These are the end times we are living in. Everything that makes sense will not be done and everything that does not make sense will be done.
2 Timothy 3 says: "difficult times will come", the word "difficult" in the original language actually means; "ragingly insane" times will come.
We are in those times right now when nothing that is done will be done with good sense and rational thinking. Get used to it, the church is leaving very soon now because all that is happening is in preparation for the antichrist rule on the earth.
2 Timothy 3:1-2 1 But realize this, that in the last days difficult (ragingly insane) times will come.
2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,
3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good,
4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
5 holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these."
Most of the people who say they are "Christian" we will encounter in this time will be indoctrinated into the ways of the world, deeply invested in their pleasure and personal ideas rather than in the wisdom of Christ. As in verse 5, we see they have a "form of godliness" but not of Christ.
2 Timothy 4:2-4 "…2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and encourage with every form of patient instruction. 3 For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears, they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires. 4 So they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.…"
We have no mandate in the Word of God to save a country or preserve the world, our marching orders as believers is to share the gospel with the unsaved and to encourage the believers as they must endure the foolishness in the world and now even in the church.
Those who are walking closely with Christ will be mocked and demeaned by those who want to pretend to be good people and may even go to church but are embarrassed at the mention of the name of Christ. They avoid discussion about Him with anyone who is not saved because they desire to be admired and loved by the world.
Luke 6:25-26 "…25 Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will hunger. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. 26 Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers treated the false prophets in the same way. "
We can always tell who is a false prophet, the first way is that they twist the scriptures to schmooze and flatter people. The second way is that the whole world loves them.
When unbelievers love a preacher but they do not become saved even remain in the congregation it is a good bet that preacher is not bold in speaking the truth from Scripture.
God said that these days would be as in the days of Noah when no one would listen to him after preaching 120 years and everyone did what was right in their own eyes. They chose to believe what they wanted to believe based on their fleshly desires, just as most Christians are doing today.
Matthew 24:37-39
"37 For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah.
38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the day that Noah entered the ark,
39 and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be."
Romans 1:31-32 "…31 They are senseless, faithless, heartless, merciless. 32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things are worthy of death, they not only continue to do these things but also approve of those who practice them."
If someone says; "I don't do that sin but I am supportive of the person who does it", they are saying they are not against the sin that God hates. They are saying they love the sinner and their right to sin more than they love God. These enablers do not love God or they would stand against sin no matter what friendships it may cost them.
John 14:15 "15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments."
Notice the wording in this verse in John? It does not beg us to keep the commandments, rather it is a statement that if we love God we "WILL" keep His commandments. Its not a command to do it it is a statement that we will because the commandments are written on our hearts.
The first clue that someone is not born again is their defense of sin, they will even fight with believers in an attempt to intimidate them into accepting sin.
Those who have been born again know they had to repent from their sins, however, the pretenders will never admit they ever had sin to repent from. They believe they have always been deserving of salvation based on their own idea of how good they have been in their life. Mostly they determine their own goodness based on how many people like them, or how many big sins they never did. They completely ignore the sin in their heart that they hide continually.
Matthew 5:27-28 "27 You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. "
1 John 3:14-16 "…14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. The one who does not love remains in death.
15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that eternal life does not reside in a murderer.
16 By this we know what love is: Jesus laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.…"
Yes if you hate someone or treat someone continually with contempt you are called a murderer by Christ. WOW, that counts everyone as having sin that needs Christ's cleansing even if they refuse to admit it, God sees it and it will be judged if not confessed.
1 John 1:9 "9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
Those who will not admit and confess their sin will not be cleaned of it, even growing worse over time, the longer they refuse to admit the greater the sin grows.
Those who are born again will not grow in wisdom and holiness if they do not keep close accounts, confessing each time they find a flaw in their character. No one automatically grows in holiness, one must confess to be cleansed to move forward in their walk of holiness.
1 John 1:9
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
1 John 1:7
"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin."
1 Corinthians 3:1-3 "1 Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual, but as worldly—as infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for solid food. In fact, you are still not ready, 3 for you are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and dissension among you, are you not worldly? Are you not walking in the way of man?…"
The Christian life is a life long experience of cleansing until we are taken out of the world. If someone has not changed at all in many years of attending church then it is possible even likely they have never been born again.
Matthew 7:21-23 "21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’"
When we are born again we want to be changed, cleansed and walking in holiness more all the time. Those who are not may need to evaluate their walk to see if they desire this world more than they love God.
1 Corinthians 11:27-29 "…27 Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Each one must examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.…"
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