The Last Days

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The Last Days

 

2 Timothy 3:1

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

In the verse above, God warns us what the last days will be like.  When God talks about the last days, He is talking about the final days before He comes back to take His children home to Heaven.  He warns us that in the last days there will be "perilous times." The word "perilous" means "dangerous; hazardous; full of risk." In other words, the last days will be very hazardous for the Christian. Why will they be so hazardous?  The reason is because there will be so many sins that will be prevalent for Christians to fall into.  In the following verses, God shows us what the sins of the last days will be.

In 2 Timothy 3:2-5, God says that the last days will be filled with these sins: "For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away."  When you look at this list of sins, you can see that we surely are living in the last days.

Because we live in the last days, every Christian should be careful not to succumb to the sins mentioned above.  Christian, you are as capable of committing any of these sins as is a lost person.  One of the reasons God warned us about the last days is so that we can beware of the sins that we must fight.  Each of the sins mentioned above will become more and more prevalent as we get closer to the LORD's coming.  Because of this, we will have to be more conscience of their presence so that we can avoid, or as the Scriptures says, "turn away" from them.

Furthermore, because we live in the last days, you should get busy serving God.  We don't know when the LORD is going to come, and it would be terrible for Him to find us not serving Him.  In these last days, Christians need to be more involved in their church's outreach ministries.  In these last days, Christians need to lead more people to Christ.  More Christians need to be involved in their church bus ministries in these last days.  In these last days, more Christians need to be leading people to Christ through soul winning.  In these last days, we need more young people to burn their dreams and surrender their lives to serve God full-time in the ministry.  We don't need Christians to do less in these last days, we need Christians to do more.

What are you doing in these last days to prepare yourself and others to meet Christ? Do you have some sin that needs to be cleaned up before Christ comes? Do you find yourself doing less for Christ than what you used to do? Do you find your heart growing colder towards the things of Christ? Christian, we need you in these last days to do more for Christ.  Whatever sin you have in your life, clean it up! Though you may already being doing several things for Christ in your church, let me exhort you to step up your efforts in each area.  Don't be caught doing nothing for Christ!  Go to your preacher and find out where you can get involved in your church so that we can reach more people before these last days come to an end.

How to treat the Preacher

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How to Treat the Preacher

 

1 Timothy 5:17

"Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine."

The Book of 1 Timothy is about the position of the pastor.  You will find in 1 Timothy the requirements God has set forth for the person who desires to hold the position of pastor, what He expects from the pastor, and how the church member should treat their pastor. Though preachers are men at best, the position they hold is an honorable one.  God said in 1 Timothy 3:1, "This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work." You will notice that God places the honor upon the position more than He does the man, and that is why the position is very sacred.

In 1 Timothy 5, God speaks to the church member about how they are to treat their pastor. For over 20 years I have traveled as an evangelist and have seen the good and bad of how people treat their preacher. God will hold every church member accountable for how they treat their preacher. Let me show you what the Scriptures say about how you should treat your preacher.

First, you should respect your preacher. In 1 Timothy 5:1 it says, "Rebuke not an elder, but intreat him as a father; and the younger men as brethren;" You will notice the respect that God expects church members to give to their pastor.  You are not to be demanding of a pastor, for you would not be demanding of your parents.  You should give your pastor the due respect he deserves. In other words, address him properly.  I believe the pastor should never be addressed by his first name.  His office demands respect.  Whether or not you respect the man, you should respect his office and address him properly.  Respect him when you disagree with him by approaching him in a proper manner.  Don't be demanding, but respectfully let him know how you disagree.

Second, pay your pastor well. You will notice in the verse above that God says that the pastor is "...worthy of double honour..." In other words, you shouldn't pay your pastor the bare bones just so he can get by, but you should pay him a worthy salary. Too many pastors barely make it financially because their church won't pay them properly.  God will hold those church members accountable who don't pay their pastor a worthy salary.

