Brother Mike Ministries

The many days of Judgment Day began on May 21, 2011!  
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ETERNAL LIFE: No Longer Possible!! ***

Whoso keeps the commandment shall feel no evil: and a wise man's heart discerns [will know] both time and judgment - Ec. 8:5

Can We Know When Judgment Day Is? (53 minutes)  
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By Brother Mike

 

In reference to Judgment Day, Jesus said as recorded in Matthew 24:36 and similarly in Mark 13:32, "But of that day and hour knows no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only." Does this mean that absolutely no one can know the exact day of judgment? It seems on the surface that this is the case, especially when there are other bible verses which seem to say the same thing such as Mt. 24:42, "for you know not what hour your Lord come," or in the same chapter verse 44, "for in such an hour as you think not the Son of man comes," or in Mt. 25:13, "Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man comes," or Lk. 12:40 "for the Son of man comes at an hour when ye think not," or again in Mark 13:33, "take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is." But upon more careful examination of what Jesus said in the context in which it was said, and ultimately in the context of the entire Bible, we know that this is not what Jesus is saying. What Jesus really meant by saying "But of that day and hour knows no man," as we shall see, is this: that no human beings who are of this world and without the Spirit of God can discover the Day of Judgment, while those who are not of this world but who are of the kingdom of God through the Spirit can discover the very day and time once the time of the end has come. This does not mean that every man who knows the day must have the Spirit of God and is, therefore, saved, but simply that this knowledge of the very day of judgment originates from, or comes from in the first place, the Spirit of God and not from humanbeings or from flesh and blood at all.   


No Man Knows as in the days of Noah

Let's begin our study by taking a closer look at the context of probably the most quoted verse in the Bible against being able to know when Judgment Day is as recorded in Mt. 24:36-39. We read,

36 But of that day and hour knows no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
37 But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and be giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

What is so interesting about the context of this verse is that we are told that Judgment Day and the coming of Jesus Christ will be "as it was in the days of Noah," because immediately after we read that "no man knows that day and hour," Christ says, "as it was in the days of Noah, so shall also the coming of the son of man be." This comparison with the coming of Christ and the end of the world with how it was in the days of Noah is a consistent teaching in the Bible as in Luke 17:26 where we read once again, "As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the son of man." And similarly, we read, in II Pet. 3:6-7 , "Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, are reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men." Through such comparisons between the judgment of the flood and the final judgment of this world, it is clear that God wants us to look at how it was in the time of Noah in order to learn about how it will be at the coming of Judgment Day.

So we are now compelled to ask the question, did any person or people know the exact Day of Judgment in the days of Noah? The answer is an emphatic, YES! Noah and his family knew, and they were the only eight people who were saved out of probably over a million people at that time. God had said in the time of Noah as recorded in Genesis 6:3, "My Spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years." And as the time of judgment got closer, God told Noah as recorded in Gen. 7:4, "And yet seven days and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth."

Now remember that Jesus said that the coming of Judgment Day would be "as in the days of Noah." Therefore, we would expect that the ones, if any, who would know the exact Day of Judgment would be the ones whom He is saving "as it was in the days of Noah."
 
But if the people that God is saving will know the exact time, then why did Christ say, "But of that day and hour knows no man?" The logical answer in the light of the given context is: because the phrase, "of that day and hour knows no man" does not refer to every single last human being, but only to everyone other than the people that God is saving. This is why Christ could say of all those of whom he was not saving, they "knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." In other words, the ones who knew not until they were destroyed were the unbelieving and unsaved of the world while Noah and his family of just eight people total were not included in this unsaved group, but were saved and knew the exact day and time of judgment. This is how it will be near the end of this world as well! The very few true believers in Christ will know the exact Day of Judgment, but the unbelievers, which includes all the false believers as well, will not know the exact time, and so will be swept away in the completely spiritual judgment of which the true believers now know from the Bible began on May 21, 2011 , and will last until the End of this World and Rapture of God's people into heaven.


The phrase and concept of "Knows no man" in the Bible  
 
Now we can further see that the phrase "knows no man" does not refer to every single last human being, but rather refers just to the unsaved of the world, by how this same phrase or concept is used in some of the other passages of the Bible. We will first look at I Cor. 2:10-11 where we read,
 
"For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knows no man, but the Spirit of God."
 
