In this present day full of arrogant and self-absorbed people we are continually running into people who think we are too radical if we love the Lord Jesus Christ with all our hearts enough to speak His word boldly and live what we believe.
Many people "say" they are "bible believers" but negate more of the Bible than they obey, thinking they are special and compliant for adhering to some of the principles of Jesus Christ while ignoring and twisting others.
Mark 7:13
"13 thereby invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that.” The words of God they ignore or malign are the ones they are guilty of violating so they pretend not to see them or worse change their meaning to fit their desired beliefs.
2 Timothy 4:3 "For the time will come when they will not tolerate sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance with their own desires,"
I have not been chastised for not following scripture, but I have been chastised many times for declaring what God said to those who claim to be Christians.
I have not been chastised by unbelievers for using the word of God because they don't know it and have no means of refuting what I say to them. However, I have been treated with contempt and dismissiveness by those who say they are Christians who want to defend their false version of truth to be able to accept the very things God hates.
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 are living in the days of the great apostasy in which the organized church system cares more about pleasing the pew people than they do about obeying Christ.
Isaiah 30:10
They say to the seers, "Stop seeing visions!" and to the prophets, "Do not prophesy to us the truth! Speak to us pleasant words; prophesy illusions."
These are the times we are living in right now as prophesied in Isaiah.
The following passage tells us what to do in these times of rebellion.
2 Timothy 1:13
"Hold on to the pattern of sound teaching you have heard from me, with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus."
2 Timothy 3:1-5
Difficult (ragingly insane) Times Will Come
3 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.
2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, slanderers, 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 people as these.
We are living in the days just like those of Noah when few will want to hear the truth and the laborers are few. We are a small remnant who care about the heart of God. Most people, yes and even in the church gatherings, will follow their own desires and negate God's word to feel justified in their rebellion.
In verse 5 of 2 Timothy 3 we read that the solution for us is to avoid such people who refuse to hear truth while claiming they are Christian. God says they will have a form of godliness but negate His Word in favor of their lust for pleasure and self-exaltation.
Do not become anxious about this brothers and sisters, do not take it personally, they would be mean and rude to anyone who challenges their hypocrisy and lies against God. And, remember too that we are living in our "boot camp" in which we must learn to be strong, for our learning to be able to lead with Christ in the Millennium.
These times of rejection will serve us well as we learn to stand alone with Christ. The most blessed person is the one who can be alone and rejected while being empowered by the Holy Spirit in us to avoid being sucked into the mess of the world.
1 John 2:14-16 "14 I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one. 15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world.…"
Who do you stand with, the world or with Christ, you cannot do both?
