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DIVINE ENCOUNTER (RENEWAL FELLOWSHIP) P.
O. TOPIC: THE SIGNS OF THE LAST DAYS TEXT: II TIM. 3:1 PART 8A, B THE
SIGNS OF THE LAST DAYS IS THE UNHOLY CHARACTER OF CHRISTIANS
"But know this, that in the last days perilous times shall
come" 2Tim.3:1 KJV.
As we are gradually coming to the end of our study on the signs of the
last days, we will now give a close attention to our text above. The first
striking word here is `PERILOUS TIMES'. Now what can we understand by this word?
I know in the Church circle, it is commonly seen as the last days, being a
period of difficulties in terms of living conditions world-wide with the
associated characteristics of wars, rumours of wars, famine etc. But is that
what it really means? Was that what Paul had in mind writing this letter to
Pastor Timothy in AD 65-68? To who was this perilous times related? I think for
proper understanding, I will want to define this `perilous times' by comparing
different translations of the Bible. WHAT
THEN IS PERILOUS TIMES? 1.
This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come? KJV. 2.
"But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of
stress ".RSV 3.
"But understand this, that in the last days, there will be perilous
times of great stress and trouble - hard to deal with and hard to bear".
AMP. 4.
You can be certain that in the last days, there will be some very hard
times" CEV. 5.
"You may be quite sure that in the last days there are going to be
some difficult times" JB. 6.
"But know this that in the last days critical times hard to deal
with will be here" Inter Linear Trans. 7.
"You must face the fact; the final age of this world is to be a time
of trouble" NEB. 8.
"Remember this! In the last days there will be many
troubles..." NCV. 9.
"You may as well know this too, Timothy, that in the last days, it
is going to be very difficult to be a Christian" TLB.
We can see from the above comparison of different translations that the
`perilous times' is not directly connected to the affairs of the world but the
attitude and activities of men that will make true worship difficult. The last
translation, the living bible makes it plain, "...it is going to be very
difficult to be a Christian" because of the way people will behave and how
they are going to be carrying on with Christian beliefs. Once again, I submit
that the perilous time is not about wars, rumours of wars etc, but the deception
and craftiness manifesting as false Christ and false prophets/teachers right in
the Church. Now it will be very difficult, because as you begin to consider the
activities of these people, you will not find the need to be a Christian and
even if you are one, if care is not taken, you will loose your first love and
zeal for Christ. And of course we can even see that in our days. Thank God those
following the events of the centuries have declared 1999 as the Pastoral year.
In other words, 1999 saw more people taking to Pastoring, but how genuine are
these people? By whose mandate have they gone into the field? What is the motive
behind their going into the Ministry? How will they perform if the motive is
wrong? What will be the effect of this on the acceptance of the Gospel by men?
Surely ministries will make it difficult for men to be Christians. WHAT
CONSTITUTES THE HARD TIMES IN THE LAST DAYS?
By implication, what will be the Characteristics and behavioral pattern
of people at the time in question? Now do not forget the fact that the
attributes we are about to discuss are to be found among Christians and they
constitute the perilous times. They are the things that will make men being true
worshippers of God difficult.
In order to answer the question raised above, I will like to quote a few
important verses from the same chapter in question from two translations,
without dealing with each of the characters so mentioned. "Remember
this! In the last days there will be many troubles because (i.e. the reason for
the perilous times are) (1) People will love themselves (self-centered) (2) Love
money (greedy for money) (3) They will say evil things against others and will
not obey their parents or be thankful or be the kind of people God wants (..
without any regard for what their parents taught them, they will be utterly
lacking in gratitude, purity and normal human affections) (6) They will not love
others, (7) Will refuse to forgive (forgiveness is the nature of God) (8) will
gossip, (9) and will not control themselves (10) They will be cruel (11) will
hate what is good (12) will turn against their friends (13) and will do foolish
things without thinking (14) They will be conceited (self willed) (15) will love
pleasure instead of God (loving all the time what gives them pleasure instead of
loving God) (16) and will act as if they serve God but will not have his power
(they will maintain a facade of "religion" but their conduct will deny
its validity) stay away from these people (17) Some of them go into homes and
get control of silly women who are full of sin and are led by many evil desires.