Now does this mean that absolutely "no man" or person can know the things of God? Of course not! For we read in the very next verse,

"Now we [that is, the saved ones] have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God."

So the phrase "knows no man" in this passage CANNOT refer to every single human being, but must refer to only the unsaved who are of the spirit of this world, and who do not have the Spirit of God. Those who have the Spirit of God on the other hand, namely the saved of the world, are not in the same category referred to by the phrase "knows no man," for they can know the things of God as we just read in the scripture.
 
What we see, therefore, is the same use of the phrase
"knows no man" as we saw in the passage where we read, "But of that day and hour knows no man," namely that the phrase "knows no man" does not mean that absolutely no one can know when the Day of Judgment is, or, in the latter verse that we looked at, that no one can know the things of God, but rather those who have the spirit of God, as did Noah, can know all these things, whereas the unsaved who do not have the spirit of God can know nothing of the Spirit - like the scripture says of them and them alone, "no man knows." And again 1Cor. 2:14 states, "the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned."

As another illustration to add further support that God is using the phrase "knows no man" in reference to unsaved humanity and not the saved when he says, "no man knows," let's take a look at Romans 3:10 where we read, "As it is written, There is none [that is like saying, no man] righteous, no, not one: There is none [that is, no man] that understands: there is none [that is, no man] that seeks after God." Now does this mean that there is absolutely "none" or no persons who are righteous; "none" or no persons that understand; and "none" or no persons who seek God? I mean if we want to take the "none" and say that it refers to every single last human being, then that is the conclusion that we must come to. But we all who believe and have knowledge know that that is not the case: for according to the Bible, there are some who are righteous in God's eyes; there are some who understand; and there are some who seek after God. This is not because any person has any of these godly attributes in themselves of righteousness, understanding, and seeking God, but these are the very ones who have been made as such by the Spirit and salvation of Jesus Christ. Therefore, the "none" does not refer to every single human being just as the phrase "knoweth no man" does not refer to every single last human being, but is simply referring to all humans who are without salvation, without the Spirit, and without Christ. And, in that sense, there are absolutely "none" who are righteous; "none" who understand; "none" or no man who seeks after God; and, in that sense and that sense alone, "no man knows"
the exact Day of Judgment. But for those who are with salvation, with the Spirit, and with Christ, they can know.

Perhaps a good way to help visualize all this is to see the unsaved people and the saved people as in two completely different kingdoms or worlds. Remember Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36). So we can look upon all the unsaved as in this world, and we can look upon all the saved who are of Christ's kingdom as in another world, which is completely spiritual. Now when God says that "no man knows the day and hour," He has in mind that "no man" in this world "knows the day and hour," and He can say this with absoluteness because in this world, in the flesh, without the Spirit, absolutely no one knows nor indeed can know. But, on the other hand, Christ can also speak as if speaking about His kingdom or spiritual world with the same absoluteness because in Christ's kingdom, in the spirit and not the flesh, everyone who is saved can know "as in the days of Noah." Because of these two conflicting and differing kingdoms or worlds, it should not be a surprise why we find some passages which seem to say that no man can know, while other passages which teach the exact opposite. One is viewing things from the perspective of this world and unsaved man, while the other is viewing things from the perspective of Christ's kingdom or world, the realm of the saved and spiritual people of God. 

N ow what we have learned so far is that, from the context of the verse, "But of that day and hour knows no man," it does not mean that absolutely no one can know the very Day of Judgment, but it does mean that none of the unsaved who have not " the Spirit which is of God" can know. We have seen this in both the context of the verse, " But of that day and hour knows no man" in Mt. 24:36-39 as well as how the exact same phrase " knows no man" is defined in I Cor. 2:11-12. We have also seen how the concept of no man knows means no person who is without the Spirit of God and in the flesh, which the Bible calls the natural or carnal man, can know. Therefore, we can agree with those who say no man knows when the term " man" in the phrase " knows no man" is properly defined only as the natural, carnal, and without the Spirit of God people of this world, but we cannot agree with the blanket and incorrect statement that the phrase " knows no man" refers to every single last human being. 


