Thank you. Thank you. I'd like for you to open your
Bibles with me to 2 Timothy chapter 3. 2 Timothy chapter 3. Verse 1 of chapter 3, 2 Timothy,
Paul writes, this note also, that in the last days, perilous
times, shall come, the last days. According to the New Testament,
we have been in the last days since our Lord died on the cross
and arose from the grave and ascended to heaven. When the
writers of Scripture began to talk about the days after Christ
died, they referred to them as the last days. I cannot for this,
I cannot say it for absolute truth, but most writers, most
writers in history and in the scriptures see the world and
earth and man's time on the earth divided into three periods. There
was a period from Adam to Moses. about 2,000 years, according
to Scripture. And then there was a period from
Moses to the Messiah, from Moses to when Christ came, which is
approximately 2,000 years. And now Paul here refers to the
last days, and he says from Christ to when Christ comes again, to
Christ's death on the cross, Our Lord will come again. That's
approximately 2,000 years. And that time from the Messiah
when he died to his second coming is referred to as the last days. The last days. You have it on your calendar. So many years BC before Christ. so many years, and they'll dominate
after Christ. B.C., A.D., that's about 2,000
years where we're living right now. And some believe that these
last days, many people believe this, and a lot of, I guess there's
some, there's some preachers that may believe it. They believe
that the last days will be a time of peace. and a time of holiness
and a time of an earthly reign with Christ here on this earth,
post-millennialism. They really believe that the
last days will be days of peace and prosperity and holiness. But that's not what Paul says
here. That's not what he said. He said, in this note, that in
the last days, perilous, perilous times, shall come. Turn with
me to Matthew 24 and see if our Lord doesn't say the same thing
in Matthew chapter 24. Start with verse 21. Matthew
24 verse 21. Listen to the Savior here. We're
talking about the last days now. In Matthew 24 verse 21. For then shall be great tribulation
such as was not seen, was not since the beginning of the world
to this time nor ever shall be. And except those days, those
last days, those days of tribulation, except those days should be shortened,
there should no flesh be saved. But for the elect's sake, those
days shall be shortened. Then if any man shall say, unto
you, lo, here's Christ, or there, don't believe them. For there
shall rise, there shall rise false Christs and false prophets,
and they'll show great signs and wonders insomuch that if
it were possible they would deceive those very elect." So this is what the Savior is
saying, that the last days are not going to be days of peace
and prosperity and holiness and a reign of Christ on this earth.
They'll be perilous times. Perilous times. So let's see
what these times are like. These perilous times. Let's start
with verse 2. 2 Timothy chapter 3 verse 2.
For men shall be lovers of their own selves. Men shall be lovers
of their own selves." This is put first. Lovers, self-love,
self-love. All error and all vices flow
from self-love. He who puts himself first does
not love others, and they do not love God. So that's self-love. That's the order of the day in
these last days, self-love. Now what's the next word? Covetous. What is covetousness? It's love
of self. And covetousness always promotes
a love for several things. A love for money, a love for
possessions, a love for materialism. And love of these things is the
root of all evil. Love of money, possessions, And
materialism is the root of all evil. That's that last day. Covetous. We don't. Boasters. Boasters. What did the Pharisees say? I
thank you, God. I thank you, God. I'm not like
other men. I'm not like other men. I'm not
like this publicist. You know what Jeremiah tells
us? He says, let not the wise man
glory in his wisdom. There are a lot of wise men.
but don't let him glory in it. Secondly, let not the mighty
man glory in his strength, in his might, in his power. Let
not the rich man glory in his riches, but let him that glorieth,
glory in the Lord. Boast not thyself of anything,
not even of tomorrow. Boast it. What's the next one? Proud. Proud. I don't believe
there's anything as offensive to God as pride. Pride goeth
before destruction and the Holy Spirit before the power. God
hates six things, yea, seven things. The first one, what a
problem. And we have so much of that in
this day. Pride of place, pride of faith, pride of race, And
unfortunately, pride of grace. And that's the most abominable
of all, to think you're something in the sight of God when we're
not. Pride good before destruction and a haughty spirit before the
fall. These are perilous times. Read on. Blasphemers. What is
blasphemy? Well, I'll tell you what it is.
I tell you, a man can use the name of God and blaspheme. Here's
what one writer said, any thought or word of mouth about God, any
thought about God or any word of mouth about God which renders
to him, to God, anything less than full glory, you're bordered
on blasphemy. It's better not to take God's
name at all unless you take it in a way that glorifies him.
