2 Timothy chapter 3, and let's
begin and look at verse 1. The last day perilous times. I wanted to look at this subject
this morning with you because I want to begin it this morning
and finish it in the afternoon service. But the Apostle Paul
is telling us here in verse 1 of 2 Timothy, 2 Timothy chapter
3. This know also, in the last days,
perilous times shall come." In the last days, perilous times
shall come. Now, I'm not looking for signs
of the Lord's coming, and I don't suggest you do that either. I think in every age, if you'll
read church history, Our forefathers thought they lived in the worst
time that there ever was. Someone was reading an article
just the other day, and they talked about society and how
open and profane it was, and they thought how God could not
come soon and how could He spare society. And you would think
it was me writing what was going on today, but it was John Newton,
I think, writing somewhere back in the 1700s. So everybody thinks
that this is the worst time we've ever lived in, and you and I
think that, don't we? Yet I think the Bible opens a
window for us just to see a little what will take place in the last
days, in the latter times. I think probably as we get closer
to the last days, down to the end of time itself, we'll probably
see and understand more. If you and I are living in the
generation when the Lord comes, we'll see more than we see now.
I don't want to be overly curious about these things, but if God
has been pleased to reveal what has taken place in the last days,
then I think you and I should study it. And we should understand. Somebody said to be forewarned
is to be forearmed. So that's why I wanted to look
at this passage this morning. The disciples asked the Lord
Jesus themselves, what shall be the sign of thy coming and
of the end of the world? When are you coming? What's going
to be the signs? Is there going to be some signs
that the end is approaching? The signs of your coming. Christ
is coming again, isn't He? The Lord Jesus Christ came the
first time and He's coming again. He came first time through the
womb of a virgin to redeem His people. He came again at Pentecost
when the Holy Spirit came. Who was that? Well, that's Christ,
wasn't it? I will not leave you comfortless. I will come unto
you. I'll come in My Spirit. He comes
again at regeneration. God has sent forth the Spirit
of His Son into our hearts, crying, Father, Father, He came when
He destroyed Jerusalem. He came in the armies of Titus,
the Roman Empire. He came in that army and destroyed
the Jews. So He's came already, but He's
coming again. He'll soon come in judgment and
sit upon His throne and judge all the kingdoms and all the
men and the women and the boys and the girls. that's ever lived
in this world. Christ is coming. What's going
to be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the world?
That's what I want to look at you with this morning. And he
says here in our text it will be the last days. This word here
in this text, last days, it means the final, the end of, the latter
end, the uttermost, the end of the last days. In the end of
the last days, what's going to happen? Perilous times shall
come. Strong says this word means dangerous
times. Fierce times. Lawless times. Hazardous times. Times that's
full of risk. Times of stress and trouble hard
to be dealt with. Difficult to be borne. That's
what this word hazardous And this word prayerless means. God
doesn't foretell us these things to make us fearful. He doesn't
tell His church this to make her anxious. But He tells her
this that she may be prayerful, and she may be watchful, and
she may be trustful. Listen to what He says when He's
telling us about the end of time. Watch you therefore, for you
know not in what hour your Lord doth come Be ye therefore always
ready. He doesn't tell us these things
to make us anxious, but He tells us that you and I may know that
we may always be trustful, always be watchful for our Lord's return. The Apostle Paul said this when
he was talking about the end of the world and the coming of
our Lord Jesus. He said, let us not sleep as
do others. Let us watch. Let us watch. Let us be sober. For they that
sleep, sleep in the night. They that be drunken are drunken
in the night. But let us who are of the day
be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love and for an
inhelment the hope of salvation." The latter days of this world
will be a time to try men's souls, brothers and sisters. You and
I think we have it rough now, and we do. The Lord's church
has always been in tribulation. But I think the Bible teaches
that it will worsen. It will worsen. Evil men and
seducers will wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.