No man could know the day and hour until the time of the end
   

But, given all this, it is important to realize that "no man," not even the saved, will be able to know the exact time until "the time of the end," for as we were told through Daniel the prophet about 2600 years ago in Chapter 12 verse 4, "shut up the word, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro and knowledge will be increased." In other words, even though this information has always been in the Bible, God hid it until "the time of the end," which we are now in, and then He will open up and increase the understanding of His people to these very things. In fact, about 2000 years ago at the beginning of the New Testament church age on Pentecost 33 A.D., Christ told His disciples in Acts 1:7, "It is not for you [literally in the Greek, it is not of you] to know the times or the seasons, which the father has put in His own power." The "It is not of you" simply emphasizes that "to know the times or the seasons" does and cannot originate in or come from human beings themselves - "It is not of [them]," which is also what God meant by saying "But of that day and hour knows no man" - but it does not mean that there would or could never come a time in which these things would or could be revealed by the Spirit to human beings with origins only of God Himself. 

Nevertheless, at the time of Christ saying these things about two thousand years ago, it was not yet time for the "times or the seasons" to be revealed, so it was not to be the focus of Christ's disciples who were to be busy with the task of spreading the gospel. But when "the time of the end" came, which through the biblical timeline we now know to have begun in 1988 when judgment began on all the external or corporate churches, and the true believers were commanded to come out of them, and still are being commanded to come out of them (see Why Depart Out of All Churches ), God has taken the seal off of His Word, the Bible, so that now like never before, we can begin to know through the Spirit of God the exact time of judgment. In these last days, to know the times and the seasons is extremely important, for these things are exactly what Satan does not want you to know as we read in Daniel 7,

25 And he [Satan] shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws.. .

So, in summary, we learned that the phrase, " knows no man," means this: no flesh by itself, or the natural man alone, separate and apart from God's Spirit revealing it, can know the day. It is not of man to know the day, or the times and seasons, but it is of the Spirit to know these things, and to reveal them to those who have the Spirit of God, once the time of the end has come. The phrase no man knows does not refer to every last human being in scripture, but just to all those who are without the Spirit, just as it was in the days of Noah. 


"Neither the Son" of Mark 13:32  

Now someone might say, "not even Jesus knows the day, so how can you so arrogantly know the day?" This in actuality is a miss quote of Mark 13:32 which states, "But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father." It doesn't say that Jesus doesn't know the day, but it says "the son" does not know the day. It is just assumed that the word "son" in this verse refers to Jesus because in many translations of the Bible this word "son" is capitalized to set it apart as if it does refer Jesus, the Son with a capital "S." But we must understand that in the original language of this verse the word "son" is not set apart by capitalization; it is in the same case as every letter surrounding it which in the original manuscripts are all in the same case or size, and so the translators have taken some liberty that they should have never taken by assuming that this word "son " refers to Jesus (Remember, it is the original languages alone in which the Bible was first written which are absolutely perfect).

In fact, there is good reason to believe that "the son" in this passage does not refer to Jesus at all. This is because of all the passages which clearly teach that Jesus, the son, is one and same as the Father God who knows all things. For instance, Jesus said in John 10:16, "I and my Father are one" and "he that hath seen me hath seen the Father" (Jn. 14:9). Scripture even said hundreds of years before Jesus was born through Isaiah the prophet that He, the Son, would be called the Father Himself as we read in Isaiah 9:6,
"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father . . ."

From passages such as these, and there are many of them, it is clear that Jesus at least in some respect is one and the same as the Father, and in Colossians 2:9 we read this about Jesus: "For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily" and in Col. 1:16 we read, "by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him." And, again, scripture states, "But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever" (Heb. 1:8). 

So I ask you, how can all the fullness of the Godhead dwell in Jesus, who is the almighty creator God of all things, and yet He does not know the Day of Judgment? For if He lacked knowledge in anything including the time of Judgment Day , how could all the fullness of the Godhead so dwell in Him? Obviously, it could not. Jesus even says of Himself, "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending , saith the Lord" (Rev. 1:8). Now can one who is the beginning and the end not know the time of the end? Hardly! Since we must, therefore, conclude that Jesus who is very God knows the time of the end and of Judgment, who then does "the son" refer to in Mark 13:32 which states, "But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father"? 

