For Every Good Work

Friday, October 12, 2012, 8:26 a.m. – the Lord woke me with the hymn “What a Friend We Have in Jesus.” Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read 2 Timothy 3 (NIV 1984):

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.

They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truth—men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected. But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone.

You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Terrible Times

According to what I have studied, the “last days” are the period of time between the first coming of Jesus to earth as a baby and the time of his second coming when he comes to earth to judge and to receive his bride to himself. Yet, it is not as though these types of behaviors and attitudes, listed in this passage of scripture here, did not exist in the period of time before Christ’s first appearance on the earth. They did! In fact, such a time existed at the time of Noah, which is why God destroyed the earth with a flood and saved only the family of Noah and anything else God commanded him to preserve in the ark.

Also, I noticed that Paul wrote this as though this time to which he was referring was future, not present, for he said, “There WILL BE terrible times in the last days, suggesting, perhaps, that he was speaking of a future period of time such as the days closer to the Lord’s return, when things will be like they were in the time before the flood, or at least suggesting that the “terrible times” would be future. I would suggest that Paul was describing a future period of time in which the types of attitudes and behaviors listed here would increase in severity and would come to such a point of severity that it would culminate in God’s judgment upon the earth.

I am 62 years old, and I was born in 1949, just 4 years after the end of WWII. Although I personally experienced some “terrible times” of my own as a child, for the most part, things felt fairly safe and secure in America during my growing up years. Yet, in my lifetime, I have definitely noticed a decline in morality, a decline and a falling away from the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ, a growing worldliness in the church, a trend toward following men instead of following God, and a great increase in the attitudes and behaviors listed here in this passage of scripture. The church overall has become so worldly and so business focused that they have lost sight of the holiness of God and the power and working of the Holy Spirit to transform lives and to set people on fire for God and for the gospel of Christ. The church overall, itself, has a form of godliness but oftentimes denies the power of God in its midst.

Nothing to Do

The command here is to have nothing to do with such people as is characterized by this list of behaviors and attitudes. We have a similar teaching in 2 Corinthians 6:14-18 where we are taught not to be unequally yoked together with unbelievers, for there is no fellowship between light and darkness. In other passages of scripture we are warned to not associate with professing Christians who engage in willful and sinful (unrepentant) lifestyles. Yet, we are also instructed that God has not taken us out of the world, but that we are to be shining lights for the gospel in the world. Yet, we are not to take on the pattern (behaviors and attitudes) of the unregenerate world, in this sense having to do with ungodly attitudes and behaviors, nor are we to love the things of this world – the cravings of our sinful flesh.

So, how does this work in all practicality? Have you ever asked yourself or God about that? I have! I mean there are people we live with, work with, etc., and some relationships are unavoidable. So, what do we do? I believe the principle here is that we should not make people our close friends, our confidants, our business partners, marriage partners (if not already married), and the people we hang out with and/or mostly associate with, whose lifestyles are characterized by these attitudes and behaviors. Also, we should not participate with them in any sinful behaviors, whether as full participants or merely as spectators. This appears to be the Biblical principle with regard to both unbelievers and with unrepentant believers living in willful sin. Remember, bad company corrupts good character. Be careful with whom you closely associate and with whom you make your close friendships.

The people whose lifestyles are characterized by this list of attitudes and behaviors are the kind of people who are able to wield strong influence over those who are already giving way to Satan and sin. We can’t play with sin! It will bite us! We can’t take in a little bit of dirt into our minds (poop in our brownies) thinking that the overall good of something will somehow make up for the dirt we took in, either for entertainment purposes, for the sake of keeping close friendships, because we want to be accepted by the people around us, and/or because we want to “fit in.” Once we open that door to Satan, we open our lives to so much more of what he wishes to introduce into our minds and lives, and it often comes at us through very subtle and deceptive means to where it hits us in our weaknesses (the holes in our spiritual armor). Yet, God’s word says that those who prey on the weak to bring them down – men of depraved minds – will have their folly exposed at some point in time.

Our Response

Instead of allowing ourselves to be trapped into following after the ways of this world, perhaps due to wrong associations, we should follow the example of Christ, and here of Paul, in suffering for the sake of the truth of the gospel of Christ. If we choose to not follow the ways of this world, we choose our close friendships and relationships carefully and Biblically, and we avoid the “poop” in our brownies by avoiding every kind of evil that presents itself to us to enjoy, and we choose to totally abandon ourselves to Jesus Christ, to obey him and to walk in faithfulness to his commands, we will be persecuted! Yet, the Lord promises to be with us and to rescue us, though not necessarily to rescue us from the persecutions, but through them. He does this by giving us his peace and comfort and joy even in the midst of our suffering for the sake of his name and his gospel. So, when we are persecuted and mistreated for doing what is right, we should take it to the Lord in prayer.

I think the closer we walk with the Lord the more sensitized to the evils around us we become, which is a good thing! While we are being persecuted for our faith and testimony for Jesus Christ and for living godly (though not perfect) lifestyles, evil men and imposters will go from bad to worse, oftentimes because their evil behavior goes unchecked or unnoticed. They will continue deceiving and being deceived until God chooses to expose their evil behavior and to bring them to justice.

Yet, even if evil exists all around us, and even if we have to stand alone sometimes, we need to continue in our faith and practice - in leaving our lives of sin behind us, and in following the Lord Jesus Christ wherever he leads us, even if sometimes we feel that we are on that path alone and that everyone else is going a different direction. Jesus certainly experienced that. We need to stay in the word of God (the word of truth), we need to keep pursuing what is godly, keeping our focus on Jesus Christ, and we need to obey Christ in all things. We need to remain strong and courageous in our faith even when we are mocked, rejected, abandoned, ridiculed and persecuted for having strong faith in Jesus Christ, and in the truths of his word. God will not fail us! We will reap a harvest if we do not give up! Turn to the Lord in prayer during those times of suffering, and allow his loving arms to comfort and encourage you, and allow his word (his truth) to teach, rebuke (yes), correct and train you in righteousness, so that you may be equipped for every good work.

What a Friend We Have in Jesus / Joseph M. Scriven / Charles C. Converse

What a friend we have in Jesus,

all our sins and griefs to bear!

What a privilege to carry

everything to God in prayer!

O what peace we often forfeit,

O what needless pain we bear,

all because we do not carry

everything to God in prayer.

Have we trials and temptations?

Is there trouble anywhere?

We should never be discouraged;

take it to the Lord in prayer.

Can we find a friend so faithful

who will all our sorrows share?

Jesus knows our every weakness;

take it to the Lord in prayer.

Are we weak and heavy laden,

cumbered with a load of care?

Precious Savior, still our refuge;

take it to the Lord in prayer.

Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?

Take it to the Lord in prayer!

In his arms he'll take and shield thee;

thou wilt find a solace there.