Just don't use it. What's this next line? Disobedient
to parents. Disobedient to parents. That
refers to home, school, workplace. The whole attitude of today is
hatred for authority. I'm sorry, that's just so. People
hate authority. The issue is not what is right. The issue is what's my rights.
hate authority, disobedient to parents, disobedient to masters
and leaders, and disobedient to school, school people, the
workplace, the home and the school, just disobedient. And then he
says unthankful, unthankful. There's only one reason for a
person being unthankful. There's only one reason for ingratitude. And that's because we think we
deserve. We think we're worthy. And therefore,
we don't give thanks. We don't thank God or others.
And then what's the next line? Unholy. Unholy. Oh, you know something? Go home
today and turn your TV on and your whole day will be filled
with unholiness. That's just it. Unholy, unholy
conversation, unholy deeds, unholy action, ever just unholy. To me, he says, without natural
affection. I'm going to say this because
I believe it. I won't say it. It's three things.
This, this without natural affection. You know, when, when Hannah,
And when Ruth and when these other ladies in the Bible, when
they were down low, they didn't have any children. And they prayed
that God would give them a baby. It was such a great, wonderful
blessing of God to have a baby. But in America, one million girls
a year killed their babies. Destroy them. That's without natural affection. That's just... The second thing
is homosexuality. Men working with men, women working
with men, that's which is ungodly, without natural affection. God
Almighty ordained love between a husband and a wife. between
a wife and a husband. And that's natural affection.
That's godly affection. That's spiritual affection. But
homosexuality is a rotten plague on this nation. It destroys Sodom,
and it's going to destroy us. And then the third one is child
abuse. I cannot believe the way people
are treating their children. You lectured on this here for
several weeks, didn't you, about the relationship between parents
and children. People are killing their babies,
torturing them. And that's childhood. And that's
three things. That's without natural... A person
that does not love his children, there's something wrong. He's without natural affection. Pastor agrees with me on this.
Homosexuality and abortion and child abuse is going to bring
this nation down. I believe that. Truce breakers. Truce breakers. You see that
in verse 3? What is a truce breaker? Promise is not kept. Promise
is not kept. A man's word used to be his bond. That was that That book you gave
me, Hannah, on that various thing, I'm trying to get my words fixed
up now. It's a man's word is his bond. But what a man says, what he
says, that's just so back then. The greatest generation, that's
what I'm trying to say, the greatest generation, back in those days,
people You know, they used to leave, they didn't sell the papers
in the drugstore, they put them outside on a rack and people
came by and dropped their nickel in and picked up the paper. A
man from where was he born? He wouldn't lie, he wouldn't
steal, but truth-makers, truth-makers, don't keep their promises. What's
this right here? A make-break. A make-break. What is a make-break? Well, it's
to lower somebody else, to beat them down. It's to lower a person,
in your estimation and in others' estimation. It's false accusers. And then, here's the word incontinent. Incontinent. What does that mean? It means this. It means not being
able to control fleshly appetites, not being able to control fleshly
appetites for the glory of God. Drugs and all these things is
incontinent. That's what is incontinent, not
being able to control something that's good or pleasant or needful,
but you got to eat all or nothing. That's incontinent. What's this
word? Fierce. Fierce. That's, I'm sorry, that's our
general, in your face. In your face. That's, that's
today's attitude. In your face. Mad. Everybody
driving mad. They're angry. They're angry. Somebody said this, today's drivers
and other people, workers, are like cornered beasts. Bent. on getting even. Fierce. Fierce. What's this here? This is perilous
time. This is perilous time. This whole
world despises of those that are good. You know what that
is. They hate godly people. People who are walking according
to the Word, who love Christ, who believe the gospel of God's
grace, who worship God, who pray, who walk with honesty and integrity. Folks hate them. They just don't
like them. They don't like them because
they're good. Despisers of those that are good. What's this? Traitors. I read a definition
of this. What is a traitor? You can be
a good friend sometimes, wind up that way. A traitor. A traitor
is a person who preserves himself, who preserves himself and seeks
gain in some way and they will relieve any, they will reveal
any and all secrets. That's a traitor. I see that
happening in politics, that men do things they shouldn't have
done, make promises they shouldn't have made, all this, and then
when they're split up, they start exposing everybody, traitors. It's a traitor, that's what it
is. It's to preserve yourself and to gain in some way, they'll
reveal any and all secrets. Doesn't matter what it is, they're
going to tell it for gain. And then the word, what's this,
heady, high-minded. We're in a day of conceded intellectualism. That's exactly right. There's
conceded intellectualism. Folks think they're smart. You
know, Doris and I were in a restaurant not so awful long ago. And I
was sitting facing this way, and she was facing me, and she
started smiling. I said, what are you laughing
at? She said, if you have an opportunity, turn and look at
that young man's T-shirt. He had a black T-shirt on, had
writing on the front of it. She said, just don't get his
attention. Just turn and look at it. I'd
say he was in his late 30s or something like that. After a
while, I turned and looked, and this is what he had written on
his T-shirt. I am dangerously over-educated. I bet he thinks he is. I'm dangerously
over-educated. Well, now that's 16 words. Watch number 17. We're right
back where we started from. That number 17 says, they're
lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God. How'd this whole
thing start? Back at verse 2, listen. Men
love themselves. They love themselves. They self-love. And they love their pleasures
more than they love God. Self-love. People who love God,
who really love God, are able to put things in their proper
perspective. Seek ye first the kingdom of
God. his righteousness, and these
things will be added to you. If you can seek God, his righteousness,
these things will be taken care of. They'll be put in their proper
place. Self, promises, children, all these things will be put
in their proper place. Well, that's a perilous time.
