2 Timothy 3:1-5 ESV
“But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.”
We are definitely living in these last days before the
return of Christ, and this is absolutely and sadly a description of our culture
and society in America today, but also of many who call themselves believers in
Jesus Christ. For, as I have shared before, the popular gospel permeating the
church here in America today is not the one that Jesus taught, and it is not
the one the New Testament apostles taught, but it is a man-created twisted and
adulterated half-truth gospel of the flesh and not of God.
For what it does is that it teaches that we can just make a
profession of faith in Jesus Christ, or we can just acknowledge what he did for
us on that cross, or we can just accept his grace and/or his affections and now
all our sins are forgiven (past, present, and future), and heaven is guaranteed
us when we die, but regardless of how we live. And even if they do use the term
“repent,” many mean nothing more than a one-time verbal confession of sin or of
a change of mind from not believing in Jesus to now believing in him.
And many people who are propagating this “cheap grace gospel”
are those who are also teaching against true biblical repentance, and they are
teaching against obedience to Christ and to his commands (New Covenant). And
they are teaching against the works of God which he planned in advance for us
to walk in them. And they are giving people the impression that once they make
that profession of faith in Christ that no matter how much they sin from this
point forward, it will never be held against them.
And so is it any wonder that so many professing Christians
today are not much different from those who make no profession of faith in
Jesus Christ? It is barely distinguishable between the world and the church
anymore, for so many have gone the way of the world, and they are mixing with
the world, and they are taking on the patterns of the world in order to attract
the people of the world to their gatherings. And then they entertain the people
of the world to keep them coming back for more.
So, they have a form (or appearance) of godliness in that
they call themselves Christians, and they attend what are called “churches,”
and they at least go through the motions, to some extent, of Christian (or
religious) practices (or traditions), but they deny God/Christ and godliness by
their actions (by their ungodly practices and sinful habits). For so many of
them are lovers of self and not lovers of God, and they are still walking in
sin, still doing what they know is wrong, and not doing what they know is
right.
But then they have twisted the Scriptures in such a way as
to make their actions seem more godly than those of us who are walking in obedience
to the Lord, and who are following Jesus in his ways, and in his truth, and who
are living godly lives, though not in absolute perfection, yet growing in
Christ and becoming more like Jesus in character. And so they honor the sinner
while they vilify the saint, and they honor the false gospel while they vilify
the true gospel of grace. They turn light for darkness and darkness for light.
2 Timothy 3:12-15 ESV
“Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.”
So, if you are part of that minority who are still holding
on to the truth of the gospel, and so you are following the Lord in obedience,
though not with absolute perfection, and so you are walking in holiness and in
righteousness, and not in sin, you are likely to be persecuted and rejected and
mocked and criticized and accused falsely for your walk of faith in Jesus
Christ. And if you are sharing the truth of the gospel with others, and if you
are exposing the fruitless deeds of darkness, you will definitely be opposed
and/or ignored.
And, yes, it will seem as though those who practice evil,
many of whom are impostors, are going from bad to worse, deceiving and being
deceived, with no end in sight. And we may wonder when God is going to act to
bring them to their knees in true repentance and obedience to the Lord or how
long he is going to allow such evil to continue, especially in his name. And
some days, for the godly, it may be absolutely overwhelming seeing all the evil
that is going on in the name of church and of Christianity.
But regardless of what others do, and regardless of how we
are treated, we must continue in the true faith, in walks of obedience to our
Lord, in surrender to him as Lord (Owner-Master) of our lives, in walks of
holiness and righteousness, in doing his will, and in answering his call upon
our lives. And when we do that, we should expect to be mistreated, and we
should accept that as part of our walk of faith and of God’s call upon our
lives. And we should praise the Lord and thank him for his grace in our lives.
My Sheep
An Original Work / June 24, 2012
Based off John 10:1-18 NIV
My sheep hear me.
They know me.
They listen to my
voice and obey.
I call them and lead
them.
They know my voice,
so they follow me.
They will never follow
strangers.
They will run away
from them.
The voice of a
stranger they know not;
They do not follow
him.
So, I tell you the
truth that
I am the gate, so
you enter in.
Whoever does enter
Will find
forgiveness and will be saved.
Nonetheless whoever
enters
Not by the gate;
other way,
He is the thief and
a robber.
Listen not, the
sheep to him.
Oh, I am the Good
Shepherd,
Who laid his own
life down for the sheep.
I know them. They
know me.
They will live with
me eternally.
The thief only comes
to steal and
Kill and to destroy
the church.
I have come to give
you life that
You may have it to
the full…
They know my voice,
so they follow me.
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