2 Timothy 3:1 “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.” We are living in the last of the last days and that time is upon us. The perilous or grievous has taken shape and is progressing. What causes this is a problem of human nature, “because men. . . “ (v. 2). The word ‘men’ is not used for an individual man, but is used for the race, as if saying for mankind. In the last days, a spirit of degeneracy lays hold upon the whole human race as the curse imposed by God goes one step further. Note that the first thing said about this mankind is that men shall be “lovers of self” and the last thing said is “rather than lovers of God.” (v,4), so that the love of self comes first and the love of God is discounted. In between those two statements, there is a list of words which, almost without exception, are words of despising, ignoring or degrading other people. The natural order, intended by God for His creatures, made in His image, was, that first of all, God should be honored; secondly others should be respected; and lastly, self should be given its place. In this situation that order is reversed. The love of self is the primary focus, the love of God is rejected, and other people become prey and are ridiculed for their moral values. The degeneracy of the human heart is such that the original sin in Eden, which was the beginning of the Fall, is working out to its natural consummation. This is the outworking of God’s curse upon a sinful race. The end of putting self first and God last produces an ever-increasing manifestation of that which had its beginnings in man’s first sin. This is the problem of human nature, but it can be a problem for Christians: “. . . having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof” (v.5). In other words, this spirit of the age is not something from which the Church is exempt. It can eat into the Church and produce the greatest non-Christian religion—unspiritual Christianity. The Christian is not just on the outside looking in, he is surrounded by a peril which can become his peril as well. That is why these times are so threatening. To have a form of godliness while denying its power is a peril that faces every believer. There is that in all of us which wants to be alone. We don’t want to be stirred up by the power of God manifesting itself among us, but would rather go on in our own comfortable way. To some extent, we may be bitten by the spirit that was manifested by the Gadarenes, who, when they saw the man clothed and in his right mind, begged Jesus to leave them alone and go away. We may not approve of a Christ who is going to make transformations like that! We need to be careful lest antipathy to what is going on among God’s people may simply come from a desire to be left alone and not have our comfortable inherited pattern disturbed by the movings of the Holy Spirit. There is one inescapable fact, Spiritual Awakening cannot come, except there be this mighty moving of the Holy Spirit, who may make us uncomfortable because it is not that which we have held. Unthankfulness is also one of the marks right at the heart of this list of manifestations of the outworking of the curse (v.2). Most of us are better off financially than we ever thought we would be. Are we correspondingly thankful to God and proportionately generous to other people? It is easy to stand apart from the world we live in and be alarmed at what is going on in the world, and yet to become conformed to it. We look around and so easily recognize the decline in the world; we say that standards have been lowered and morals and society disintegrating, but are we notably more holy than we used to be? To some extent, we too have declined and allowed television, smart phones, games and other things to involve us in this corrupt world. Compared to what we were some fifty or sixty years ago (for those of us who are now the elderly), our hearts are callous about the fate of the World. I remember going to church during the time of war and there were prayers every time for the men who were putting their life on the line for our freedom. Now, we know there is a war going on, but do we travail in prayer for those fighting it? To some extent, it may be true of us that these perilous days have come upon us and, all unawares, have subtly transformed us into the world’s mold. From 3:14 onward, we are told there are three things, which Christians need in the light of this recurring peril. They are discernment, strength of character and equipment for the counter offensive. Discernment—“The Scriptures are profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction”. Personal strength of character—“that the man of God may be complete. The equipment for counter offensive—“furnished completely unto every good work”. We see here that the very things we need are the things promised and which come to us by grace through the Word of God. If we fail, we are without excuse. God has provided everything we need to live godly, vigilantly and triumphantly.
Posted on: Tue, 04 Nov 2014 10:01:28 +0000
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