Charles Swindoll gave the following story: Cynthia and I have a long-time friend who is fighting colon cancer. Following major surgery she is now undergoing extensive chemotherapy. The other day she and another woman went shopping at a mall in Fort Lauderdale. As they got out of the car, our friend was mugged. The attacker slammed her against the car, then brutally flung her to the pavement and began kicking her mercilessly---all in broad daylight. A stranger stepped in to rescue her, and the attacker punched him repeatedly, breaking several of his teeth. The motive? Rape? No. Robbery? No. Carjacking? No. The police said it's a new fad . . . randomly assaulting strangers for the sadistic excitement of bringing blood and causing another human being pain.
Here in the land of Paradise, an elderly woman who was found beaten in her Waialae Nui home on Jan. 21 has died, Honolulu police said. Mary Lee Koskinen, 85, died at 11:30 last night.
The city medical examiner listed her cause of death as "intracranial injury due to assaultive blunt force trauma to the head," and listed her manner of death as homicide.
Based on those findings, police will likely revise charges against two men in connection with Koskinen's beating.
Then on Tuesday, January 26, a 69-year-old woman, Teresita Pascua was attacked around midday on Tuesday, and it marked the third time in less than a week that an older woman on O'ahu was assaulted while at home.
What we are reading, seeing and witnessing are signs of the end times. Check out what Paul had foretold long ago: 1But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them (2 Tim. 3:1-5 NIV).
The word for “terrible” in the Greek means “fierce” or “dangerous.” As we approach closer to the time of Christ’s Second Coming, times will be more dangerous to live in.
Then notice the word “brutal.” In the original it means, “savage,” or “not tamed.” The idea is that people will become more and more out of control. They will commit crimes for no reason at all, except to fulfill their savage desires.
We are seeing these kinds of brutal acts occurring all the time. We are witnessing the utter brutality of what people do to one another. The unborn are striped out of its protective environment from its mother’s womb and the elderly are brutalize for no reason at all. We are living in fierce and dangerous times.
But here is something that caught my attention. Paul went on to say that such end times people have “form of godliness.” The word “form” is “morphosis” meaning “mere outward shape or appearance.” In other words, people will become good at faking their true self. They will put on a disguise and wear it well. They are empty inside, devoid of Christ, but outwardly, you would think they were of Christ. They talk the talk and to some extent they walk the walk. But they are empty waterless clouds.
Who is Paul talking about? Church attendees. There is no reason for non-church members to put on a form of godliness. Who are they trying to impress – other non-church members? No, these are wolves in sheep clothing trying to impress others in order to carry out their sinister agenda. They work undercover. Their modus operandi is to fulfill their desire which invariably goes contrary to sound teaching without risking detection. The end time devolution that Paul referred to is not only something that can be seen outside the church, but also within as well.
So what is the church suppose to do? First, “avoid such men as these” (2 Tim. 3:5). You are not supposed to try to get along with such creatures. The right thing to do is to avoid them as all cost. Don’t put them in leadership especially in places where they can influence others. If you do, they will search for those who are weak and seek to captivate them (cf. v. 6). Therefore, for the sake of those who are not yet established in the faith, avoid such men as these.
Second, stop trying to teach such people. Why? Because “they always are learning but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (v. 7). You are wasting your time trying to teach these people. They have no interest in the Scriptures. They have no interests in learning the “whole counsel of God,” except for bits and pieces of what they choose.
Third, be prepared to be opposed by such people (v. 8). “And just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses.” Who are these people? They are most likely the two Egyptian magicians who opposed Moses with their own version of magic in the presence of Pharaoh. In other words, they will oppose the truth and those who are for the truth.
Furthermore, they will also oppose authority. Anyone who aligns himself up with God will be opposed. Their method is to start small and slowly, questioning small things. Then they build up to much larger and important things. All this will take time – perhaps months and years. Remember, they do not want to risk detection. So they go slowly for they believe that time and God are on their side.
Finally, know for certain that they will come to an end in due season (v. 9). “They will not make further progress; for their folly will become obvious to all.” God is a God of justice. He will not let these wolves go on without stopping them. They can fool others, but they cannot fool the Lord. He will expose them in due course. And then when their exposure is made known to all, those who were justifiably “pointing out these things to the brethren” (1 Tim. 4:6), will be exonerated.
Indeed, as we inch closer to the Second Coming of Christ, the world will become worse, but the true church will stand out in juxtaposition and shine much brighter.
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