The Times We Live In

The Times We Live In

1st Timothy 3:16

2nd Timothy 3:1-5

I found it very joyous yet difficult to prepare for this message. As I read these verses my eyes were filled with tears of happiness and tears of sorrow. My heart was filled with joy yet deeply in a state of sadness. The passages that we read today….one joyous the other ones horrible.

It is extremely joyful when we remember what Jesus did for all of us through His death and His resurrection. It is extremely joyful when someone accepts Jesus Christ as his or her personnel savior! It is a joyous occasion when one walks down a church isle and gives the Preacher his or her hand and unites with that particular church.

The church is the body of Christ is it not? Is not Christ the head of the church? Is it not He who has given us the Holy Spirit, that same Holy Spirit that guides and comforts us? Do we not confess that God came in human flesh called Jesus Christ (the anointed one), proved by the Spirit that he pleased God, was seen by angels, preached to the nations, faithfully trusted by all, and was taken up to glory. We put our faith in that correct?

The Holy Spirit expresses those truths in all that believe and accept the Lord Jesus as their savior. If God’s Word does not or has not convicted someone here today, then you may want to check yourself or examine your relationship with the Lord. The “two-edged” sword as it (God’s Word) is called should convict us.

As the scriptures were being read, I wonder did these questions arise in anyone’s mind: Are these scriptures describing me? Or have I ever been like that? What answer comes to mind?

Or, do we read this portion of scripture with the thought…”that’s not me”…. I’m not like that, or I’ve never been like that, etc.

During the time of this writing (which is around 67 A.D.), Paul himself was locked in chains, while Timothy was left to Pastor the Church at Ephesus. This letter, maybe one of Paul’s last, and these books (1st and 2nd Timothy) are most popularly known as the Pastoral Letters. Paul was writing Young Pastor Timothy to warn him of false teachers, false Christians and false doctrine during the time of this writing. Paul was warning Timothy that people were losing their faith in Jesus. He was warning him (Timothy) to avoid these types of people all together.

Look at what Paul writes, BUT UNDERSTAND THIS! That IN the last days WILL come, not might come, not maybe it’ll come, BUT WILL come perilous times of great stress and trouble (or hard to deal with and hard to bear).

My brothers and sister are not the times we live in today perilous and FULL OF STRESS?? I read in 1STTimothy 4th chapter 1st verse where Paul stated that the HOLY SPIRIT DISTINCTLY AND EXPRESSLY DECLARES THAT IN LATTER TIMES SOME WILL FALL AWAY FROM THE FAITH AND GIVE ATTENTION TO DEMONIC DOCTRINES!! However, here in 2nd Timothy, Paul goes more in to detail. He describes the type of people Timothy would not only encounter outside his church, but also within the church he was pastoring at that time, and at a time to come. Paul is getting Pastor Timothy’s attention here. How? Well, he says THE HOLY SPIRIT DISTINCTLY AND EXPRESSLY DECLARES what times lie ahead not only for Timothy during that time period, but also for us Living In These Times!!

What time are we living in? I will answer that question. The times we live in now can be summed in up in one word. It is a dangerous word to any believer! A word that I don’t even want to utter! The word is APOSTASY. The definition of apostasy is simply this: (and I looked this one up) It (apostasy) is taken from the Greek words APOSTASIA. The word apostasia derives from two Greek words: APO, which means from and histemi, which means to stand. In light of learning what the true meaning of this word means, one can come to this conclusion. The conclusion that many people, are standing away from the truth of the WORD of God! Many have abandoned or are on their way to abandoning their relationship with God.

Both passages of scripture 1st timothy 4th chapter and 2nd timothy 3rd chapter speak about the times we live in, however, I again must state that the passage we read today is more detailed than the other.

I would like each one of you to know that as our society becomes more technologically advanced, and while every thing seems to be moving in fast motion, and while mankind seems to be every increasing in knowledge, there is another thing within the Spiritual realm that is moving a lot faster, well there are several things going on, but we will view two specific ones. God’s Word is Spreading throughout the world, and people are being saved across the Globe. However, there are many people falling away or loosing faith in Good Sound Doctrine.