41 Question 1

In his last epistle, the Apostle Paul had this to say in 2 Timothy 3:13, “But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.”  This is certainly a warning to us that as the day of the return of the Lord draws closer, the world will grow worse, with evil men deceiving others and being deceived by others.  We should not expect to see an improvement in the world regarding spirituality or morality.  While we have made great advances in the sciences, mankind has gotten further and further away from scriptural principles.

More and more, those who stand for Biblical principles and standards are being called hateful, bigoted, and evil.  Listen to the words of the Lord in Isaiah 5:20-21, “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!  Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!”  Does not this describe the days we are living in?  Many things that are condemned in the Bible are now legal and celebrated by our society.  The Bible is considered old and irrelevant by some.  It is considered to be just a man-made book by many others.  The Apostle Paul commended the saints in Thessalonica by writing in 1 Thessalonians 2:13, “For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.”  These dear believers realized that the scriptures are indeed God’s words to us; and to those that believe, it has a great impact on our lives.

When our society completely ignores and rejects the Word of God, we fall into peril.

We read in Judges 21:25, “In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.”  While we do acknowledge our king, or president, the very King of Kings is being denied in our society and in our nation.  When that happens, men have no spiritual or moral compass and everyone does what they consider to be right.  They call evil good, and they call good evil.  Proverbs 12:15 tells us that, “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise.”  It seems the only thing that our society will not tolerate is intolerance.  When we, as believers on the Lord Jesus Christ, show intolerance for sin, we are considered evil, hateful, and bigoted.

How then, does the Lord expect us to react to these things?  Let’s read 2 Timothy 3:13 again, and this time let’s also read verse 14, “But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them.”  As the world grows progressively worse, the Lord would have us to continue in the truths we have learned from His Word.  Do not be shaken from the principles of God’s Word because of the world’s rejection of God’s Word.  2 Thessalonians 2:15 tells us, “Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.”  1 Corinthians 16:13 tells us to, “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.”  Proverbs 4:13 tells us to, “Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life.”  Do not let the precious truths of God’s Word slip from you.  While we are never told to hold on to our salvation (that’s the Lord work), we are told to hold on to the instruction of God’s Word.

Do I believe that all these things are a fulfillment of prophesy leading up to the return of the Lord to rapture His church?  I certainly do.  We live in a day of great anticipation of the return of the Lord for His people.  May we all be like those in Thessalonica who “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come” as we read in 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10.