Now, I can't spend very much time on each of these points,
but I want us to look at these perilous times, and I think it
will be every institution. that helps hold society up. I
think all of those institutions are going to be in trouble in
the last days in which we live. Every aspect of our daily life
will become hard and difficult to bear. Look here now in our
text in verse 2. Look here in verse 2. I think
this is the first characteristics of social life. What will men's
attitude be in the social realm? What will society as a whole,
and maybe worldwide, be thinking about themselves? How will they
view themselves in the last time? What will make life so difficult? Why will times become so perilous? Well, look in verse 2. For men
shall be lovers of their own selves. We've always had that
in society, haven't we? Ever since the fall of man, man's
been in love with himself. But you know, when a man loves
himself, and when this permeates society, and when it's not just
the exception, but it's the rule, that person who loves himself,
he doesn't care if the family unit falls apart. as long as
he gets his way. The man who loves himself doesn't
care if those institutions that hold society together falls apart
as long as he gets his way. Those who love themselves don't
care if the rule of law is crumbled in a nation as long as they get
their way. And this isn't just a few loving
themselves. This is society as a whole. That's what's going to be the
characteristics of society as a whole. And brothers and sisters,
when you see society given over to self-love, and they manifest
that, it's going to be perilous times. Perilous times. You take a man full of self-love,
he's out to not obey the laws of the land, and he surely will
not obey the laws of the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. Can
you imagine a man full of self-love being told this by the Lord Jesus?
Except you be converted and become as a little child, you shall
not enter the Kingdom of Heaven. He doesn't like that. He's in
love with himself. Imagine the Lord Jesus telling
a man who is full of himself, except you take up your cross
and follow me, you're not fit for the kingdom of heaven. He
won't hear that. Can you imagine a man full of
self-love being told that you must be saved by righteousness
outside of yourself? Why, he won't have that. Who's
more important than self? What's more vital? to my ways
and my will than me. I tell you, self-love. When the
Lord comes to save us, one of the things He weans us from is
self-love. Is it not? We are so in love
with ourselves. Still are, aren't we? That's
why I want to get the last word when my wife starts an argument.
I've got to have that last word, boy. And I may have to get it
under my breath, but I'll get it. I'm in love with myself.
How does the Lord wean us from that? Only grace can wean us
from self-love. Nothing else will do it. When
we fall in love with someone outside of ourselves, that'll
do it. When we turn our eyes away from
ourselves and think in highly of self, and we turn our eyes
to an object outside of ourselves, and be caught up with Him. Not
until then are we weaned from self-love. Old Job said, I've
heard of you, didn't he? They've told me about you. I've
heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eyes, they
see you. I see your glory. I see your
sovereignty. I see what a great and mighty
Savior you are. What does he think about himself
now? I abhor myself. Boy, Paul loved himself. He loved
himself dearly, didn't he? Bragged on himself. I used to
know a lady that she got up and sang this song. I'm just ashamed
that I hadn't sat and listened to it. If anyone makes it all
the way, surely I will. Paul sung that, did he not? If
any man hath whereof he can trust in the flesh, I more. And he
bragged upon himself and he loved himself until Jesus Christ showed
him himself. And he saw the beauty of the
Lord. And boy, from then on, he said, Oh, wretched man that
I am. I've come all lost. Paul, how
could you count everything lost? You loved yourself. You loved
yourself righteously. He was the most important man
in your life. How now could you count it all,
all for the excellence of your knowledge of Christ Jesus, my
Lord, for whom I suffered the loss of all things, and count
them done that I may win Christ. God must wean us from self-love. And He does. He does. There is no wonder, then, that
the Apostle goes on here in verses 2 and 3, and verse 4, and describes
society who loves itself. Look on in verse 2. For men shall
be lovers of their own self. Well, this is not surprising,
then, is it? Covetousness. I want it. I want it. I deserve it. I'm going to get
it. I'm going to think about it.
I'm going to work for it. I'm going to get it. And I'm
going to cleave to it. It's the most important thing
in my life. Whatever I want. Why would a man do that? Why
would he labor for what even thought he is? Why would he go
around lusting after everything? He loves himself. Boasters, the
word means self-centered, proud or arrogant, blasphemous, The
word means scoffers, abusers, disobedient to parents. Man alive. Do you have any trouble out of
your kids? Huh? I had a friend of mine who went
to school. He wanted to teach. Boy, it was
in his heart to teach. And he went four years to get
a teaching degree. He taught one year in school.
