THE LAST WORD FOR THESE LAST DAYS

God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son….  (Hebrews 1:1-2a)

Dr. Ben Carson was recently asked about who he would like most to sit down and have a drink with.  His answer: “Jesus.”  I don’t know that Dr. Carson will get my vote for President, but he definitely gets my vote for the best answer possible!  There is no one comparable—Jesus is the central figure of history and eternity.  The writer of Hebrews has Christ’s superiority as his theme.  Jesus is the Living Word—the last Word for these last days.

There is no one more important to know than God.  Yet, we could not know Him, had He not chosen to reveal Himself.  We are born with an awareness God is there.  Scripture never argues for His existence.  The assumption is that any reasonable person will acknowledge there is a God.  You have to work hard to deny His existence.  The reason some profess to be atheists is due to minds darkened by sin.  If there is no God, there is no guilt.  Yet, the numbers of irreligious, although a little larger and a lot louder than in the past, aren’t the real problem.  Rather, it is the religious that present the greater challenge.  I define religion as the effort to find God, know God and be accepted by Him.  It is what the Muslims do, the Buddhists and Hindus—but, it is impossible to know God that way.  Instead, God has sought us and spoken to us.  As recorded in the Old Testament, God has revealed Himself in different stages and diverse means (Heb.1:1).

Those days are past.  We are in the last days (Heb.1:2).  They began when Christ came—the transition was made from the Old Covenant to the New.  We might say today that we are in the last of the last days!  “The Word became flesh….”  (John 1:14)  The New Testament is a written exposition of Christ and what His coming means.  There is no further revelation to be given, none is needed—all will be consummated in the visible revelation of Christ in His second advent.  Everything is moving to that end.  The church is about Jesus!  Our message is about Him.  Mohammed, Joseph Smith, and the like are false prophets who bring a later revelation or so they claim.  That is impossible, for Jesus is the final Word.  

Jesus is the heir—King of kings and Lord of lords (Heb.1:3-4).  Through Him all things were made, by Him they hold together, and to Him all things belong.  His glory is that which belongs only to God, for He is God.  To see Jesus is to see the Father.  The power of His Word is Omnipotent.  He alone is the Savior and the perfect Sacrifice for sins.  He has ascended and is seated at the right hand of the Father—in a position of authority.  The angels serve Him.  Jesus isn’t a servant, but the Son.  The angels dwell in glory, but He radiates the glory!  The Bible forbids the worship of angels, but the angels worship Christ.  Eternal life is found only in Him.  Once that journey of faith begins with a spiritual birth, you grow by knowing Him better, loving Him more, and walking with Him more closely.  God has spoken and we better listen!

DARE TO BE DIFFERENT

And [Hezekiah] did what was right in the sight of the LORD…. (2 Kings 18:3)

Paul warned the Roman Christians about the danger of being conformed to the world (Rom.12:2).  One translation renders it, “Do not let the world press you into its mold.”  By the world, we mean the organized system of evil which characterizes unbelievers under the dominion of Satan.  Each day we face this relentless pressure.  It isn’t hard to give in.  Most people do.  Yet, we are called to be radically different.   God’s children are living for another world—for eternity.  Hezekiah dared to be different.  His life as described in 2 Kings 18 is a challenge to us.

We are to dare to be DIFFERENT IN OUR ACTIONS (v.3).  This was so different from most of the kings of Judah.  Of Ahaz who preceded him it says, “he did evil in the sight of the LORD” (17:2), and of Manasseh who succeeded him, “he did evil in the sight of the LORD.”  Hezekiah dared to be different.  

There were two motivating factors that aided him that will also help us.  First, Hezekiah knew God was always watching.  The private sin on earth is a public scandal in heaven.  The good deeds men overlook are always documented by God.  2 Chronicles 16:9 says, "For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him."   Secondly, Hezekiah had a godly example in David.  King David wasn’t a perfect man, but he was “a man after God’s own heart.”  Hezekiah was challenged by that example.  Such can inspire us.

We are further to be DIFFERENT IN OUR ATTITUDES (v.4).  The attitude of most of the kings toward idolatry was to encourage it by tolerating it, and some actively embraced it by practicing it.  Not Hezekiah! He sought to eradicate it by attacking it!  The Jews had come to venerate the bronze serpent.  Hezekiah called it Nehushtan—the bronze thing.  Are we tolerant of evil?  Right attitudes are important.  Paul’s demand not to be conformed to the world is connected to a renewed mind that is transformed by the Word (Rom.12:2).  