Some have concluded that "the son" must refer to another mentioned in the Bible such as "the son of perdition" who is Satan, or some other son mentioned in the Bible. They reason that "the son" in reference to Satan may seem to fit well is because Satan is a celestial being as are the angels who are said to not know the time in this same verse, so this would fit into the context quite well, so they think. But, it seems to me that Satan is an angel, and so why would God say the angels do not know the time, which would include Satan already, and then say that "the Son of perdition," or Satan, does not know the time once again? More importantly, the phrase "the son" alone most regularly gives reference to Jesus in the Bible (I counted 30 times in the New Testament and once or perhaps twice in the Old - Ps. 2:12; Pr. 3:12) whereas I am not aware of any verse that refers to Satan with just the simple phrase, "the son," which is really the most important phrase in this discussion. O yes, it could be being used in reference to Satan in the longer phrase, "the son of wickedness" (Ps. 89:22), and "the son of perdition" (Jn. 17:12; 2Thes. 2:3), and perhaps in the phrase, "son of the morning" in Isaiah 14:12 (but this is not really valid because the article "the" is missing), but it is not used in reference to Satan anywhere that I am aware of in just the phrase, "the son," which is a huge strike against "the son" possibly referring to Satan, or any other "son" that is defined by any phrase longer or shorter than the exact phrase, "the son." In scanning the Bible for this phrase, it is clear that "the son" - not the son of someone or the son of something else, or a son of a human father, or the son in a given genealogical account - but "the son" alone is a special term used to refer to Jesus alone. He's not just any son, but THE SON; no one else can fit this designation.

Additionally, Jesus is often called "the son of man" (about 84 times in NT), or "the son of God " (about 41 times in NT), or "the son of David" ( about 7 times in NT), or "the son of the living God" (2 times in NT) or "the son of Joseph" (3 times in NT), or "the Son of Mary" (1 time in NT), or " a son" (about 6 times), and so on. In fact, He is called "the son of man" about 80 times in the gospels alone, which makes it the most common designation for Jesus in the gospels, which, also, by the very connotation of the phrase alone, is placing a great emphasis upon His humanity: "the son of man." 

Take a look at all the Bible passages which define Jesus by the exact same phrase, "the Son," found in Mk. 13:32:

Ps 2:12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.
Pr 3:12
For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.
Mt 11:27 All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him .
Mt 21:38 But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.
Mt 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 
Mr 13:32 But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.
Lu 10:22
All things are delivered to me of my Father: and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him.
Joh 3:35 The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.
Joh 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life;but the wrath of God abideth on him. 
Joh 5:19 Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.
Joh 5:20 For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel.  
Joh 5:21 For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:
Joh 5:23
That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him
Joh 6:40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.  
Joh 8:35 And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.
Joh 8:36
If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.  
Joh 14:13 And
whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
1Co 15:28 And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.
Heb 1:8
But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy
Heb. 7:28 For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore.
IJo 2:22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.
IJo 2:23
Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father
IJo 2:24 Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father.
IJo 4:14
And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to bed the saviour of the world.
2Jo 1:9
Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.  

Notice how the sentence structures are similar between Mark 13:32 and the following passages:

Mr 13:32 But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.  

Lu 10:22 All things are delivered to me of my Father: and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him

Mt 11:27 All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him

As we focus in on the phrase "...the Son..., but the Father...," we see that each of the above passages have this same structure. So, since the phrase "the son" in both Luke and Matthew above is clearly in reference to Jesus, so it is quite logical to conclude that "the son" in Mark 13:32 also refers to Jesus. But even far more convincing is the fact that in virtually all of the above 25 passages, which clearly define the phrase "the son" alone as being Jesus, "the son" is always very closely connected with "the Father" in the given passage. I do not know of any scriptures where this close connection to " the Father" could be said of Satan, or some other " son " in the Bible. Since this close connection is also seen in Mark 13:32 - "neither the son, but the Father" - it is quite logical to define "the son" in this passage as being Jesus just as do all the other scriptural examples. And we could go on and on with the evidence to show that "the son" in Mark 13:32 refers to Jesus, but for the sake of brevity, let me bring just one more thing to your attention.

Even though we know the scripture clearly teaches Jesus to be God Himself, and that Jesus and the Father are one, and if you have seen Jesus, you've seen the Father, there is clearly a difference in administration between the two. For instance, Jesus only spoke what the Father wanted Him to speak: 

Joh 12:50 And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak. 

Furthermore, we also read that the " times and seasons" are not in the hands of Christ, but in the power or control of the Father as we read in Acts 1:7, 

Ac 1:7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. 