I said, what happened? He said, I can't control those
kids. Disobedient to parents. The Proverbs says there is a
generation who curses their parents. We'll see that more and more
in these last days. Unthankful. Unthankful to God. When they knew God, they glorified
Him, not God. As God, neither were they thankful.
Unholy. Unholy in their hearts, their
thoughts, their lives. They're unholy. They are without
natural affection. They're hard. They're callous.
They're inhumane. They'll pass laws you can't kick
a dog, and then pass laws you can kill your little baby in
your mother's womb. What is that without natural
affection? Truth-breakers refuse to be appeased
or conciliatory. False accusers slander. They don't care to slander people.
Incontinent, powerless to control themselves. Fierce, that means
violent. despisers, haters of those that
are good. Look in verse 4. Traitors, one
who violates his allegiance to another. He violates his allegiance
to his spouse, to his children, to his neighbors, to his country,
to Christ. He has no allegiance. He's a
traitor. Heady, the word means rash. He
jumps to conclusions. He acts with blatant disconcern
and indifference to the consequence of his actions. High-minded,
the word means to be puffed up, inflated with himself. Lovers
of sensual pleasures and vain amusement more than lovers of
God. Now, this is the rule in society
in the last day, and there will be few exceptions. Wouldn't it be awful if society
was given over to these things? No wonder it would be perilous
times. Because iniquity shall abound,
the love of many shall wax cold. But look in verse 5. After naming
all these things self-love and all of these awful things, there
is something that they never give up. Look in verse 5. Having
a thorn, an empty shell, profession of godliness, but denying the
power thereof, from such turn away. Never give up the religion
out there. And they know nothing about the
power of God to make a man a new creature in Christ. They know
nothing about the power of God to give a new heart and a new
spirit. They know nothing about the power
of God to raise a man from the spiritual grave of sin and death
and give him life eternal. They know nothing about that.
They know nothing about the Lord leading His people and keeping
His people. You know, I wonder sometimes
about free will. If they don't fit right in this
category, when they deny the power of God and say He loses
one of His people, isn't that denying the power of God? How
is the children of God kept? We're kept by the power of God.
And somebody comes along and says, no, God can't keep you.
This world full of devils and sin and flesh, God can't keep
you. What is that doing but denying
the power of God? They have this farm, this shell
of godliness. I used to drive a truck and I
used to go up 69 and there in Marion, around the Marion exit,
they started building this humongous motel. And they got it up. And I guess they didn't have
the money to finish it or something, but it was a huge shell that
sat there for years. And you could go by there in
the wintertime and you look over there. You could tell there was
no heat in the building. You go by there every night and
there was no lights in the building. Nobody in the building. It was
a shell. But that's all it was. That's
their profession. That's their profession. It's
just a shell. There's no light there. There's
no warmth there. There's no divine person there.
That's what will happen in the last day. A perilous time shall
come. Look back over to your left in
1 Timothy. There is the aspect, brothers
and sisters, of the social realm. Society in the last days. And
it will probably be worldwide, not just here in our country.
Lovers of self. Here is another aspect of society. Look at it here in 1 Timothy
chapter 4 and verse 1. Now the Spirit speaketh expressly. Boy, he really pressed this home
upon the Apostle's heart. That in the latter times, the
last days, what we're speaking about this morning, some shall
depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and
doctrines of devils. What is the faith? They depart
from the faith. Well, it's not the grace of faith.
That's the work of the Holy Spirit within our hearts. We're born
without faith. And when He brings us to faith
in Christ, He grants us faith to believe. That's a work of
God. This is a work of God that you
believe. That's the grace of faith. And that, I tell you what,
that may grow off a week. But you'll never depart from
it. That work will never cease. God has begun it and He will
finish it. But this is the doctrine of faith,
the body of truth that has been given us in the Word of God and
sealed and preserved for us. Brother Wayne read it this morning,
earnestly contending for the faith which was once delivered
unto the saints. What is that? It's this Bible.