Then, we are to be DIFFERENT IN OUR ASSURANCE (v.5-6).  The world seeks success and security in position, possessions, and pleasures.  If I get the right status I'll be successful.  If I get enough stuff I'll be secure.  If I get enough stimulation, I'll be satisfied.  That is instead the path to disappointment for there is nothing this world offers that is enduring.  God alone is worthy of our faith.  He gives the highest status, true riches, and everlasting joy to His obedient children.   A living faith produces works.  James tells us that “faith without works is dead.”  Hezekiah’s life was marked by connection, “he held fast to the LORD”; consistency, “he did not depart from following Him”; commitment, “kept His commandments.”  

Finally, we should be DIFFERENT IN OUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS (v.7-8).  Several of the wicked kings experienced worldly success.  In the end, “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul?”  True success is having all the resources we need here and all the rewards we can store up hereafter.  "And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever." (1 John 2:17)  Hezekiah lived in victory.  Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart.”  Dare to be different!

THE FRUIT OF DECEPTION

You have plowed wickedness;

You have reaped iniquity.

You have eaten the fruit of lies….  (Hosea 10:13a)

We reap what we sow.  Paul put it this way in Galatians 6:7-8, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.  For he who sows to the flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.” 

God set this same choice before the nation of Israel in the tenth chapter of Hosea.  They could sow the seeds of repentance and reap a harvest of righteousness (v.12), but instead they had chosen to sow the seeds of wickedness and reap a harvest of wrath (v.13).  It is the same folly which every nation pursues when it turns from God—the source of all blessing—and embraces evil.  The prophet Hosea may as well have been describing America today.

The deception is a rejection of revealed truth concerning God and the worship of a god of our own making.  Most people in our country would be no different than these Israelis—claiming to be “spiritual.”  Yet, it is a demonic spirituality, and not that given by the Spirit of Truth.  Real faith rests in a God who has revealed Himself in His Word.  Idolatry is when we fashion a god of our own imagination.  Sadly, there are many in our churches today who have done the same.  These false gods are promoted not only by the cults, but often preached from pulpits.  That is a replication of the evil seen in Hosea’s time—and the results will be no different.

They were in a time of material prosperity that masked their spiritual poverty (v.1-2).  It is easy to forget about God when things are going well, and to assume those conditions will continue.  They will not.  The law of the harvest means that you not only reap what you sow, but later than you sow.  You don’t plant seed one day and get fruit the next.  The harvest eventually comes.  Let us not deceive ourselves by thinking that because we have heard warnings about God’s wrath for years, and that storm has yet to break, that it is a false alarm being raised.  We place such messages on the level of “Chicken Little saying, ‘The sky is falling!’”  Brush it off—it’s your choice.  On the authority of God’s Word, I assure you that a harvest of judgment is ripening and near reaping.

The rapture of the church can happen any day.  Are you looking for Jesus and longing for home?  Christ will claim His bride—a pure and chaste virgin, without spot or wrinkle, robed in white—the righteousness of the saints.  Those left behind will reap a harvest of horror and will echo the bitter cry of Hosea 10:8,  

They shall say to the mountains, “Cover us!”

And to the hills, “Fall on us!”

It will be too late then to find refuge.  They might have had their sins covered by the blood of the Lamb, but instead they will know the wrath of the Lamb.  They could have fallen upon the Rock of Ages in repentance, but there will be no help found in calling out to the rocks to fall on them.

Here is the choice that alone brings hope: 

Sow for yourselves righteousness;

Reap in mercy;

Break up your fallow ground,

For it is time to seek the LORD,

Till He comes and rains righteousness on you.  (v.12)

HERE'S HOPE!

looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ….  (Titus 2:13)

Your world can be turned upside down in a heartbeat.   Just a few weeks ago, our little six-year old granddaughter, Mya, seemed a picture of health and bundle of energy.  Then she was diagnosed with cancer.  As I write these words, she is in the hospital fighting a deadly enemy.  What we desperately sought was hope—and the doctors told us this could be successfully treated—but, ultimately our hope rests in the Great Physician, Jesus Christ.  While she seems to be responding well to the treatments, we know the immediate future still contains uncertainties, yet Mya’s future—and ours—is in a hope that does not depend on earth’s circumstances, but God’s eternal assurances.  Do you have such a hope?  You can.  Titus 2:11-14 tells us how.  We see salvation is in three tenses—all bringing hope.

