The warning that Jesus gave concerning the perilous times that would come at the end of the church age came out of His love for us and in telling us how to prepare in our response to His gospel. Hear this important warning as recorded in II Timothy 3:1-5: “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!”
The apostle Paul was no longer a free man when he gave these words of warning. He who had written most of the epistles in our New Testament is now writing his last words before he will be dragged out of prison to face a brutal death sentence of decapitation by the wicked emperor of Rome, Nero. I have been down in that old Mammertine Prison. I was warned that it was still just as dark, dreary, and dreadful as it was on the day they came for Paul.
But I think we should hear the very last words that the apostle Paul would ever write just before he left that prison. Written to his dear spiritual son Timothy, here is his final testimony: “I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.” (II Timothy 4:1-8)
The apostle Paul did not need to live in the 20th century to use the word “perilous” to describe what the human race would be like morally and spiritually in the last days. As a Spirit-filled prophet of our Lord Jesus Christ, he was inspired to warn us to prepare for the event that would end the church age. The classical Greek word he used for “perilous” was one a person would use to describe wild animals or a raging sea—a situation hard to bear and dangerous, violent, and uncontrollable.
Here in America we Christians may have felt that we live in a Christian culture. That is exactly what Jesus commissioned His followers to allow His Spirit to create through us in our living out the Christian life as believers who were to become light and salt. In Matthew 5:13, Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?” Could it be that the reason so many Christians are uncomfortable in our American atmosphere of violence, division, and evil, that we are being convicted of our loss of salt flavor—our spiritual devotion to Christ and our love for a lost world! I do appreciate reading a warning to the church by Dr. David Jeremiah: “I never thought I’d see the day when in America marriage would become so obsolete, morality would be in free fall, and the church would become irrelevant to society. Morality in the U.S. is no longer in free-fall; it has hit the bottom. In today’s America anything goes. Christianity is no longer merely pushed aside; American Christians are now experiencing overt repression and even persecution. Civility in politics and tolerance of opposition ideas has disappeared. Corruption and dishonesty in government is rampant and open. Race relations are deteriorating, civil war is accelerating, and the national debt is beyond control.”
I appeal to all my Christian readers—my brothers and sisters in Christ! We had better do some spiritual preparation soon, or it will be too late! Join me, please, as I search my heart daily in prayer, asking God: “What changes do I need to make? How shall I pray for myself, my family, and my fellow church members and believers with whom I am in fellowship? Who should I seek to win for Christ? Please, Lord! Help me know how to pray for our national leaders in Gospel ministry, in education, and in politics!
For us to live in readiness for meeting our Lord either in death or at His Second Coming, we must hear these words of our Savior in the Luke 21:36: “Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
A closing prayer: “Our Heavenly Father, I join my readers and the many other Christians who are pleading in prayer and fasting for a mighty opening of the heavens on our nation. Yes, we must see an awakening that will charge the atmosphere with conviction of sin, of righteousness, and of the judgment and create an epidemic of repentance on both saints and sinners. Only You know how desperately your church must awaken out of its division, coldness, worldliness, and carnality. And you know the millions of unsaved who have gone on for years with little or no interest in preparing to meet the Lord either at death or the Second Coming. Thank you, Lord, for preparing us to meet our Savior who suffered and died, shedding His blood that we might be justly forgiven. Our gracious Heavenly Father, You are looking forward to welcoming us to our eternal Home either in death or in the Second Coming of our Savior! In the precious name of Jesus, I pray. AMEN!
Note: All Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version of the Holy Bible.
The apostle Paul did not need to live in the 20th century to use the word “perilous” to describe what the human race would be like morally and spiritually in the last days. As a Spirit-filled prophet of our Lord Jesus Christ, he was inspired to warn us to prepare for the event that would end the church age. The classical Greek word he used for “perilous” was one a person would use to describe wild animals or a raging sea—a situation hard to bear and dangerous, violent, and uncontrollable.
Here in America we Christians may have felt that we live in a Christian culture. That is exactly what Jesus commissioned His followers to allow His Spirit to create through us in our living out the Christian life as believers who were to become light and salt. In Matthew 5:13, Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?” Could it be that the reason so many Christians are uncomfortable in our American atmosphere of violence, division, and evil, that we are being convicted of our loss of salt flavor—our spiritual devotion to Christ and our love for a lost world! I do appreciate reading a warning to the church by Dr. David Jeremiah: “I never thought I’d see the day when in America marriage would become so obsolete, morality would be in free fall, and the church would become irrelevant to society. Morality in the U.S. is no longer in free-fall; it has hit the bottom. In today’s America anything goes. Christianity is no longer merely pushed aside; American Christians are now experiencing overt repression and even persecution. Civility in politics and tolerance of opposition ideas has disappeared. Corruption and dishonesty in government is rampant and open. Race relations are deteriorating, civil war is accelerating, and the national debt is beyond control.”
I appeal to all my Christian readers—my brothers and sisters in Christ! We had better do some spiritual preparation soon, or it will be too late! Join me, please, as I search my heart daily in prayer, asking God: “What changes do I need to make? How shall I pray for myself, my family, and my fellow church members and believers with whom I am in fellowship? Who should I seek to win for Christ? Please, Lord! Help me know how to pray for our national leaders in Gospel ministry, in education, and in politics!
For us to live in readiness for meeting our Lord either in death or at His Second Coming, we must hear these words of our Savior in the Luke 21:36: “Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
A closing prayer: “Our Heavenly Father, I join my readers and the many other Christians who are pleading in prayer and fasting for a mighty opening of the heavens on our nation. Yes, we must see an awakening that will charge the atmosphere with conviction of sin, of righteousness, and of the judgment and create an epidemic of repentance on both saints and sinners. Only You know how desperately your church must awaken out of its division, coldness, worldliness, and carnality. And you know the millions of unsaved who have gone on for years with little or no interest in preparing to meet the Lord either at death or the Second Coming. Thank you, Lord, for preparing us to meet our Savior who suffered and died, shedding His blood that we might be justly forgiven. Our gracious Heavenly Father, You are looking forward to welcoming us to our eternal Home either in death or in the Second Coming of our Savior! In the precious name of Jesus, I pray. AMEN!
Note: All Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version of the Holy Bible.
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