Now look at verse 5. Here's my second point. And second
point, this is a time, a perilous time. Now, here we see a time
of false religion. False religion. That's what's
on us now. False religion. Somebody gave me a definition
of true religion and false religion. I think it's pretty good. Here's
what he said. True religion. Since Abel, since
Abel worshiped God, by a more excellent sacrifice, since he
worshipped God through the blood sacrifice. Almighty God has a
people redeemed by his tongue and his blood. That's true religion. From Abel. Worship God with an
excellent sacrifice. Now, here's the thing. And since
Cain, since Cain chose to worship God through his work, Through
his self-righteousness, false religion has become more and
more prevalent, both places, both places. Let's see if I can
show you false religion. Look at verse 5. Having a form
of godliness, having a form of godliness, but denying the power
thereof from such turn away. Here's false religion. Listen
to me. They profess to believe the Scripture. but they deny
the power of the word. They profess to believe it, but
they deny the power of the word to quicken the dead and to give
eternal life. Secondly, they profess to believe
on Christ, but they deny his power to put away sin by the
sacrifice of the dead. Thirdly, they profess to believe
the gospel, But they deny that the gospel of Christ is the only
way of salvation. They profess to believe it, but
they don't believe it's the only gospel. They believe there's
some other. They're arguing that now about Muslims and Islam and
all this. They all got religion, so they
all come to God. No, they're not. The only way
to come... I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh
to the Father. And then, fourthly, they profess
to believe the Spirit of God, but deny the Spirit's power to
regenerate, to beget a new nature, to wash, sanctify, and justify
believers in the name of Christ by the Spirit of God. By the Spirit of God. And watch
this, verse six. And verse 5 said, they have a
form of godliness, but deny the power thereof. And verse 6, they
are a religion dominated by silly women. It's a feminine religion. No
longer is it men of God preaching to God. It's women who are conducting
the things now. Are they which creep into houses
and leave captive or sick silly women laden with sins and led
away with divers lusts? It's the religion, today's religion,
honestly, is dominated by these women. And every false religion,
like the Egyptians, has an appointment with the Red Sea to be destroyed. And then the pastor read verse
7, ever learning and never coming to the knowledge of the truth
of God in Christ Jesus. Ever learning. Oh, books being
printed every day, every day. Somebody said one time, half
the world is publishing a book and the other half never read
one. Ever learning and never coming to the knowledge of the
truth. Just like Janies and Jambers withstood Moses, so do these
also resist the truth. Men of corrupt minds reprobate
concerning the faith, but they're not going to succeed. They shall
proceed no farther, for their folly shall be manifested. One
day it will be as theirs was also, where just like those fellows
that withstood Moses, they're going to meet the Red Sea. All
right, here's my third point. We have perilous times, we have
religious times, and first, the next thing is we have heart-searching
times. Look at verse 10. Paul says this,
but thou hast fully known, and that word there, that thou hast
been a diligent follower. I'm talking to some men. men
and women and boys and girls here that can say just that very
thing. Thou hast been a diligent follower
of the doctrine of Christ. Paul says, you have fully known
my doctrine. You've been a diligent follower
of my doctrine. What is my doctrine? It's the
doctrine of Christ. It's the doctrine of Christ.
Where'd you get it, Paul? I received it from the Lord.
What is it, Paul? Who he is, what he did, why he
did it, and where he is now. That's our doctrine. And you,
you have diligently followed the doctrine of God, my doctrine. Look at it, he said, and you
followed my manner of life. What is Paul's manner of life?