The first tense deals with our past: WE HAVE BEEN PURCHASED (v.11, 14a).  I have been saved from the penalty of sin.  That's justification.  It is the work whereby we are placed in right standing with God by faith in Christ.  There are three great Gospel words featured here: "grace" and "salvation" in verse eleven and "redeem" in verse fourteen.  The word redemption means to be set free by payment of a price.  When Paul wrote these words, men and women were sold in the marketplace like commodities.  Spiritually, we were in the slave market, held fast in the shackles of sin.  Christ paid the price to free us—and the price He paid was His own blood!  He "gave Himself for us" and the great exchange took place—Christ took my sins and gave me His righteousness.  

The second tense deals with our present: WE ARE BEING PURIFIED (v.12, 14).  I am being saved from the power of sin.  That’s sanctification.  It is an on-going process.  "Ungodliness" is all that is contrary to the nature of God. "Worldly lusts" are the perverse passions of our nature that are informed by the putrid philosophies of our culture.  These must be denied.  But the Christian life isn't just about what we avoid, but what we apply: "We should live soberly" in our inward disposition; "righteously" in our outward demonstration; "godly" in our upward devotion. We must be different to make a difference "in the present age" as we are in the world but not of it. A boat is of no use unless it's in the water, but get water in the boat and you're sunk!  Paul says that Christ has purified us "for Himself."  We belong to Him—“His own special people," who are to be "zealous for good works."

The third tense deals with our prospects: WE WILL BE PREPARED (v.13).  I will be saved from the presence of sin.  That’s glorification.  I’m "looking for the blessed hope...."  Some golden daybreak Jesus will come!  The Savior whom we have heard of, we will we see with our eyes!  John wrote, "everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as He is pure" (1 John 3:3).  The hope is verse thirteen connects with holiness in verses twelve and fourteen.  The most important aspect of prophecy is not to give us information about the future, but bring transformation anticipating it.  It is a call to readiness (see 2 Peter 3:10-14).

Is your hope secure?  Does it rest upon Jesus Christ?   Remember,  

Only one life;

‘Twill soon be past;

Only what’s done for Christ, will last.

OUR COMMON FAITH

To Titus, a true son in our common faith….  (Titus 1:4a)

Paul, in greeting his young protégé, Titus, uses the expression, “our common faith.”  He does not mean by that, of course, that faith in Christ is a common thing, in the sense of being ordinary and cheap, like finding sand on the floor at a beach house.  No, our salvation is uncommonly wonderful!  Several elements that the Apostle mentions in this first chapter of Titus compel us to be in awe of amazing grace.  What Paul means is that this faith is something that all believers have in common.  It does not matter the country of our birth, the color of our skin, the number of our years, the size of our bank account, the amount of our education, the gender of our sex, or any other category that people put us in—we all have the same salvation—our common faith.  

Our common faith is one that is shared by the elect.  Paul writes of, “the faith of God’s elect” (v.1).  We are saved—not because we earned it or deserved it—but because a sovereign God chose us in sheer grace!  All of God’s redeemed were chosen by God before the foundation of the world, “promised before time began,” (v.2).  While we may not fully understand this, we exult in it!  Spurgeon said it this way, “I am sure He chose me before I was born, or else He never would have chosen me afterwards.”

Our common faith is one that is based on the truth.  Paul speaks of, “the acknowledgment of the truth which accords with godliness” (v.1).  God uses His truth to call us to salvation—no exceptions.  Now, we may only understand a few fundamental matters of the Gospel when we come to faith—that we are sinners, that Christ is the Savior who died on the cross for our sins and rose from the dead to bring eternal life, and that by faith in Him we can be saved—yet, the Gospel must be heard and we must acknowledge it.  No one is saved apart from the truth.  This makes us clean—godly and not ungodly in our position—and enables us to live a different lifestyle, progressively growing in godliness.