Third, don't listen to unverified accusations about your pastor.  In verse 19, God says the only time you receive an accusation about a pastor is when you have two witnesses.  Notice it is not two people who have heard something about your pastor, but two people who have seen the pastor do wrong. Don't be caught up in destroying your pastor's name because you listened to unverified accusations.

Fourth, the pastor should be held accountable for his sin.  In verse 20, when a pastor sins, and this is talking about physical improprieties, he should be publicly rebuked.  Though I don't believe that church members should be publicly rebuked, I do believe that the preacher is publicly accountable.  Though some may not like this, every preacher is accountable for his purity. If he abuses his position by being unfaithful to his spouse, then scripturally he should be publicly rebuked.

Last, God commands to give guarded honor to the man of God.  In verse 21, God cautions about lifting one preacher higher than another.  In other words, all preachers should get the same honor.

Be careful how you treat your preacher.  God holds you accountable for how you treat your preacher, and likewise, holds him accountable for how he leads you.

Abound

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Increase and Abound

 

1 Thessalonians 3:12

"And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you:"

In a day when mediocrity is acceptable, God in His holy Word commands the Christian to "increase and abound." God is not a mediocre God.  When you study the Scriptures, you will find that God is a God of excellence.  In the verse above, He commands the Christian to "increase and abound." The word "abound" means "to possess in great quantity.  Several times in the Scriptures God commands us to abound, or to have a great quantity of something.

First, in the verse above, God commands us to "...abound in love one toward another..." In other words, God does not want Christians to be people who lack in the area of love. Loving people is not determined by others, but loving people is a choice.  You choose whom to love.  You don't love people because of their status or their appearance, but you love people because you choose to love them.  You shouldn't love people because of what they do for you and how they please you, but you should love people because they need to be loved.  Your love for people should never be lacking. You should always have an abundance of love stored up so that you can love others.

Second, in 2 Corinthians 8:7, God commands us to abound in faith.  Your faith in God should never be lacking.  Whenever God commands you to do something, your faith should be such that you immediately obey.  The only way you are going to abound in faith is through hearing and doing what God's Word tells you to do.  According to Romans 10:17, "faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Your faith will never abound unless you hear God's Word preached and read It daily.

Third, God commands in 2 Corinthians 8:7 to abound in knowledge.  Yes, we should be a knowledgeable people.  I believe we should not just be knowledgeable about the Word of God, though if that is all the knowledge you have you will succeed, but you should also be knowledgeable about life.  What I mean by this is you should know what is going on in the world's affairs so that you can be a better witness to others.  When you abound in knowledge, you will have a better chance of witnessing to all classes of people.

Fourth, in 2 Corinthians 8:7, God commands you to abound in grace.  I like to say that when God talks about people having grace that He is talking about having people skills.  Listen, you don't have to be a jerk to be a Christian.  You should abound in grace, or people skills, so that you can live peaceably with all men.  When you abound in grace, you will be able to get along with obstinate people as well.

Do you abound in these areas? Work hard in each of these areas to abound so that you can be the Christian that God wants you to be.  Ask God to help you to abound.  God is the master of all of these areas, and He can certainly teach you and help you to abound if you are willing to let Him help you.

Getting to Know

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Getting to Know Christ

 

Philippians 3:10

"That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;"

Getting to know Christ should be the desire of every Christian.  That was certainly the desire of the Apostle Paul in the verse above.  More than anything else, Paul desired to know Christ.  He didn't just desire to know Christ on a casual basis, but He wanted to know Christ in a personal way. As I think about the verse above and knowing Christ, several thoughts come to mind.

First, anybody can know Christ in a personal way.  I am so glad that God did not reserve closeness with Him for only a certain class of people.  God makes available for every Christian the opportunity to get close to Him.  God says in Hebrews 4:16, "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."  Notice again in Psalm 91:1, "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty."  In both verses God shows that anybody has the availability to come into His presence.  Thus, anybody has the availability to get close to Christ.

