CLOSER AND CLOSER!

Thursday, October 4, 2018

CLOSER AND CLOSER!

2 Tim 3:1-5

1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.

2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,

3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,

4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;

5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

           The word “perilous” in verse one is the Greek word chalepos which means “reducing the strength of; furious; fierce.” The picture of the world draining the strength of believers is all around us. Daniel 7:25 talks about “wearing out the saints of the most high.” Do you feel it? I certainly do.

           If we can see the signs of Christ’s soon return then certainly Satan can too and he has doubled his efforts to deceive and to destroy. Revelation 12:12 says that Satan has great wrath because he knows he has but a short time. We are living in perilous times. There is a spiritual conspiracy to “reduce the strength of” Christians and churches.

           Because Satan can disguise himself as an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14), I think he has moved from the crime centers of the world to the churches! Seduced by the prospect of larger crowds and bigger offerings, churches have adopted the programs and methodology of the world. The glitz of marketing is now the primary method of building a congregation. The modern gospel promises a peaceful and prosperous life, a comfortable death and a heavenly hereafter. The true gospel promises “tribulation” (John 16:33) and a narrow way!

Billy Graham, nearing the end of his life, saw an increase in easy believe-ism and churches that expect little from their followers. In an interview he said this: “Christ makes a difference in the lives of those who not only claim his name but obey his Word. If there is no change in a person's life, he or she must question whether or not they possess the salvation that the gospel proclaims. Many who go to church have not had a life-changing transformation in Christ. Those outside the church expect followers of Christ to live differently, yet today many in church are chasing after the world—not to win them, but to be like them. This is very dangerous and the Bible gives account to the tragic result.”

1 Cor 15:58

58 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.

Heb 10:25

25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

Dear Lord, open the eyes of believers blinded by the glitz of satanic conspiracy. Help us to be sober and steadfast as we see the approach of your coming. AMEN