There will be terrible times in the last days. People will
be lovers of themselves…. having a form of godliness but denying its
power. (2 Timothy
3:1-5)
If society is equipped
and touched with the Scriptures, a widespread elevation in living and behaviour
can be expected. But what if the
truth is denied and neglected? “Take away the alarmed conscience,” wrote Soren
Kierkegaard, “and you may close the churches and turn them into dancing
halls.” A certain pattern seems to
surface in this catalogue of evils, here in 2 Timothy chapter 3, verses 1-5:
1. The ‘Me First’
Society. ‘Lovers of themselves…’
2. Unbridled materialism. ‘Lovers of money…’
3. Grossness of outlook
and of appetite. ‘Unforgiving… slanderous… without self-control…. brutal, not
lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited…’
4. Disintegration of families. ‘Boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,
without love…’
5. Pleasure-mad living. ‘Lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.’
6. Counterfeit religion. ‘Having a form of godliness but denying its power….’
At certain times in
history, the slide is arrested by the renewed preaching of the good news of
Christ, and great spiritual revivals can result. But no company of Christian believers can afford to live on
the spiritual capital of past great days. The same battles are going to have to
be won all over again in each successive generation; we can take nothing for
granted!
Ask yourself today, What
can I personally do – more than I am doing at present – to win my friends and
colleagues back from the denials of Truth so prevalent today?
--ooOoo--