Now these differences in administration that Jesus didn't speak what He wanted to speak, but only spoke exactly what the Father told Him to speak at the time, and that the " times and seasons" are not mentioned as in control of Jesus, but in the power or control of the Father, can help explain how " the son" in Mark 13 can refer to Jesus who in the context spoke about all the signs of His coming in Judgment, as if He knew all things, while in the exact same context then said, " But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father" as if He did not know all things. He was simply following the Father's command to say of Himself that He didn't know the day and hour, and doing this had nothing to do with Him knowing or not knowing, but had everything to do with obeying the commandment of the Father at the time for the Father's own purposes.

Now in the light of all this evidence, it is quite difficult if not impossible to see "the son " here in Mark 13:32 as referring to anyone but Jesus Himself. How could anyone ever say that "the son" in Mark 13:32 cannot possibly be Jesus? Wisdom cries out and says, how could it not be Jesus? The reason that many say it cannot refer to Jesus is because scripture says that Jesus and the Father are one (Jn. 10:30), and if you have seen Jesus, you've seen the father (Jn. 14:9); therefore, as the Father knows the day, so must Jesus. But this is a faulty argument as we will see a little later. I am afraid that many of the people who cannot see that "the son" in Mark 13:32 is Jesus are viewing the trees, but missing the forest.

I believe there is a much better explanation for "the Son" than saying very weakly it must refer to the son of perdition, who is Satan, or some other son than Jesus Himself. In fact, I believe in the light of all the evidence that "the Son" must refer to Jesus, but not to all His deity or fullness, for we have already concluded that Jesus in the fullness of who He was, namely the one and only almighty, all knowing and infinite creator God, by definition, must have known the time. But, rather, "the Son " here does refer to Jesus, the Son, but only from the perspective of viewing Him artificially in His human nature or natural man alone while He was yet on earth and before He was glorified. This is a complete exercise of the mind alone. Let me try to explain: Yes, it is true that Jesus was fully God while He was on earth, but it is also true that He was fully man; He was the Son of God, and He was the Son of Man; both natures so intermingled and inseparable in reality, except in one's mind. This is one of the most cardinal doctrines of Christianity, and as a man, he hungered (Mt. 21:18; Lk. 4:2) and had to eat food; he thirsted (Jn. 19:28) and had to drink; "the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit . .." (Lk. 2:40); "Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man" (Lk. 2:52); He had to have learned how to walk and talk; also "Jesus therefore, being wearied [He grew tired] with his journey, sat thus on the well" (Jn. 4:6) and He slept (Mk. 4:38); He "was in all points tempted like as we are..." (Heb. 4:15); "Though He were a son, yet learned He obedience by the things which He suffered" (Heb. 5:8); "Wherefore in all things it behoved Him to be made like unto his brethren" ( Heb. 2:17), and Christ Himself even said, " my Father is greater than I ." So He was a man in every respect; and so on, in that, in His humanity, scripture clearly teaches that He was like we are in every way, "yet without sin" (Heb. 4:15). Being born of a woman, He clearly had limitations as a man, some of which were just listed, and these limitations immediately open the door to Him having been limited in knowledge in respect to not knowing the exact day as declared in Mark 13:32 while yet on earth.

But in his deity or God nature alone, artificially viewed and separated from His human nature in the mind only, He, God, would not get hungry and so need to eat; thirst and need to drink; He would not grow in stature and wisdom, and in favour with God; He would not learn obedience or learn how to walk and talk; He would not be tempted as we are in all things, "for God cannot be tempted" (James 1:13); nor would He, that is God, need to rest from being tired because God is all sufficient and powerful and needs nothing at all, including water and food. He would also be all knowing and learned, and, so there would be no room for growth in any respect because He is infinite and so grown and learned to the farthest extent and can grow or mature no further, and He could most certainly not say that the Father is greater than Him. In His God nature, He would know all things including the day and hour of Judgment Day. Therefore, when the scripture says that "neither the son" knows the day and hour, this can be only in reference or due to His human nature while He was yet on earth and not yet glorified. In this respect and this perspective alone it could be said of Jesus, He did not know the time. But in His God nature alone, Jesus has always known the time, and especially in His now God glorified state ever since He returned to heaven about 2000 years ago, He certainly knows the exact day. 