He said, I coveted no man's silver gold. I wasn't in the ministry
for gain. I was in the ministry for the
glory of God. That's my doctrine. Old Barnard
one time was preaching. I'll never forget this outline.
I've used it several times. But he asked this question, why
did the Lord die? Here's my doctrine. Why did the
Lord die? Well, I'll give you three reasons.
And all of them start with a little word, that. Christ died. that he might be just and justifier. That's why he died. Christ died,
secondly, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Thirdly, Christ died that in
the ages to He might gather together in one all things in Christ and
lead them through that gate that Brother Paul talked about. Lift
up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lifted up to the King of
Glory. And the King of Glory is going to come here. Who's
this King of Glory? He's the Lord of Hosts. An innumerable
company, a multitude which no man can number. You know, Paul
said, my dear friend, you've been a diligent follower. You
know my manner of life. And then He said, you know my
purpose. You see that there, verse 10? You know my purpose. What's my purpose? I travail
to Christ be formed in you. What is my faith? Here it is. We know that the Son of God has
come and given us an understanding that we may know Him that is
true and we're in Him that is true. This is a true God. This
is the true faith. This is eternal life. That's
my faith. You can't improve on the Word
of God, can you? Here's my doctrine. Here's my
matter of life. Here's my purpose. Here's my
faith. And here's my long-suffering, my charity, my love, and my patience. I kept back nothing. And this
man God's given to lead you, this pastor, keeps back nothing.
He makes known unto you all the word of God, nothing he kept
back, nothing profitable. I've taught you house to house,
testifying with penance toward God, faith in Jesus Christ. That's my doctrine. That's my
manner of life. That's my purpose. That's my
faith. And that is my long suffering and patience. What's this, verse 11, a minute?
Persecutions, afflictions. I want you to listen carefully
now. Persecutions, afflictions, which
came upon me. It's Paul talking. Came unto
me at Antioch and Iconium and Lystra. Which persecutions I
endured, but out of them the Lord delivered me. Yea, read
this next verse. Yea, and all that will live godly
in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." That's right. Those who wish to be exempt from
persecution must necessarily denounce Christ. For as soon as a true knowledge
of Christ and the saving grace of God is manifested in a man's
heart, it kindles the rage of Satan and the rage of me. One man said of a friend of mine,
this young man, he was a wild young man, but he's everybody's
buddy. But he came to hear the gospel.
He came to know Christ. And they turned on him. And one
of the men said to him, I liked you better when you wasn't saved. All who live God in Christ Jesus
are going to suffer trial, trouble, tribulation, persecution. You're going to get it. It's
coming. Take heed, brethren, that there
may be found in you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from
the living God. But we're not of them that depart. We're of them that believe to
the saving of the soul. All right, here's my fourth point.
This is perilous times. This is days of inquiry. This is days of faith. But here
is a day of perseverance. Continue. Listen to verse 14. Verse 13 says, evil men and seducers
are going to wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.
That's the way it's going to be. You continue. Continue thou in
the things which thou hast learned. We will continue. Paul said,
I know whom I have to leave, but I'm persuaded he's able to
keep that which I've committed to him against that day. He that
hath begun a good work in you, he's going to finish it. You're
going to continue in Christ Jesus. And listen, we have learned. We continue in those things which
we have learned. And we've been assured of knowing
of whom you learned them. And from a child, how'd you learn
them? And from a child, you have known
the Holy Scriptures that are able to make you wise unto salvation. That's our foundation. Feelings
come, feelings go. Feelings are deceiving. Our only
warrant is the Word of God, nothing else. is worth believing. And
though all my heart should feel condemned for want of one sweet
token, I know one greater than my heart whose word will never
be broken. I will trust in God's unchanging
word till soul and body sever. The words of men are going to
fade away. God's word abides forever. Persevering time. Persevering time. You know, Job
said this. Job said this. He said, he said
that the righteous, the righteous shall hold his way. And he that
hath clean hands, what you talked about in the Son of God, he that
hath clean hands, he's going to get stronger and stronger.
Yes, he will. That's right. The righteous is
going to hold his way. He's going to persevere. He's
going to continue in the faith. He will. Trusting and believing
the Word of God. Now, he might not always travel
at the same pace, same speed, but he'll hold his way. He may
not always travel with the same zeal, but he'll hold his way. He may not always travel with
equal success. He may be rich or poor, old or
young, or unhappy, or broke, or crushed. But he's going to
hold his way. He's going to cling to Christ.
Cling to Christ. Exactly. Cling to Christ. You know, I want to close with
a little, a little, a little story. I like stories. That's doing it true. In 1851, down here in Virginia, there
was a young black boy born in 1851. He was a slave. His family
was slaves. He lived without an education.