It's this body of truth that God has given us. Isn't it a
wonderful thing, brothers and sisters, to have a Bible? Wouldn't
we be in the dark if we didn't have the Word of God? How could
we know God? How could we know Him in the
Trinity of His sacred persons? How could we know the way of
salvation? How could we have any assurance? Oh, isn't it a
blessing? Isn't it a blessing to have this
body of truth? But in the last days, there are
going to be people Denying the Bible. There's going to be people
denying the infallibility of God's Word. They'll just lay
it aside. Departing from that body of truth
that was delivered unto us by the Holy Spirit Himself. And
I want you to know here what He said. He said, Some. Some. What does that mean? Some shall
depart from the truth. Well, it surely means individuals. But you know I think it means
more than that. What if this sum means some denominations? You and I can look now and see
where whole denominations have departed from the faith, can't
we? Somebody said Catholicism started out good. I can't see
that. I don't know, so I can't say anything about it, but I
can't see that. But if it did, but it left the faith, didn't
it? Could this mean also some countries,
some individuals, some whole denominations and some countries? Well, looking back now, we say,
yes. Yes, it can mean that. There was a time when England
was filled with godly men preaching the free grace of God in Jesus
Christ. Holding up this Word as the infallible
Word of God. The only way, the foundation
for our faith, the only way to know infallibly God in Christ
and the way of salvation. Look at them now. You talk to
those men over there in England now and different places in Europe.
Look at Germany. The man in Luther's day, the
gospel was preached far and wide. Look at France. Look at Wales. Look at Ireland. You go over
there now and you know what you'll say? These countries have departed
from The faith! That tells me we must be in the
last days, in the latter part of the last days. And I want
you to notice something else. Look at this. Who was behind
their departing from the faith? Seducing spirits and doctrines
of devils. Why do men leave the doctrine
of truth, Body of truth, the Word of God. Why did they do
it? Well, they do it because they prayed hard. They do it
because they never loved the truth to begin with. But there's
something else behind it, deeper than that, that we can't see.
And that's devils. Seducing them. Stroking them. He's behind that, isn't he? And
my wife was talking this morning. She said something about the
Lord leaving us to ourselves. And boy, that scares me to death.
But I told her, I said, sweetheart, really and honestly, I know what
we mean when we say that. But you know, really, God never
leaves us to ourselves. He never leaves any man to himself.
When God leaves a man, that's when the devil comes on the scene,
you see. He's never left alone, is he? Either God is influencing
him, God is restraining him, God's teaching him, or he's being
taught of the devil. Listen to this. Who seduced Judas to betray Christ? The devil entered into him and
he went out and betrayed the master. Who tempted Ananias and
Sapphires to lie to the Holy Spirit? The devil has filled
your heart to do that. Who steals the words from men's
hearts lest they should believe and be saved? Satan does that.
Who blinds men's minds lest the light of the glorious gospel
should shine through unto them? Satan does that. Satan is over
his kingdom of seducing spirits, and if God doesn't deliver us
from this kingdom of darkness and translate us into the kingdom
of his dear Son, devils will delude us too. The only reason
Satan hasn't deceived you, dear brothers and sisters, is because
you're one of his elect. And he will not let Satan or
man deceive his elect. If it were possible, they would. But it's not possible. My sheep
hear my voice. I know them and they follow me.
And a stranger they will not follow. They have the Spirit
of God to teach them. Sometimes when God's ready to
judge a society because of its sins, He sends devils among them. And when He does that, it's perilous
times. It's difficult times. It's hard
times. If you and I would devoid this
departure from the faith, stay close to Christ. Stay close to His Word. Read
it. Believe it. Get it in your heart.
Look to Christ by faith. Every moment of every day. That
will keep your heart warm. Put on the whole armor of God
that you may stand against the wiles of the devil. Another aspect of society in
the last days, and let's consider it just for a minute. One or
two more and then we'll save the rest for this afternoon. The religious society. The social
realm. What about the military aspect?