As an illustration to hopefully help clarify: It's like when the scripture says, "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God" (I Jn. 3:9). This seems to say that someone who is born of God, or saved, cannot sin. But we know from many other scriptures that this cannot be the case. So how can this verse be explained? Well, it can be explained by viewing this verse as only referring to the new resurrected spiritual nature of a saved individual, artificially viewed in the mind alone, separate and apart from their still remaining sinful flesh nature. It is only in this sense that a saved person could be said to not sin. But if a saved person is viewed as they really are in reality with both a new spiritual nature and a remaining sinful flesh nature that are so intermingled and inseparable in real life, it is not true that a saved person cannot sin, for their sinful flesh has not yet been completely saved, and these two natures war against one another, the spiritual against the remaining sinful flesh nature, and there are times when the old sinful flesh nature shows its ugly head (Just read Romans Chp. 7).

Now in a similar way of artificially viewing in the mind alone the human nature of Jesus as separate and apart from His God nature, when the scripture says that "the son," Jesus, does not know the day and hour, it could be viewing Him in His flesh nature or natural man alone, separate and apart from His spiritual nature which is fully God, or it is simply viewing Him in His humanity with all the limitations that having become a man brought upon Him. Whatever the case, it is only because of His human nature that it could ever be said of "the son" that He does not know the time in the similar way that it is only because of a saved person's new spiritual nature that it could ever be said that such a one cannot sin. But when viewing Jesus in His God nature alone, which we could not do except in the mind, it could never be said that there is something He does not know, for in that great sense, He has always been and always will be God who knows all things. The answer to those who say, "how can you know the day and hour when not even Jesus knows," therefore, is this: when scripture says that Jesus does not know the time, it is in some way in reference or due to His human flesh nature as a man, either viewed in the mind alone, completely separate and apart from His God nature, or simply due in some way to the limitations of His human flesh and blood or natural man nature. We are given warrant to artificially separate in the mind alone the natures of a person - and Jesus was a person - by a scripture such as 1John 3:9, which we have already seen does this very thing to help us better understand the personage of the saved individual (there are many other scriptures which do this as well such as in Romans 7 and many other scriptures), and we are also given warrant by all the many passages that actually and obviously do view Jesus from the standpoint of His humanity (I previously mentioned some of these verses including the comment Jesus Himself made, " My Father is greater than I." Indeed, the very connotation of the most used phrase to designate Jesus in the gospels, namely "the son of man" itself, forces us to focus in on His humanity. And by focusing in on the human nature of Jesus in this passage of Mk. 13:32 as do many other scriptural examples, God is telling us that human flesh and blood alone, or the natural man by itself, cannot know the time just as we had previously already learned in Acts 1:7 when it stated, "it is not of you to know the times and seasons," and also in Mt. 24:36 and now Mark 13:32 when it says, no man knows. In other words, it is not "of," or it does not originate from, or come from human flesh to know the Day of Judgment. This is true even of the flesh and blood of Jesus Himself who was every bit as human as we. 

I believe that Jesus is basically teaching the same thing in Mt.16:17. In this passage, Jesus asks Peter who he thought He was . "And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art The Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered, and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven." Just as it was not "flesh and blood;" therefore, not a human being; nor the human "flesh and blood" nature of Jesus Christ Himself, that revealed to Peter Christ's deity, so, also, it is not human beings, including the human nature of Jesus himself while yet on earth, that could know the very day of judgment and His second coming. But this in no way means that Jesus did not know after He ascended into heaven in His glorified state, and that there could never come a time in which the day and time would be revealed to human flesh by the Spirit alone, with origins separate and apart from the flesh, as it now has been taking place with origins of God, the Holy Spirit, alone.

So, once again, how can we know when not even Jesus knew? First of all, Jesus in His God nature alone did know, and He certainly now knows in the glorified state in which He is in ever since He had ascended to heaven. We must make this clear! But in his flesh or human nature when He was still on earth, viewed artificially separate and apart from His spiritual or God nature in the mind alone, or simply viewed in His humanity while yet on earth, He did not know, being fully man and so willingly encompassed with limitations. In the same way, no man who is in the flesh alone and not given the Spirit of God can discover the very day, but once he has the Spirit of God, he can discover the day once the Spirit of God has revealed it to him at the time of the end with origins completely of God Himself and not of man, or of flesh and blood, at all. Please understand, I am not saying in any of this discourse that every man who knows the day has the Spirit and must be saved, but I am saying that the knowledge of that day had to have originated in the first place from no human being, but from the Spirit of God alone, which dwells in all of God's people.

