Living in the last days: Haters
Scripture: 2 Timothy 3:3 & Genesis 6:11
Introduction: From an article from Fox News: Rev. Faye Musa knew immediately why suspected Boko Haram militants burst into his home last year as his wife prepared dinner in the family's northeastern Nigeria home. His stance against Christian persecution in the divided African nation had long made him target.
Musa, who served as the general overseer of Rhema Assembly International church and secretary of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Borno, saw the intruders near the front door of his home in Maiduguri as his wife, Mercy, prepped food. One of the couples daughters, Zion, had spotted the armed men just seconds earlier jumping a fence.
“Today you are a dead man,” one of the gunman said as he dragged him to the porch. “Call your Jesus to help you, Mr. CAN man!”
Zion Musa begged the attackers to spare her father, a request met with a misfired bullet that caused her to faint. She survived but her 52 yr. old father – a man who worked closely with open doors, a nondenominational group tracking persecuted Christians worldwide – did not (Fox news Jan. 12, 2014)
Sadly, we are hearing more and more of these stories lately.
Transition: Haters may seem to be a strange title for any sermon. But it encapsulates both of our two main characteristics in people in the last days: despisers of the good and violent. Let's begin with the first.
I. In the last days people will despise the Good
If there is one phrase that describes the decadence of the last days it is “despisers of the good”
We read in the NIV version of 2 Tim. 3:3 that men will be “not lovers of the good” and the King James says “despisers of those who are good” but most lexicons, translations, and commentaries agree that the words in this clause should be translated as “not lovers of good” better translated “haters of good”. In the original Greek, there was no personal pronoun. The point is it's not just good people they hate but the good itself they hate.
Men will be both- haters of good people and haters of the good in general; (church, truth, justice, love, civility, etc.) And since we know from James that “Every good and perfect gift is from above, ...” It really makes clear to where exactly their hatred lies doesn't it? Paul describes man in Romans, as “God- haters”. Haters of God are also haters of good, for God is good. Isaiah said “woe to those who call evil good and good evil...” (5:20) Notice the devil turns good things into bad things and vice verse: He calls darkness light and light darkness, he calls freedom bondage, and bondage freedom. So in a world where evil men are defining what “good” is, instead of a holy God, judgment can't be far off. God will not be mocked.
This all may seem to be gloom and doom, and I promise that is not my intention. We must realize that as Christians we are called to stand out from the world in which we live, and as a result God will take care of us. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him who have been called according to his purpose.” -Romans 8:28
We know that even in the midst of our trials God is working for our good. But in the last days there will be 'haters of the good.' (2 Tm 3:3) Like a magnet repels another, when the worlds sinful nature is contradicted, it creates a repulsion. I believe the world senses that good that God is working in those that love him, and they despise the possibility of God being behind it. Even though they can't understand why they feel repulsed, after all, why shouldn't they love the good? Everyone has a measure of faith, In themselves they know 'good' should be embraced, championed, and advocated for, therefore they must have a logical reason to despise that which is good, because they can't make sense of it otherwise. So the secular media, academia, and political unbelievers try to redefine what good is, through what we call “political correctness” or they embrace a multitude of other faiths as “good” as a way of saying “see you're not the only one that is 'good'!” & Others don't bother with that they just lash out at Christians “there all hypocrites, greedy, scoundrels, etc.” Why? They covet God's blessing, and are jealous of those who have it. You have a peace, hope, and joy they desperately desire, but refuse to receive Christ to have it. Some even go as far as to impose their sin on the church since they can't impose it upon God himself, determined to flaunt their wickedness inside the church (and sometimes behind the pulpit) as a way of shaking their fist at God.
Transition: How far can this despising of good go? All the way to hell I'm afraid. But in the short term it leads to another similar indicator of the last days which is violence
II. In the last days people will be Violent
In both Luke 17 and in Matthew 24 we read what society will be like before the return of Jesus and both chapters mention that society will be the same as it was in the days of Noah and Lot. They were eating and drinking, marrying, giving in marriage, planting and building, and when we go back to Genesis and read what those days were like, we read in Genesis 6:11 “Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight and was full of violence.” & v.13 “So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth.”
Notice that there was corruption first – they were daring and defying God to his face. The earth was also filled with violence and injustice towards each other. Nothing but murder, rape, and pillaging. When there is no understanding or fear of God, men become violent to one another. Like fish in the ocean – the big ones eat the smaller ones. Anything goes - every man for himself.
Yet we know that God is good, so when you remove him, the good goes with him. When you take God out of schools, the good goes with him, when you take him out of business, out of government, out of society; the good goes with him. So is it any mystery that the devil fills the vacuum, and men act the way they do? They devour one another, instead of love one another.
The only one who was good during this time, was Noah. When corruption is the norm, God's judgment is just around the corner. Matthew Henry says “when all hands are at work to pull down the fences by sin, and none stand in the gap to make up the breach, what can be expected but an inundation of wrath.”
2 Timothy 3:3 begins - “Without natural affection”. That is after it is mentioned in the previous verse that children will be disobedient to their parents, unthankful, unholy. All of these characteristics run together. It seems we don't know how to relate to the the youth of today, and would be afraid to if we did. Children presume authority over their parents. Disregard, defiance, and disrespect all go with disobedience.