When we think of society, we think of different aspects of
it, don't we? And the military is a part of our society. It's
a part of every society. And the scripture has something
to say about the military in the last days. What can we see
from our military that say we must be living in the last days? Theologians have tried for a
long time to figure out Matthew chapter 24, and I don't know
very much about it either. But our disciples were there
with the Lord Jesus. They were showing Him the temple
and how magnificent it was. And He made a statement to them.
He said, you see all these beautiful stones. He said, all of them
is going to be torn down. And they asked Him three questions.
They said, Lord, when shall these things be? Number two, what shall
be the sign of your coming? And number three, and of the
end of the world. And commentators look at that
and they say, is he talking about the destruction of Jerusalem?
And they say, yes, that seems to be what he's talking about.
Other commentators look at it and say, doesn't it extend also
to his second coming and to the end of the world? And other commentators
say it teaches both. It teaches both. And I imagine
it does because the Lord Jesus goes on in that same message
and He speaks of the end of the world, the judgment when He comes
again and sits upon His throne and all the nations gather before
Him. But I said that for this reason.
Here's what He said in that sermon. The Lord Jesus said there will
be wars and rumors of wars. For nations shall rise against
nations, and kingdoms shall rise against kingdoms. One of the
things in the last days that's going to make it perilous times
is wars, is rumors of wars. You and I are so spoiled, aren't
we? Some of you have been in war, and you know what it is.
But there's a bunch of us that knows absolutely nothing about
what it is to be in that racket. What it is to smell that smell
of war? I've never seen anybody killed,
but some of you have. And how would you like to live
with it, and the threat of it, almost on a daily basis? Wouldn't
that make life perilous, dangerous? Look in a couple of Scriptures
with me, and I'm almost finished. Look in Joel, Joel, J-O-E-L,
Joel chapter 3, verse 9. You've got a few Bibles. It's
on page 992. Joel. I was reading a little article
by William Huntington, who lived back in the late 1700s. He died
around 1800 or so, and he had made a statement that Ishmael,
He said, I'm no prophet, but I predict that Ishlam will have
a great and violent revival in the last days. If you know anything
about Islam, you know what happens when they have a revival. They
cut people's heads off. And Luther said, how can we fight
with these people? He said, the church can't take
up arms and cut their heads off in return. How are we to defend
ourselves against people like this? But I think dear Huntington
was right, don't you? I think they're having a violent
revival in our day. And it will probably come to
our shores before it's over with. And if it does, it's going to
make life perilous, is it not? In the latter days, perilous
times shall come because there's going to be wars and rumors of
war. But look here in Joel 3, and
look in verse 9. Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles,
Prepare war. Wake up the mighty men, the generals,
those hawks who like to fight. Let all the men of war draw near. Let them come up. Beat your plowshares
into swords and your pruninghooks into spears. Let the weak say,
I am strong. Assemble yourselves and come,
all ye heathens. Gather yourselves together round
about. Cause the mighty ones to come
up. Come down, O Lord. Let the heathens be awakened,
and come to the valley of Jehoshaphat, for there will I set to judge
all the heathen round about. Put ye in the sickle, for the
harvest is ripe. Come, get you down, for the press
is full, the fat overflows, for their whole wickedness is great." What's he talking about? He's
talking about the last day. the valley of decision, the valley
of Jehoshaphat. One man said this. I don't remember
where I read this, but one man said this about this verse. He
said, Making engines of destruction will be man's greatest exercise
in the last days. Engines either to defend himself
or engines to attack others. War, weapons of war. I don't know how much the world
spends on its weaponry in our day. But I tell you, the price
is astronomical. The price of war. And you know something, brothers
and sisters? It seems like it's just going to increase until
the Lord Jesus Christ comes and puts a stop to it. and gives
peace. Peace. Peace on earth then. Worldwide peace. But it will
be peace in a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth
righteousness. One more place and I'm closed.
