1 Thessalonians 5:1-3 ESV
“Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, ‘There is peace and security,’ then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.”
In the time of the prophet Jeremiah, many of the prophets and priests who were greedy for unjust gain were giving messages of peace to the people when there was no peace. And they were healing the wounds of the people lightly, which for us would be like putting a small Band Aid over top of a serious gushing wound (see Jeremiah 6:13-14 and Jeremiah 8:10-11).
And in the time of the prophet Isaiah, God’s people were rebellious against the Lord and against his prophets (seers), and so they were telling them not to see, i.e. to not receive these prophecies from the Lord, and to not prophesy to them what was right (at least they recognized that it was right). For they wanted the prophets to speak to them “smooth things” and to prophesy to them “illusions.” So, they told the prophets of God to leave the right way, to turn aside from the right path, and to speak no more about the “Holy One of Israel.” (see Isaiah 30:9-11).
Then, in the New Testament we read these words:
“I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naïve” (Romans 16:17-18 ESV).
“For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths” (2 Timothy 4:3-4 ESV).
So, these two New Testament passages of Scripture parallel the two Old Testament passages. Same message, just a different time period and a different group of people. And now we are here in 2023 and this is where we are as a culture, at least here in America, and as the church culture of our day and time, too.
Wolves in sheep’s clothing abound who are telling the people what their itching ears want to hear. They are telling them “smooth things” to ease their consciences and to pacify their sins, i.e. they dress the serious sin wound of the people as though it is a light thing. For they are telling them they can profess faith in Jesus Christ once in their lives and now all their sins are forgiven, heaven is guaranteed them, it can’t be taken away from them, but regardless of how they live. But that is a lie from hell!
But we are living in that day and time that Paul warned us about. We are living in that time when so many who profess to be teachers of the Scriptures are teaching that we are at peace with God by a mere once-in-a-lifetime profession of him as Savior and Lord, but again, regardless of how we live. And so they are giving their adherents free license to continue in deliberate and habitual sin without conscience. And if they begin to feel guilty, they are being told to “Claim who you are in Christ.”
So, the times we are now living in are not much different from the times of the prophets of old. For they were facing the same types of things. They were facing a rebellious people who called themselves children of God but who were rejecting and ignoring and speaking against the commandments of God, and who believed they had the freedom to live however they wanted and that it wouldn’t impact where they ended up for eternity. At least, that is my understanding. For they didn’t take God seriously.
But not only are professing Christians in America being told that they can be saved from their sins and on their way to heaven based on what their lips have professed, but regardless of how they live, but so many of them today are also being promised that they have all the blessings of God in their lives and also that nothing bad is going to happen to them. And then they are being told that, regardless of how they are living, before things get really bad, God is going to rapture them out of this world because of their lip service to him. That just is not biblical!
So, what did Jesus say? He said that if anyone would come after him that he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin and to self) and follow (obey, emulate) him. For, if we hold on to our old lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. But if for Jesus’ sake we deny self, die daily to sin (in practice), and we follow him in obedience to his commands, then we have the hope of eternal life with God (Luke 9:23-26).
And he said that not everyone who says to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one DOING the will of God the Father who is in heaven. For many will stand before him on the day of judgment, professing him as “Lord,” and claiming all that they did in his name, and he is going to say to them, “I never knew you! Depart from me you workers of lawlessness,” because they refused to obey him (Matthew 7:21-23).
So, we need to take this to heart, for the Scriptures do not teach the gospel that many are passing off as “the gospel” today. They teach that we must be crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to righteousness. Sin is to no longer reign in our mortal bodies to where we obey its sinful desires. For if sin is what we obey, and not righteousness, and not obedience to our Lord, we will die in our sins, not have eternal life.
[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]
In Times Like These
By Ruth Caye Jones
In times like these you need a Savior
In times like these you need an anchor
Be very sure, be very sure
Your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock!
In times like these you need the Bible
In times like these, O be not idle
Be very sure, be very sure
Your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock!
In times like these I have a Savior
In times like these I have an anchor
I'm very sure, I'm very sure
My anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock!
This Rock is Jesus, Yes He's the One
This Rock is Jesus, the only One
Be very sure, be very sure
Your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBoTT9hlSaI
caution: this link may contain ads
No comments:
Post a Comment