IN TIMES LIKE THESE

But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come….  (2 Timothy 3:1)

Our world is hurtling with ever-increasing speed toward judgment.  When people reject the love of God, refuse the Son of God, and resist the Spirit of God, then we have come to the perilous times of which Paul warned.  God declared, “My Spirit shall not always strive with man.”  (Gen.6:3)  Are we on the verge of another cataclysm?

We face THE CERTAINTY OF PERILOUS TIMES (v.1).  The Apostle assures us that dangerous, difficult, and deadly times will come.  We need to wake up!  If these are the last of the last days, with the Lord’s return at hand, He should not find us sleeping.  Alarm bells are going off.  We not only need to wake up—we need to get up!  We cannot afford to hit the snooze button.  There are souls to rescue; there are souls to save!

We find THE CHARACTER OF PERILOUS TIMES (v.2-5).  This sounds like we are reading today’s newspaper. “For  men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money”—being absorbed with egotism and consumed with materialism.  The next trio of words, “boasters, proud, blasphemers,” convey a spirit of self-sufficiency, as people arrogantly assert their autonomy against the Lord God.  This issues in disrespect for all authority as humanity is “disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers….”  At the top of the list is rebellion against parental authority.  If this is not respected, then no other authority will be.  For such, God is either ignored or scorned.  This leads them to be, “without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty,” for apart from God there are no moral absolutes.  The creed becomes, “If it feels good, do it!”  Sinners of the last days are marked as, “lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!”  They may still have a veneer of religion, but absent saving grace.  Idolatry and immorality are pervasive in these perilous times.

We note THE COURSE OF PERILOUS TIMES (v.6-8).  Inevitably, it leads to the destruction of the home (v.6).  The family is the basic building block of society—and if it crumbles, civilization ceases to be civilized.  Thus, Satan infiltrates the home, establishes a beachhead, and attacks relentlessly.  This is why we have an epidemic of people living together without marriage, homosexuality, rampant divorce, abortion and child abuse—as the Devil is intent on destroying family life.  There is also the deranging of the mind (v.7).  Humanity has made great progress educationally, but regressed ethically!  Furthermore, there is the defiling of the church (v.8).  The men mentioned here were satanic counterfeits who opposed Moses—miracle workers whose power deceived the masses—and we have them today.  Many in the church are following these “Pied Pipers.”

There is, however, THE CLIMAX OF PERILOUS TIMES (v.9).  God has drawn a line in the sands of time.  Evil will proceed so far, but no further.  The inevitable judgment is fixed and final.  The verdict will be pronounced and sentence imposed, with no other appeal to be heard.  In times like these, you need a Savior—for the time will come that He will no longer extend compassion, but exclaim condemnation!  Hear His voice today!