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace, because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the Law of God; neither indeed can it be. But those who are in the flesh cannot please God. However, you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if the Spirit of God is indeed dwelling within you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him" (vs 6-9).

Verse 10: "But if Christ be within you, the body is indeed dead because of sin; however, the Spirit is life because of righteousness."

We are not talking about the return of Jesus Christ here; this is not the benchmark here. The benchmark is daily living today as a human being, as part of the called out ones, the 'ecclesia.'

Verse 11: "But if Christ be within you, the body is indeed dead because of sin; however, the Spirit is life because of righteousness."

Is repentance and baptism regeneration? No, it is part of the process! That is the point I'm trying to make. Just having gone through the repentance process leading up to you being able to be baptized, you do not 'sit back on your laurels' and just drift and wait for God to return to be in God's Kingdom. That is not to be.

It is the beginning of a process! It is a process that never quits while you live physically; it never quits.

• it grows
• it strengthens
• it deepens

Regeneration follows from that starting point; it is never and not a static position!

 Negativity can slow us in our tracks; it can cause a loss of momentum. Because we are still human and carnal, that could easily happen. It could cause us to wander off on tangents and do all kinds of silly and sometimes stupid things that don't produce the mind of Christ.

2-Corinthians 5:17: "Therefore, if anyone be in Christ, he is a new creation; the old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."

That is not an instant in time! This is a process, a new creation, as the old things pass away. Developing new things in their place, replacing the old with the new over a period of time. A period of regeneration!

Ephesians 4:23: "And that you be renewed in the Spirit of your mind."

The Spirit that God has given us, and that takes place when the Holy Spirit becomes part of our being.

Verse 24: "And that you put on the new man, which according to God is created in righteousness and Holiness of the Truth." This is the process:

• of regeneration
• of growth
• of development

that Christ is creating in us!

• Christ was the Creator of what exists now, of the heavens and the earth
• Christ is the One Who created mankind
• Christ is the One Who is still to this day creating

He is working; He and His Father are working! Their work is a work of creation. You and I are a creation in the process of what God is doing.

Satan's negativity and evil around us is always meant to stop that momentum, to produce fear and uncertainty and to become frozen in place.

I do not need to tell you as you can see it and be aware of it, of what is going on in the world today; the negativity, the evil, which is prevalent in our society today. You can call it a pandemic or whatever you want; It had an impact on relationships; it had an impact on the Churches of God as people get embroiled in that negativity that exists, the conspiracy theories, so to speak.

What has that accomplished? This causes nothing but division in the Churches!

Colossians 3:10: "And have put on the new man, who is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him Who created him."

That is the process that God is working with us. We know that God provides all knowledge. The wise shall understand and they will take that understanding and they will use it:

• to build concepts
• to build momentum
• to build that new man
• to be motivated to doing what is right in God's eyes
• to live God's ways

Renewed in that knowledge according to Christ!

Christ was the One Who created man in the image of God. He is in the process of regenerating in each member of the 'ecclesia,' which we are a part of according to that original creation. He is regenerating!

Paul said to the church in Rome that the process is a transformation of the mind.

Romans 12:2: "Do not conform yourselves to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind in order that you may prove what is well-pleasing and good, and the perfect will of God."

This transformation of the mind takes focus. and it takes effort on our part. It takes knowledge to be able to transform that mind.

• repentance is a part of that process, but it is not the whole deal
• baptism is a part of the process, but it also is not part of the whole deal

Regeneration is the life of God in a person; the Creator creating. We need to see this process with great clarity and resist worldly focus that disengages us from the particularly important process. Paul personalized this process for us:

Titus 2:11: "For the grace of God, which brings salvation for all men, has appeared; teaching us that, having denied ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live moderately and righteously and Godly in this present world" (vs 11-12).

That is an instruction for us. Paul understood the negativity of the present age, and he addressed it in this letter to Timothy:

2-Timothy 3:1: "Know this also, that in the last days perilous times shall come."

Paul knew; he understood what the environment would be like. In this present age, it's teaching us that we should not follow the trends, the negative trends that are so prevalent out in this world led by Satan.

Verse 13: "But wicked men and imposters shall become worse and worse, deceiving others and being deceived themselves."

So, here it is clearly stating is right out there in front of us in the Scriptures, an image we can see:

• it is something we desire.
• it is something that motivates us

as we see Jesus Christ returning and the beginning of

• the regeneration for Israel
• the regeneration for mankind
• the regeneration of the earth

You are a part of that, brethren, because you have been regenerated by the time Jesus Christ returns.

Verse 14: "But as for you, continue in the things that you did learn and were assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them." That is where he is coming from!