These women are always learning new teachings, but they are never able to
understand the truth fully. Just as Jannes and Jambres were against Moses. (Jannes
and Jambres are believed from Jewish tradition to be the sons of Balaam
(Nub.22:2+) and they were the leaders of the Egyptian magicians who
withstoodMoses See Exo.7:11-12, 22. And even so... these people are against the
truth (by their conduct). Their thinking has been ruined,. and they have failed
in trying to follow the faith. But they will not be successful in what they do,
because as with Jannes and Jambres, everyone will see that they are
foolish" 2Tim.3:1-9 NCV (Philips).
Let us quickly simplify these attributes by quoting from the Living Bible
again. "You may as well know this too, Timothy that in the last days, it is
going to be very difficult to be a Christian. For people will love only
themselves and their money; they will be proud and boastful sneering at God,
disobedient to their parents, ungrateful to them, and thoroughly bad. They will
be hardhearted and never give in to others; they will be constant liars and
troublemakers and will think nothing of immorality. They will be rough and
cruel, and sneer at those who try to be good. They will betray their friends;
they will be hot headed, puffed up with pride and prefer good times to
worshipping God. They will go to church Yes, but they won't really believe
anything they hear. Don't be taken in by people like that. They are the kind who
craftily sneak into other people's homes and make friendships with silly,
sin-burdened women and teach them their new doctrines. Women of that kind are
forever following new teachings, but they never understand the truth. And these
teachers fight truth as Jannes and Jambres fought against Moses. They have dirty
minds warped and twisted and have turned against the Christian faith. But they
won't get away with all this forever. Some day their deceit will be well-known
to everyone, as was the sin of Jannes and Jambres" TLB. People of God, I am sure you can see clearly from the above passage that the signs of the last days has to do with the character of men as opposed to Godly virtues as revealed by the Holy Spirit. Nothing whatsoever to do with `thunders' `lightings' `Sadam Hussein' `moon and stars' falling etc which men have been proclaiming to be signs of the end times. Even if there be wars or otherwise, it is still the manifestation of the human nature as a result of greed and lust. Read it "what is causing the quarrels and fight among you? isn't it because there is a whole army of evil desires within you? You want what you don't have so you kill to get it. You long for what others have and can't afford it, so you start a fight to take it away from them. And yet the reason you don't have what you want is that you don't ask God for it. And even when you do ask you don't get it because your whole aim is wrong - you want only what will give you pleasure" Jm.4:1-3 TLB. I am sure you know these letters were addressed to Christians? (Jm.1:1). So beloved why not examine yourself whether you are already a carrier of the signs of the last days instead of looking at the sky or the world around for the end time events? Are you a proud one? Boastful? Strong-headed? Disobedient to parents and constituted authority? Telling lies in the name of Jesus? Living a hypocritical life? Claming to be a Christian and yet not manifesting the fiuits of the Spirit? Then of course you can be sure that you are a complete embodiment of the true signs of the end time. Once again I remind you that these signs are found in the body of Christ and outside the church also. And mind you, it is what the church is that is seen in the world. You may ask how? Because the church ought to be the light of the world, therefore if she is in darkness, then of course the world will reflect it as well. So if the one affects the other, then my prayer is may the light of the church shine so that darkness cannot comprehend it. Amen. THE
CONSEQUENCES OF AN UNHOLY LIVING
"But know this, that in the last days perilous times shall
come" 2Tim.3:1 KJV. Now
that it is clear to us that what constitutes the hard times as signs of the last
days is the unholy character that will be exhibited even among believers, we
will want to see the consequences of this unholy living in the sight of God and
how it is manifested also among the unbelievers. May we remind ourselves that. a
corrupt Church system is not different from the world. But the truth of the
matter is, the sacrifice of Christ was meant to deliver us "...from the
present evil world" Gal.1:4. Ironically, what we should have been delivered
from has become the focus of our love, thereby frustrating the grace of God in
our lives. Gal.2:21. So the truth of the matter is we are dealing with the
increase of lawlessness in the last days, both among Christians and unbelievers
alike. This is made plain to us as we consider the letter of Paul to the Romans
in AD56 - 58. THE WRATH OF GOD, THE CONSEQUENCES OF UNHOLY LIFE The
Bible says "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all
ungodliness and wickedness of men who by their wickedness suppress the
truth" (Rom.]:18 RSV). The first thing I want you to note here is the word
"wrath of God". The Greek word here is Orgre - desire (as a reaching
forth or excitement of the mind) i.e. by analysis, violent passion (justifiable)
abhorrence, by implication punishment - anger, indignation, vengeance, wrath.