Our common faith is grounded in the immutable (v.2).  Paul speaks of hope, but not in this way:  “Are you saved?  Well, I hope so!”  That is not what Scripture means by hope.  Biblical hope is a confident assurance that what God has promised, God will fulfill.  It rests on the solid foundation of God’s immutable character.  He “cannot lie….”  It is eternal life for it was a promise made by God that is timeless—given before the world began and guarded when this word is no more!  If you could be saved and lose it—that wouldn’t be eternal!

Our common faith is manifested in the Gospel (v.3).  Who was the “preacher” who shared the Gospel with you?  It may have been your parents, it might have been a Sunday School teacher or Vacation Bible School worker, or perhaps a pastor.  All I know is that God uses human instrumentality to bring His witness to any and all who have faith.

Our common faith is evident in our regeneration (v.4).  Paul calls Titus a “true son,” not a pretender—the real deal.  He was born from above.  “Grace, mercy, and peace” came flowing down from the Father through the Son.  

We all have these in common—every child of God!  How uncommonly fantastic is our common faith!

THE PREACHER'S TASK

Preach the word!  (2 Timothy 4:2a)

There are many good things a pastor can do.  There are a number of those things he should do.  There is one thing he must do.  Paul’s charge to Timothy was above all, “Preach the word!”

This is a call to EXALT THE MASTER (v.1).  Paul was an apostle—his favorite title, however was, “a servant of Jesus Christ.”  The man of God is not his own.  I know that every child of God belongs to Christ and has been purchased by His blood, but in a special way a preacher has been set apart for the service of the Lord. 

One factor that motivates the pastor’s obedience is THE AWARENESS OF GOD, “I charge you therefore before God….”  Every thought is read in heaven—it is before God as an open book.  Every word spoken is heard in heaven—it is before God.  Every deed done is witnessed by God—it is before Him.  Nothing escapes His scrutiny.  

The second factor is THE APPEARING OF CHRIST, “and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom….”   Our accountability is not ultimately to our fellow elders, the deacons, or even the congregation, but to Christ.  Your reward or lack thereof is going to be determined by your faithfulness to Christ.  Words have such power.  They play a significant role in our accountability because they are so powerful. 

We are then charged to EMBRACE THE MANDATE (v.2a).  Preaching is our mandate.  God only had one Son and He made Him a preacher.  If you are called to be a preacher, don’t stoop to become a president.  Good activity can become the enemy of the great priority.  The first Apostles refused to let important ministries divert them from their ministry of the Word and prayer.  If the Word of God won’t do it—it won’t get done.  Stand, with a Bible in your hand and speak with the authority of heaven as an ambassador of Jesus Christ.  Preach the Word and not your opinions!

Make certain to EXPOUND THE MESSAGE (v.2b-4).  

Preach the word CONTINUOUSLY, “Be ready in season and out of season.”  Preaching is always in season, even out of season.  Use every opportunity to communicate the truth—individuals, small groups, large gatherings, in written and spoken form.

Do it CONVINCINGLY, “Convince….”  We are not merely giving out information about God—we are demanding a verdict.  

Preach CORRECTIVELY, “rebuke….”  The preacher must confront sin.  A good doctor probes a sore spot.  He cuts out any cancer.  People are spiritually sick.  Spiritual surgery with a Scriptural scalpel is painful, but essential.

Proclaim truth COMPREHENSIVELY, “with all longsuffering and teaching.”  Our messages must be Biblically based, theologically sound and doctrinally instructive—the whole counsel of God.  

Preach the word COURAGEOUSLY, (v.3-4).  We must be faithful in the face of opposition.  Don’t tickle their ears with truth tailored for their tastes.

Don’t fail to EXHIBIT THE MINISTRY (v.5).  Model the message.  “But you be watchful in all things….”  You have been appointed an “overseer.”  You must guard the church from wolves who would prey on the flock.   This requires you, “endure afflictions….”  Trials are going to come.  Don’t quit!  Make sure to “do the work of an evangelist….”  Set the standard for soul-winning.  Thus, you will “fulfill your ministry.”  Demonstrate your devotion daily.  People had rather see a sermon as hear one.

I solemnly charge you—as one who will answer to God—a dying man to dying men, preach as never to preach again!