Before concluding on this topic of "the son," I think it is important to recognize that none of this takes away from the deity of Christ, as some are teaching. My heart is just grieved when I hear someone say that to believe that "the son" refers to Jesus is a denial of God Himself. NO IT IS NOT! We are simply artificially viewing in our minds alone the person of Jesus, who is God (there you have it; I just said He is God), in His two natures, separate and apart from each other in our minds alone, or simply in His humanity as we have shown scripture gives us warrant to do by many scriptural examples. He was fully God, and He was fully man while He was yet on earth without yet being glorified (except of course when He was transfigured - Mt. 17:2). To view Him in just His humanity is not denying His deity; nor is viewing Him in just His deity denying His Humanity. Scripture allows for both, and, therefore, so can we. Was Jesus God? Absolutely! Was Jesus man? Absolutely! We can deny neither, so we must be careful not to apply these in an incorrect way; one as the other, and the other as the one, which I believe has been done by those who so adamantly require that "the son" in Mark 13:32 not in any way refer to Jesus. They say that Jesus is the same as the father, and, therefore, as the scripture states in Mk 13:32 that it is the Father who knows the very day, so must have Jesus known the day, for scripture says of Jesus, "I and my Father are one" and "he that hath seen me hath seen the Father.

But there is a fallacy in this argument , for even though scripture does say that the Father and Jesus are one, and if you've seen Jesus you've seen the Father, this cannot possibly mean they are both exactly the same in every respect, which is required for such an argument to hold any weight. I ask you, did the Father have human flesh, grow tired, learn obedience, grow in stature and wisdom; was He tempted as we, could the father say that someone else was greater than He, and experience all the other things as did the son, Jesus, in His humanity? Of course not, for " God is a Spirit" (Jn. 4:24). So herein lays the difference and issue: the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ, and this is exactly the point. Yes, it could be said of Jesus that in His deity or God nature, He had to have known the very day. But, when we separate His two natures in our minds alone, and focus in on only His flesh and blood, or simply just focus in on His humanity as scripture so regularly does, we can not only say, Jesus did not know the day, but we can also say, Jesus and the Father were not one and the same, unless, of course, you think that the Father had human flesh as did Jesus, which would contradict clear biblical teaching. Therefore, we know that when scripture says that Jesus and the Father are one, and that they if you have seen Jesus, you have seen the Father, is not in reference to the flesh and blood or human nature of Jesus, but to the spiritual or God nature of Jesus alone, and, so cannot in any way be used to argue against Jesus being " the son" in Mark 13:32 at all. It is a faulty argument!  

In my mind, the only way it can be shown that "the son" does not refer to Jesus at all is to either deny His humanity, which would be to move in the direction of heresy (see Docetism in early Christian history), or else show that scripture does not allow for the viewing of a person 's natures artificially in our minds alone, separate and apart from each other (like 1Jn. 3:9 does and many other scriptures), as well as show that Jesus had no limitations in His humanity, which would prove that Jesus in His humanity had to have known the very day of judgment and the day of His coming. All this, I believe, would be quite difficult if not impossible to do. I have heard it said that "the son" in Mark 13:32 is put there as a test. If it is - there is nothing to necessitate such a belief in the context - the test must be this: will an individual believe that "the son" is Jesus as Scripture makes so abundantly clear, or will he believe the teaching of man, that "the son" cannot be and does not refer to Jesus? 

So, in summary, we have learned that when scripture says, neither the son knows the day and hour, it is focusing in on the fact that no man knows in his human nature or natural man alone, including Jesus when viewed in His human nature or natural man alone while yet on this earth, but this in no way means that He did not know in the fullness of who He was as both man and God, and certainly cannot mean that He doesn't now know while in His glorified state in heaven. Of course, He knew and knows all things. So how can we know when not even Jesus knew? First of all, Jesus in His fullness as both man and God did know, and, in His now glorified state in heaven, He absolutely knows. We must make this clear. But in his flesh or human nature viewed separate and apart from His spiritual or God nature while He was yet on earth, He did not know, being fully a natural man. In the same way, no man who is in the flesh and not given the Spirit of God can know, but once he has salvation and so has the Spirit of God, he can know once the Spirit of God has revealed it to him with origins completely of God Himself and not of man at all.

This study entitled "Can We Know When Judgment Day Is" is continued on the next page. Click here to continue.

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