This is clear enough that when we are talking of `God's wrath' we are talking
about God's steadfast and holy hatred of sin. The second word we need to
consider is 'Revealed'- from the Greek word apocalupto - to take off the cover,
i.e. disclose, reveal. Now hear me well, the word says "The wrath of God is
revealed" it did not say shall be revealed. So to put the judgment of God
on sin in the future date does not make sense and does not seem to agree with
the mind of the Spirit, for the whole thing is in a present continuous tense. It
simply means, the consequences of sin, which is the righteous and holy judgment
of God can be manifested in a man's life time, not necessarily on a future
judgment day. Otherwise we would not be talking of the increase in righteousness
through faith even as the word says "the righteousness of God is revealed
through faith for faith..." (Rom.1:17 RSV). So when we talk of the just
shall live by faith, we are talking of the ever unfolding of God's righteousness
in the lives of those who have been justified by the faith in the finished work
of Christ. You are not to wait till a future date before being justified by
faith or increasing in faith. Even so "some men's sins are open before
hand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after" 1Tim.5:24.
The man that Paul said should be delivered unto Satan for the destruction of the
flesh that the Spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord, (1Cor.5:5) for having
his father's wife" (V.1) was not going to wait till the judgment day. In
2Cor. 2:5-11 we are told that same man was forgiven having learnt his lessons.
"...Sufficient to such a man is this PUNISHMENT, which was inflicted of
many, so that contrariwise you ought rather to forgive him, lest perhaps such a
one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow..." Compare 1 Tim. 1:18-20.
These are scriptural truths, people of God. WHY
IS THE WRATH OF GOD BEING REVEALED
Basically, because men who
have known the truth are "suppressing the truth". In other words they
imprisoned the truth of God by living an unholy life in the midst of claiming to
be born again. For what else is the truth of God, but Christ, Jn.18:38, 14:6)
because truth is the reality of God's life manifested in His Son. So apart from
God's revelation to perceived
in the things that have been made. So they (mankind) are without excuse; "
Rom.1:19-21. -So we can see that, apart from the manifestation of the Christ
Spirit all over the world today with the miracles accompanying His work which
was sufficient to make man believe and live for him, the creation itself is
enough evidence to prove the fact that God exists. In line with this, the singer
of HUMAN
PERVERSION FOR HATING THE TRUTH
"These men deliberately forfeited the truth of God and accepted a
lie, paying homage and giving service to the creature instead of to the Creator,
who alone is worthy to be worshiped forever and ever, Amen. Their women
exchanged the normal practices of sexual intercourse for something, which is
abnormal and unnatural. Similarly the men, turning from natural intercourse with
women, were swept into lustful passions for one another. Men with men performed
these shameful horrors, receiving, of course, in their own personalities the
consequences of sexual perversity" (Vs.25-27 Philips). What are the
consequences of these sexual perversions? Of course the list is limitless,
syphilis, AIDS etc and all that is associated with perverse living. Can you see
the effect of this perversion today all around us? All because of the rejection
of the truth - Christ. Again we read "...people did not think it was
important to have a true knowledge of God. So God left them and allowed them to
have their own worthless thinking and to do things they should not do. They are
filled with every kind of sin, evil, selfishness and hatred. They are full of
jealousy, murder, fighting, lying and thinking the worst about each other. They
hate God. They are rude, conceited, and brag about themselves. They invented
ways of doing evil. They do not obey their parents. They are foolish, they do
not keep their promises and they show no kindness or mercy to others. They know
God's law says that those who live like this should die, but they themselves not
only continue to do these evil things, they applaud others who do them"
Vs.28-32 NCV. Did you hear that? Even if you are not involved in these unholy
living but you support those involved in it, you shall also partake of the wrath
of God. Do you support those who do evil? Do you praise and simply say it does
not matter? Is there anyway you are encouraging that which is evil e.g.
worthless films distributions? Encouraging alcoholism? Pornographic films or
magazines? You better watch it my brother for "Thou shalt not follow a
multitude to do evil..." Ex.23:2 |
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