Standing Strong in Perilous Times
By
Bishop Melvin L, Maughmer Jr.
OPENING: - The phrase “Weak in the knees” means to become so nervous or powerfully affected that it is difficult to stand. To be overcome with or caught off guard by something that causes you to almost fall. When we watch the news and hear the atrocities like the killings of the children at the elementary school in Texas or the killings of the 10 people at the grocery store in Buffalo, that news will cause even the most stoic person to become weak a little, if not then there truly is no compassion in them at all.
The thing is anyone can stand strong when things are going your way, when the bills are paid, money in the bank, health is good, food in the refrigerator, blue bird on your shoulder and everything is a zip-a-dee do da day. You can stand strong and shout loud Praise the Lord but when things are bad, when perilous times invade our normal lives, when sorrow grips your heart, and sadness weighs you down are you able to do as the Bible says having done all to stand – stand.
I have been hearing a lot of foolishness coming from so-called preachers, spreading doctrines of men and old fashioned opinionated rhetoric as being the Word of God and the sad part about it is the people in the congregation being bamboozled by such nonsense believing that what they are hearing is the unadulterated word of God. That’s what is going on in the church then the things going on in the world we understand that we are truly living in perilous times. As 2 Timothy 3:7 says, “Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth”.
Today I want to encourage you to Stand Strong in Perilous Times.
PRAYER: -
SCRIPTURE: 2 Timothy 3:1 says, “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come”.
1 Corinthians 15:58 says, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”
The Bible makes it unmistakably plain that in the last days, the world will be filled with difficult times, the like of which has never before been known in the history of mankind. One of my father’s famous sayings has been “In all my days I never…” In all our days we have never seen it like it is right now. Senseless mass shooting, pure evil running roughshod all over the world, blatant sin, immoral lifestyles, and perverted mindsets being accepted as the norm. Pandemics running rampant, wrong is upheld as right, right is treated as criminal, cancel culture has made it so that just because a person doesn’t agree with a certain ideal or standard that they are treated as a hatemonger and criticized and pushed aside.
The Holy Ghost intended for us to be fully aware and understand what will happen in the last days that in 2 Timothy 3:1 reads is as if God is pointing His prophetic finger into the future and is letting us know what will happen in the last days so we will be able to be ready and to able to stand strong when we see these things come to pass.
Let me deal with the phrase “Perilous Times”. 1st notice the verse begins by saying, “This know also” The word “know” in Greek word “Ginosko”, the Greek word for knowledge; however, here it is used in the present tense, which emphasizes a strong command to recognize that there is something that must be known, to pay close attention, what is about to be said must be recognized, and must be acknowledged. This is not a passive well if you want to or it might help you but knowing this is mandatory and beneficial.
2nd notice “… that in the last days” The word “last” in this verse is from the word “Eschatos” eschatology is the study of end times, “Eschatos” points to the ultimate end of a thing. It depicts a place furthest away or something that is final. It informs us and causes us to see what the world environment and what we are now living in.
3rd notice this phrase “Perilous times” - times denotes the final age, these last days. The word “Perilous” is the Greek word “Chalepos”, now this is a very interesting word because it is used to describe ugly words that, when spoken, are hurtful and emotionally hard to bear. It is also used to depict wild, vicious, uncontrollable animals that are unpredictable and dangerous. It always carries the idea of an action, place, person, or thing that is harsh, harmful, degraded, disgusting, vile, abhorrent, dangerous, deadly, and any other word you can think of.
This is the very word used in Matthew 8:28 to portray the two demon-possessed men who were so legendary in the country of the Gadarenes. It says, “And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way.” The words “exceeding fierce” is this word “Chalepos”. This means the two demon-possessed men were like wild, vicious, uncontrollable animals, completely unpredictable and dangerous. Simply being in the vicinity of these men placed a persons life in jeopardy because these demonized men were chalepos harsh, harmful, dangerous, deadly, and unpredictable.
Now understanding these definitions we can read 2 Timothy 3:1 like this “Without a doubt you need to know and understand this in the last days, the generation that is living during this period of time, hurtful, harmful, dangerous, unpredictable, uncontrollable, high-risk periods of time will come.”
When we think about the events that have shaken the world in recently, we shouldn’t be shocked to hear that this is exactly what 2 Timothy 3:1 is all about. Dangerous, harmful, deadly periods of time have arrived! We are living in a generation that is perilous and literally more wicked than any other since the Days of Noah. However, we must understand that this prophetic warning is not intended to scare us and fill us with a sense of fear that we are afraid to leave the house - No! This is to prepare us to those who are the called according to His purpose, the Children of the Living Most High God so we can be spiritually alert and ready to minister to people who suffer harm as a result of the events that will and is gripping the world and to be able to stand strong in perilous times.
One of my favorite movies and I watch it almost every time it is on T.V. is 300. 300 is a movie about the Spartans. The Spartan were a Greek Military force that is considered to be the toughest warriors of all time. The are famous for standing against the invasion of the Persians. In the movie the Spartans are extremely outnumbered by the Persian army. There are 300 Spartans and a few other Greek men that stand strong against what has been said to be 1 million Persian fighters. They were united and came together and when the Persian army came in and tried to over run them they stood strong, they dug their feet in and pushed back the Persian forces. Someone may say but they all died – yes they did – but they Stood Strong in the face of Danger, in the face of adversity, in the face of defeat.
1 Corinthians 15:58 says, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”
In these times, these perilous times we must make sure that we are wise, protecting our minds, our hearts, our family, by renewing our minds with the Word of God. We cannot hide in fear, we cannot be deterred by what society calls popular, or worried about cancel culture, we must stand strong against false doctrine and the rudiments of men. We need to be unmovable, not wavering in our faith, not letting down our Holy standards to appease the masses. We need to abound in the Word of God, stand for holiness and move out into all the world with the power of God and be ready to minister, which is our calling the ministry of reconciliation and lead those who have suffered harm and those that are lost during these perilous times in which we live into a right
relationship with God. We must stand strong and preach repentance and baptism in Jesus name, show and live that holiness is right and holiness without no man shall see the Lord!
In these Perilous Times we need to Stand Strong, and we do that by uniting in Jesus name, praying against the evil that is running rampant, rebuke the demons that are trying to run roughshod all over the world.
We stand strong in perilous times knowing through Jesus Christ all things are possible.
We stand strong in perilous times knowing we are more than conquerors.
We stand strong in perilous times because Jesus said He will never leave us nor forsake us.
We stand strong in perilous times knowing He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all we can ask or think.
CLOSING: - I was in a discussion with someone this week about gun control. I am all for gun control, no one needs a weapon that can fire 30 rounds in seconds for any reason other than for killing. When I was in the Army, I was issued a M-16 which held 15rounds in its magazine, we tapped 2 magazines together so you could flip it and have 30 rounds. This weapon was to kill or be killed, that was its purpose. When I left the military, I had to return that weapon because my mission was no longer the same. Now making laws will not stop evil because evil doesn’t obey law, but at the name of Jesus Demons have to flee, tell me who can stand before us when we call on His great name. In the name of Jesus, we have they victory. In the name of Jesus, we can Stand Strong in Perilous Times.
Bishop Melvin L. Maughmer, Jr.
