Last week we discussed the basis of all true spiritual discernment. This week, as we begin our study of the most famous of all of the biblical prophecies concerning the end of this age in Matthew 24, we immediately begin to see why having discernment is so critical.

First, my prayer for you this coming year is that it will be the best one you have ever had in the Lord. I pray that you will draw much closer to Him this year, and come to know His ways and His voice much better. I also pray that you will be changed more into His image by seeing more of His glory with your own eyes. His glory is going to be seen by His people this year.

I would also like to thank all of you who sent cards, encouraging words, and even gifts, all of which...

If you take the first three chapters of the Bible and the last three, you have a complete story. Everything in-between these six chapters is about one essential theme—restoration. Restoring the creation from the consequences of the fall begins with redeeming it, which of course was done by Jesus on the cross. There was a long process leading up to and preparing for the cross, and now there has been one leading from the cross to prepare for its application.

The atonement sacrifice that Jesus made will result in the complete restoration of both man and the earth from all...

As we have been patiently laying a foundation for understanding our purpose in these times, and how our own purpose for which we were created is restored, what the Lord said in John 15:1-2 should be a most sober warning to every believer:

Last week we began our study of the four basic purposes for which God created man. They are:

1. to have fellowship with Him,
2. to cultivate the garden,
3. to be fruitful and multiply, and
4. to rule over the earth and all that is in it.

We also addressed how a main purpose of the church and church life, is to help restore these purposes in the lives of believers. Worship helps us keep the fires burning for restoring our ultimate purpose—knowing the Lord and having fellowship with Him. The ministries and gifts given to the church...