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.
6)
For of this sort are they
which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away
with divers lusts,
7)
Ever learning, and never
able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
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fter coming to salvation, many still find that it is hard to live the life set before them. Why is it so hard for some? Because they bring to salvation more of a concern for themselves than a concern for carrying out the ministry of the Lord. This outlook shows shorts sightedness as to why one is brought to salvation.
Many
cannot and do not stand the test because they are not resting in the power of
Jesus. Generally the problem is one of the individual thinking that he has the
solution to his problems. Why, then would one need too rest in the power of the
Lord?
What
one knows can be determined only by what one does. The confession of one
professing to know something, yet conducting himself oppositely carries no
weight—with either God or man.
Those
who will be honest will acknowledge that one consumed with himself
will neglect to do that for which he has been called. And the life of one
called to salvation is to bring others to the
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with the things of God. Those “disobedient to parents” will have no concern for
those who brought them into the natural world, and neither for those who care
for them in the spiritual world. The attitude of being thankful goes beyond
childhood bad manners. What this amounts to is a total failure to thank God for
anything.
The
“unholy” are those who are not consecrated to God; those who are not “dedicated
to God’s use only.” Unfortunately, we find those today who because of the old
“s” word (selfishness) do not feel the “natural affection” that one human being
feels for another. There is a certain amount of
camaraderie that one will feel for another because of a shared human existence
that is simply missing in our world. Though we are not responsible for how one
feels about us we are responsible for how we feel about others.
Next,
we have “trucebreakers,” or those who will not hold to what they say that they
will do. “False accusers” spread things about people without knowing that they
are true, the “incontinent” will rage uncontrollably when threatened. The “fierce” feel that they have the right to protect themselves at
any cost. Obviously, many today are “despisers of those that are good”
because be not attempting “goodness,” themselves, they are condemned by those
not only attempting, but achieving, goodness. You know each of us must reckon
with the truth that, no matter what anyone else does, if you intend to be saved
you will do that which is right.
The
above are just a few traits of those living in these “last days.” Sadly, we can
see that too many of them are identifiable in too many of us. This should alert
us to the changes we need to make, as well as the work that we must do for the
kingdom.
You
see, the definitions given would hardly be taken to describe a godly man. And one who is ungodly, has no power in his life. Even if saved,
one must live godly too be able to manifest the power of salvation.
The
power of God that all would like to have does not come by what one says, but
rather, by what one does. One’s profession of salvation must be backed up by
his living a godly life. The blessed individual is the one who realizes that no
matter what, I must live a godly life!
One
who dares to live a godly life will find himself victorious in every situation.
So many are “weak” today because of relying on the flesh.
Isn’t it curious that we persist in this even though we know that it never
helped us in the first place?
These
last days are proving to be a time in which may believe that they will be able
to “get by” with a minimum of effort. This is encouraged by the world, which
deceives us into believing that we can have “good” things without working for
them. Indeed, one cannot work salvation, we are obligated to follow the Lord’s
directives if we would actually be saved and make it to heaven.
The
power that we are to exhibit and rightly exercise is ours only if we learn to
stand on the Word. Despite the specter of those who have fallen by thy wayside
we have the assurance that God will not fail. Therefore, our excuses for
failure are eliminated by our dependency upon the Lord.
One
who walks in the power of God will have no problem passing trials and tests.
The child of God is to expect to be tested, for the more he is tested, the more
knowledge he receives of what to do and how to do it. Once that is achieved,
when a test presents itself, we can always remind ourselves that a way has
already been made out of our situation.
Since
the devil works so hard at keeping us unconcerned with living a life wholly
dedicated to god, how much harder should we resist? At some point, we will I
have to become determined to be successful and to remain in the house of God.
For no matter what the condition or problem there is always help to be found in
the house of God.