Ill. Gary Bauer tells the shocking yet true story of a teacher who, 25 years ago, used to walk into her fourth grade class and greet them. “Good morning, children,” to which they would respond “Good Morning Miss Jones” She left teaching for many years to have her own family and rear them. She returned to the classroom and began the usual way, “Good Morning, children.” to which a young thug on the front row responded, “Shut up b-!” That is the erosion of generations. If you're not training your children in the way they should go, don't be surprised when they go the opposite direction. (Charels Swindoll, The Finishing Touch)
There should be a natural decency and respect toward each other and a general human affection for all humanity. We should have an affection for those who are made in the image of God as we are. But We should especially have that natural affection for our own families. You know the times are bad when the combination of disobedient children and parents no longer having natural affection are in the same family. The perfect storm, a recipe of violent family. Do you see how sin corrupts nature!
Even animals in the wild have a natural affection for their young – if they didn't their species would be extinct. And how far have we fallen when animals have more affection than we do? When mothers abandon toddlers to fend for themselves, or they murder them in the womb for convenience sake, before they have a chance to breathe God's gift of fresh air on their own.
This past New years eve, 23 year old Florida resident, Christian Gomez took an ax and decapitated his own mother. Deputies found her body near some garbage cans, and her head was thrown in the trash. We are appalled to hear the reports of Islamic terrorists doing this overseas, so it's hard to imagine such a crime being done to anyone, but to hear that someone so callous could do this to their own mother, here in the states, is truly disturbing. And what possible reason could justify such an act of violence? What heinous act deserved such a barbarous execution? The sheriff said that the young man was angry because his mother asked him to move boxes into the garage. (UK Daily Jan.1 2015)
In the last days there will be an absence of natural affection. What is more natural than the affection a mother has for her child and her child for their mother? And yet in modern times, this affection is lost. What better evidence than for someone to toss their own mothers head into a trash can like an empty coke can or crumpled up piece of paper. In the last days, Men will be ..without natural affection... like beasts and devils. We hear some suggest it is the overwhelming visual images we constantly see in movies, cable news, newspapers, internet, and magazines that we have become desensitized to all the violence that happens around us. This is not the cause, but a symptom of removing God from our public conscience!
Ill. Former secretary of education, William Bennett published the Index of leading cultural indicators revealing how shockingly we have drifted as a nation. His book states, “In the past 30 years violent crime has increased 560%; illegitimate births 400% children living in single parent homes has tripled, teen suicide has increased by more than 200% - Interesting also is a noticeable drop in SAT scores by nearly 80%. (Steve Farar, Standing Tall)
Transition: Sin corrupts nature, it corrupts what is good. So what can we do as Christians?
III. Christians in the midst of hatred and violence
Understand that We shouldn't be surprised by all of this. John wrote “Marvel not, my brethren if the world hate you.” (I Jn 3:13) It is the world that is responding to your God. Conviction can do some incredible things.
I Peter 4:4 says “They think it strange that you do not plunge with them into the same flood of dissipation, and they heap abuse on you.” and later “Dear friends do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering as though something strange were happening to you.” -I Peter 4:12
We see new Christians who after being born again, no longer do the things they did before or run with the same crowd as they used to. Those old friends and relatives are surprised to see the one who was as wild and reckless as they were, suddenly ashamed of that sinful life and so happy with a new life, they are as frustrated, as they are puzzled by it.
The reality of God has hit them in the face and they don't know how to cope with it. They can't find God, to curse him themselves, so you will have to serve as the only reminder of God they have nearby to hate. Like a terrorist can't find an American to attack, insult and curse to their face, they resort to burning our flag, or if they can't reach one of our cities to bomb they resort to attacking our embassy, a closer representative of our nation. And since we are Christ's ambassadors, and they cant attack christ personally, we have to serve as the punching bag for their violence.
You turn their world upside down by living right side up. True conversion causes separation. Separation from sin. And when sinners, whether they be a brother, sister, mother, father, father-in-law, mother-in-law, etc. feel rejected by your new life, and since they aren't willing to change, their only recourse is to heap abuse on you. In a corrupt dilapadated world, just like in a corrupt dilapadated house when the kitchen light is turned on in the middle of night all of the cockroaches scatter around scurrying to find the security and comfort of all the dark corners and crevices. The light of a Christian is a powerful & revealing thing! An unbeliever does not want to retain God in their knowledge because it contradicts their lusts, so they run to like minded people and dark places that conform & comply with their sin.
It's not uncommon to see these be the most virulent opponents of a new faith. This is what Jesus meant when he said in Matthew 10:34, 35 “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law” This is a reflection of man's heart not the Lord's. God would that none should perish, but since man keeps refusing to believe, the result is a division. The Lord made The way, and even though it is a narrow way, that too is not his fault for if more people would travel it, it would be a broad way. But it's up to us to walk it,
Conclusion: The one question that runs through my mind when looking at these signs of the end of days is “Are we living in those days that we are studying?” I don't think there's any doubt that we are living in the last days. We can even take comfort in the possibility that we're wrong, because if we die and pass away, we can honestly say that we left this world ready, we were waiting and watching for the return of our Lord. We can stand before him today and say "I may have left early, but I left ready!"
Could you say that too? Are you ready? If you left today would you say I left being ready?
C.S. Lewis wrote in Mere Christianity "Fallen man is not simply an imperfect creature needing improvement, he is a rebel who Must lay down his arms."
Will you stop fighting God lay down your arms against him and pick up his arms against a lost & dying world needing salvation? Can you stop the fight against God and begin the fight of faith?