Second, you will not get close to Christ without suffering.  This is why most people never get close to Christ because they run from suffering.  I'm not saying that you should run to suffering, simply that you should not run from it when it does come.  It is when you are suffering that you have the opportunity to get close to Christ.  The reason God chooses suffering as the avenue to get close to Him is because through suffering you must die to yourself.  Notice in the verse above it says, "...and the power of his resurrection..." There can be no resurrection if there is no death.  Christ cannot get close to you when you are filled with yourself. He can only get close to you when you have died to self and need Him.

Third, through suffering you get to know Christ on a different level.  What I mean by this is that through suffering you will see Christ in a different light than you have before.  You get to know people in a different way when you suffer and go through hard times together. A marital relationship grows stronger as the couple struggles through hard times together.  Likewise, your relationship with Christ grows more personal as you both go through suffering together.

Last, it is through suffering that you are conformed into the image of Christ.  In the verse above, God talks about being "...conformable unto his death;" In other words, when you die to yourself in your sufferings, it is then that Christ can conform you more into His image.  Thus, when you are conformed into the image of Christ you get to know Him on a personal level.

How much do you really want to know Christ?  The only way you will succeed in knowing Him is through suffering.  You can run from suffering, or you can welcome it as an opportunity to know Christ in a more personal way.

God's Will

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Understanding God's Will

 

Ephesians 5:17

"Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is."

The will of God is probably one of the most misunderstood subjects in the Scriptures. Too many Christians think that the will of God is a "where" when God's Words shows us that it's a "what." I will understand where God's will is for my life when I do God's will.  I think it is important to know where God wants you to serve, but it is more important to do His will.

In the verse above, God tells us that He is about ready to show us what His will is for our lives in the following verses.  God's will is not a spooky thing that you might stumble across, for God does not work that way.  God's will is very evident, especially when you study the Scriptures.

First, God's will is for you not to be influenced by the world.  You will notice the Scriptures say in verse 18, "And be not drunk with wine..." Yes, God's will is that you don't drink alcohol, but this statement is even more than that. God is teaching that His will is for you not to let the world influence you in any way.  Christian, you must watch your influences. The world's influences will convince you not to serve God. If you want to do God's will, then don't allow the world to influence you.

Second, God's will is for you to be filled with the Spirit.  Again, the Scriptures say in verse 18, "...be filled with the Spirit." Instead of being influenced by the world, God wants you to be influenced by His Spirit.  Everyday of your life you should yield yourself to God's Holy Spirit and ask Him to influence everything that you do that day.

Third, God's will is for you to sing spiritual songs.  In verse 19, God talks about singing songs.  Now if God wants you to sing "psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,..." then that would mean He would not want you to sing the world's music.  You are not going to listen to worldly music and not sing their songs. That means God's will is for you to be sure to listen to the right type of music, and also sing the right type of music.

Fourth, God's will is for you to be thankful.  In verse 20, God commands us to always be thankful.  I know, this is not what most people want to hear about God's will, but if you are not being thankful for everything, then you are not obeying God's will.  It's not hard to thank people for the good that they do for you.  This is God's will! Furthermore, it is God's will for you to be thankful for everything that happens to you in your life.  Though that may be hard, it is God's will.

Fifth, God's will is for you to get along with people.  God says in verse 21, "Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God." This is not talking about compromising so you can get along, but this is talking about doing your best to get along with people.  God says the way to do that is simply to submit yourself to what they want.  In other words, God's will is for you to lay your desires aside so that you can fulfill the desires of others.

Last, God's will is for husbands and wives to get along.  God spent the rest of the chapter dealing with the marital relationship.  Getting along with your spouse is as much a part of God's will as being filled with the Spirit of God.  If you don't get along with your spouse, then you are disobeying the will of God.

Are you doing God's will for your life? God's will is not very difficult.  God's will is more what you do than where you do it.  If you will do what He wants you to do every where you go, then you will find where He wants you to do it for the rest of your life.