Look in Isaiah chapter 2. Look in Isaiah chapter 2. There's
the devices of war. turning all your plowshares into
spears, your pruning hooks into swords. But I tell you, it is
right the opposite in the Kingdom of Christ. Look here what He
said. Isaiah chapter 2, verse 2, And
this shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain
of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the
mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations
shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and
say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob. And he will teach us of his ways,
and we will walk in his paths. For out of Zion shall go forth
the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. That's the
gospel, isn't it? Where did the gospel go from?
Jerusalem. Where did it go to? Out into
all nations. The Lord was calling His people,
teaching His people. And they had this sweet unity
and peace, one with another. And look what they did in verse
4. And He shall judge among all the nations, and shall rebuke
many people, and they shall beat their swords into plowshares. and their spears into pruning
hooks. Nations shall not lift up sword
against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. O house
of Jacob, come ye and let us walk in the light of the Lord."
What happens when the Lord saves a man? This war is gone, isn't it? He takes his sword. He makes a pruning hook out of
it. He does write the object of what this world's wanting
to do. The fight's over. You want to fight anybody? I
don't want to fight you. I'll fight for the gospel. You'll
fight for the gospel. But man, the fight's gone. Paul
said, I sought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus
of Nazareth. I hated His people. I put them in jail. When they
punished them, I gave my voice against them. But he that once
destroyed that way now preached the faith. Now he labored more
abundantly than all of them. He sought unity and love and
peace with the Lord's people like God taught him. You say,
Bruce, ain't there a bunch of trouble and confusion among God's
people? Yes, there is. Unfortunately,
there is. But let me tell you something. When it comes down
to this, teach us your ways. Not when he's teaching us. Let
us walk in His path. There is no war there, is there?
There is no war there. When the Lord rebukes us, then
we turn our swords into plowshares and our spears into pruning hooks. Paul said this. He said, To you
who are troubled, Rest with us. I tell you, we get troubled,
don't we, in our hearts, struggling with sin, outwardly struggling
with this world. To you who are troubled, rest
with us. When? When the Lord Jesus shall
be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming
fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God. that obey
not the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished."
Don't avenge yourselves. That's the Lord's business. We've
got no right to do that. He set aside the day of when
you'll punish the unbelievers when He comes with flame and
fire, taking vengeance. But rest. Rest. Listen to what He said. And He
shall be glorified in you who believe. He'll be glorified. Right now, in your heart of hearts,
there's nothing you want more than to know and worship Jesus
Christ the Lord. But you can't because you're
troubled in and you're troubled out. But you know there's coming
a day when all that's going to be removed and you're going to
see Him and you're going to admire Him. You're going to adore Him.
You're going to worship Him as you long to hear. And we're not
able. He's coming to be admired. And something else he said there
in that passage, when He comes, He will consume Satan with the
spirit of his mouth and destroy him with the brightness of His
coming. Satan is a wicked spirit. And
I tell you, he's done immeasurable harm to this poor world and to
the Lord's church. But the Bible says here he's
not going to continue forever. The Lord Jesus is going to consume
him. He's going to put him in the lake of fire. Here's what
Wayne read to us this morning. Think about this when you think
of the last days. Now to him who is able to keep
you from falling, isn't that a wonderful thing in the light
of what we've been saying? when perilous times shall come
unto him that is able to keep you from falling." And listen
to this, "...and present you faultless before the presence
of His glory with exceeding joy." The saints aren't going to stand
there and tremble for fear. They are going to be standing there
rejoicing. Because the Lord Jesus, by His merit and by His power,
makes them perfectly accepted to God, because He is going to
make them just like Himself. The old hymn writer said this,
Jesus, Thy blood and righteousness, my beauty are, by glorious dress. Misflaming worlds in these arrayed,
Is it enough for you to have His dress on you? Is it enough
for you to be clothed in His blood and righteousness? Do you
have confidence that you can stand in the midst of blazing
worlds with these arrayed? Then you are a believer. Then you are a child of God. This flaming world and these
arrayed with joy shall I lift up. my head. Oh, the end of this
world is coming, brothers and sisters. Christ is coming. And
I don't know what you and I may go through until that comes.
But He's coming. And He won't lose a one of His
children. Trust Him. Look to Him. Watch and be sober.
And be always ready. Let's pray.