He worked in the cotton fields and tobacco fields. Then Lincoln was elected and
the war was fought. In emancipation, he was 14 years
old. 14 years old when he was emancipated. He and his family moved north.
He wanted one thing. He wanted an education. He wanted
to read. He wanted to write. He wanted
to preach. He studied. He especially wanted
to learn the Bible. His name was Charles Albert Tinley. Charles Albert Kinley. And he learned to read and write
and he became educated, but he became the custodian of a large
black church in the north. He became their custodian. He
worked other jobs, but he took care of the church. And he was
so loved by the people, and such a godly man, and such a good
man, and such kind man, that when the pastor died, they made
him the pastor. He's 50 years old. And they made
him pastor of this big church. And he wrote hymns. He was a
brilliant man. He not only wrote the words,
he wrote the words and the music. And three of his greatest hymns
was, Take Your Burden to the Lord and Leave the Task, right
here in your book. He wrote all those words and
the music himself. Another one he wrote was this. We'll understand it better by
and by. He wrote words and music. And
then he wrote this one. This is what I'm saying about
perseverance. He wrote, Nothing between my
soul and the Savior, not of this world's delusive dream. Let us
renounce all worldly pleasure. Jesus is ours, let nothing between. Nothing between, like pride and
station, self and friends shall not intervene. Though it be covered with much
tribulation, I am resolved, let nothing between. Nothing between,
even hard trials. Though the whole world against
me convene, Must not my heart ever sever, Because He is my
all, let nothing between. That's where it is, persevering. And let me close this message
with asking you to turn to a scripture. I want you to turn to Matthew
24. Matthew 24. This is Matthew 24,
verse 29. Now we've talked about Matthew
24, verse 29. We've talked about the perilous
times. We've talked about the false
religious times. We've talked about heart-searching
times. We've talked about persevering
times. Now, let's talk about the elect
gathering time. Matthew 24, verse 29. Well, immediately after the tribulation
of those days, shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall
not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the
powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then, thank God, shall appear
the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then shall all tribes
of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming
in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He
shall send forth His angels with a great sound of the trumpet,
and they'll gather together His elect." from the four winds,
and from one end of the heaven to the others. That's my message. Perilous times, false religious
times, heart-searching times, persevering times, and one of
these days, the elect-gathering times. Bring us all together. Never depart again. Thank you,
Brother Pastor. I'm thankful, so thankful for
that message. I dislike when preachers get
up and make additional comments after messages. I really do. I think often they don't need
to add anything to that. And I'm not going to. But I just
feel compelled to Remind us all what a debt of
gratitude we owe to men like this. The scripture says, when he ascended
up on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men,
some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors
and teachers in the same voice, the same line as prophets and
apostles. Apostle Paul, he mentioned faithful
pastors whom He said to Jeremiah, I will give you pastors after
my own heart, just like Paul the apostle, men whom you fully
know their doctrine, their manner of life, and so on and so forth.
Right there is one. And I'm so thankful. And nearly everyone in this room
is an indirect result of God sending this man with a gospel. I'm not going to owe any man
anything. I'm a debtor to him. And thankful. And I, you know, every message
can't help but think it might be his last. And that was a good one. A very relevant
one. A very fitting one. to the times we're living in
from an old faithful man who's seen a lot and full of warnings,
full of comfort, full of encouragement. And I thank the Lord for you
and that message. And that last, John, that last
scripture he quoted was worth the whole message. The righteous
shall hold his way. I'm glad you quoted that. the
righteous shall hold his way. But we thank you for coming. He came here for years at his own expense, completely
at dint of that. Years. At his own expense, just
because he loved us. Very few people know that, but
it's so. And we're indebted to him, to the grace of God in him. All right. Let's sing in closing
number 509, after we sing a couple of verses. Go back with me, back
there. 509, let's stand and sing first,
second, and last verses. 509, let's stand. The sands of time are sinking,
the dawn of heaven breaks. The summer morn outside for the
fair sweet morn awakes. Dark, dark hath been the midnight,
but day's spring is at hand, and glory, glory to heaven in
Evangelist land. O Christ, He is the fountain,
the deep sweet well of love. The streams on earth I've tasted
More deep I'll drink above There to an ocean's fullness His mercy
doth expand And glory, glory dwelleth in evangel's land. Last verse. The bride has not
her garment, but her dear bridegroom's face. I will not gain that glory,
but on my kingdom praise. Not at the crown He gave, but
on His pierced hand, The Lamb in all the glory of Emmanuel's
land.