Titus 3:1: "Remind them to be subject to rulers, and to obey authorities, and to be ready for every good work."

It is an attitude that Paul is getting at here. He knows, as I referenced in 2-Tim. 2:3, exactly what is going on with the rulers and the authorities.

He is not saying they're all perfect, righteous and good. He knows exactly what the problem is. He's talking about our attitude, if we have been born (begotten) of God.

Verse 2: "Not to speak evil of anyone, not to be contentious, but gentle, showing all meekness toward all men. For we also were once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving all kinds of lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another" (vs 2-3).

We know that in each environment, those things will rise to the surface:

• IF our food is negativity, these things will definitely rise to the surface
• IF our food is evil, those things will rise to the surface
• IF our food is negativity, these things will definitely rise to the surface

And they are not going to create a new man; they resurrect the old man, not build a new man!

Verse 4: "But when the graciousness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness, which we practiced, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration, and the renewing of the Holy Spirit" (vs 4-5).

This is the life that is being talked about here. This is not an instant in time. This is the development that is to take place.

"…and the renewing of the Holy Spirit, which He richly poured out upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior; so that, having been justified by His grace, we would become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This is a faithful saying, and I desire you to strongly affirm all these things, so that those who have believed God may apply themselves to doing good works. These things are good and profitable for men" (vs 5-8).

Do not get derailed from doing good works! That's what on his mind as he writes this. So, in this present age we are to grow. We are to be thriving in the new creation using that power that is given to us. Poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ using it. It is stronger than the negative field that is out there; far stronger if we tune into it and we use it! That is the Holy Spirit that I'm speaking of.

Verse 13: "Be diligent to equip Zenas the lawyer and Apollos for their journey, so that they may lack nothing."

• looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and the glorious appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ
• looking forward, noting that the regeneration of Christ's return is a work in progress for the Church at this time

1-Peter 1:3: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who, according to His abundant mercy, has begotten us again unto a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead; unto an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and unfading, reserved in heaven for us" (vs 3-4).

So, brethren, if you have that vision, are you going to go to sleep knowing that the Bridegroom is going to return? You do not have the exact hour of His return. But all ten of them mentioned in Matt. 25 went to sleep. If you really have the vision, you are definitely not going to go to sleep! You are going to stay alive and active.

Verse 5: "Who are being safeguarded by the power of God through faith for salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you yourselves greatly rejoice; though for the present, if it is necessary,you are in distress for a little while by various trials" (vs 5-6).

You will be totally born of God at Christ's return when you get eternal life!

We can look at that and see that personal side of it. How many of us right here now have personal trials that we are going through at this particular moment? A lot of us, I am sure!  But it is not just on a personal level.

In the context of what is being written here, the world, the present age is a trial. It's a test day in and day out, driving me through life. It is a major trial! I think we can all attest to that!

Verse 7: "In order that the proving of your faith, which is much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is being tested by fire, may be found unto praise and honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ."

When Jesus Christ comes to sit on that Throne in all his glory, and begins:

• a regeneration for mankind
• a regeneration of the earth
• a regeneration of the universe

What an awesome thing to look forward to!

But brethren, please realize that the process has begun now! When the Father called out people, including us, and brought them to Christ, they responded. They became part of that 'ekklesia,' the called out ones. and that process at that time began. It will be fully realized at Christ's return, of course!

1-John 5:18: "We know that anyone who is begotten by God does not practice sin; for the one who has been begotten by God keeps himself by the power of God… [the Holy Spirit] …and the wicked one does not touch him."

The negative field that we are living in, that Satan has created, does not have to be a factor in our spiritual lives. We can, and we have the power to overcome all that!

How is Christ's regenerative work going for you?

Scriptural References:

• Matthew 19:28. 27, 28-30
• 1 John 5:18-20
• Isaiah 57:15
• Psalm 147:3
• Jeremiah 24:5-7
• Ezekiel 11:17-20
• Acts 3:19-21
• Deuteronomy 30:6
• Isaiah 35:1-2
• Isaiah 55:12-13
• Isaiah 61:11
• Luke 19:10
• Matthew 9:13
• Romans 5:6
• Romans 8:2, 5-11
• 2 Corinthians 5:17
• Ephesians 4:23-24
• Colossians 3:10
• Romans 12:2
• Titus 2:11-12
• 2 Timothy 3:1, 13-14
• Titus 3:1-8, 13
• 1 Peter 1:3-7
• 1 John 5:18

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• 1-John 5:1
• Genesis 1
• Matthew 25

NB:bo/po
Transcribed: 10/28/24

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