OUR CRITICAL TIMES

2 Timothy 3:1-13 (New American Standard)

1 But realize this, that in the last days difficult 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. 6 For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, 7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 8 Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of depraved mind, rejected in regard to the faith. 9 But they will not make further progress ; for their folly will be obvious to all, just as Jannes's and Jambres's folly was also. 10 Now you followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, perseverance, 11 persecutions, and sufferings, such as happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium and at Lystra ; what persecutions I endured, and out of them all the Lord rescued me! 12 Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. 13 But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

  This is a picture of just how hopeless and empty society really is?  Just glance over 2 Timothy 3.  Within the first thirteen verses, I find three descriptions of our world: difficult, depraved, and deceived.

The first verse refers to our times as "difficult."  The King James version renders the word perilous.  Another translates it terrible.  The Greek root word means "grievous, harsh, fierce, savage."  It is used only one other time in the New Testament.  In Matthew 8:28, it appears when the writer describes two men with demons as being "extremely violent."  What an apt description of our world! Savage harsh, violent.  If you question that, if you need proof that that is no exaggeration, check this morning's news on the Web or listen to the evening news.  Both will convince you our "village" is in desperate straits.

  Further in the passage, we read of two men from the days of Moses as representatives of people in these "difficult" times. "Depraved" is the word to describe them (2 Timothy 3:8). It means humanity is as bad off spiritually as it can possibly be. Dead toward God. Unmoved by anything spiritual. Hard-hearted and dark within. Depravity is a universal disease in society. And we are reaping what we have sowed.

  Now let's look at the third descriptive term. It will not surprise you to read these words: "But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived" (3:13). The last word is the one to notice: "deceived."

  Today's "village" is a place where impostors flourish.  Rip-off experts flood every profession.  Religious charlatans are here as well.  Many politicians speak smoothly from both sides of their mouths.  No one can deny the phony-baloney facade of ads and fads. And Scripture is right; society proceeds "from bad to worse."  Remove "the spring" of life from the village—take away the salt and the light—and within a brief time, "the village" becomes a diseased cesspool of contamination.

  Technically, there can be only one "keeper of the spring": Jesus Christ, the Lord.  But we, His servants, His representative ambassadors, have been commissioned to carry on until His return.  We, His servants, are assigned to the duty.

 ~Crosswalk~

FIRST FRUITS

Matthew 22:37

37 And He said to him, " 'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.'

  The Bible explains , many times, that we are to give our "firstfruits."  In bible times, people lived on the food they grew.  Giving God their firstfruits would mean giving Him the best and the first of what they had to give.

Giving your firstfruits is a tangible, visible way of telling God that He is first in your life.  God has always demanded that He be first because He is God.  In Revelation 2:4, Jesus told the church: "You have left your first love."  Jesus had slipped into second or third place. When God stops being first, we have a problem.

Colossians 1:18 tells us we should live in a way "that [Jesus] Himself might come to have first place in everything."  Jesus wants to be the focus of every aspect of your life all the time, without exception.  Why?  Because everything we have and ever will have is from God.  He deserves to be the focus because He is the Creator, Sustainer, Source, Savior, and King. 

A passage from Haggai tells us where our priority as stewards should be:"You have sown much, but harvest little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; … he who earns, earns wages to put into a purse with holes" (Haggai 1:6). When God is not first, we can't possibly enjoy the stuff of life. Whenever the provisions of God become your god, you have replaced the true God with your own god. Why do we continue to rob from God, and then expect Him to still bless us. 
  I read, that in a church poll, they found that only about 11% of church goers tithed.  Even fewer were willing to donate there time to the body of Christ. This suttle disobedience to God could ruin you financially, and hinder you from a deeper relationship with God. Ask yourself this question: Are you sowing into the Kingdom, or are you filling your purses, only to find out one day it is all gone?

HOW DARE WE LIVE FOR THE BLESSING'S OF THIS LIFE, INSTEAD OF THE GOD WHO PROVIDES THE BLESSING?

MAN UP!!!

1 Corinthians 16:13 
Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. 
(NIV)

Deuteronomy 31:6 
Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you. 
(NKJV)
Read this next passage, as if you were Joshua, and the Lord is directly talking to you.
Joshua 1:3-9                                                                                                            I promise you what I promised Moses: ‘Wherever you set foot, you will be on land I have given you ... No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you.Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do. Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do. This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you Wherever you go. (NLT)

                                  He will carry you!


   Over the last few years, I have been in direct contact with a "Fatherless Generation".  I have spent many years coaching baseball and football, and have seen the effect of fatherless boys and girls first hand in Children's Ministry.  I thought the church would be a place where Men of God could be found, but found just as many fatherless children there as in the world.  I have prayed for these families constantly and have seen God move in some of the families.  The thing that disturbed me the most was the lack of a Godly male influence in families that had a father present.  I could beat around the bush.  I could sugar coat the way I feel, but I choose to be as blunt as I can in the attempts to wake some of you up.   MAN UP!  It's time to be the man God called you to be.  He did not call you to pervert His word, He called you to uphold it.  He did not call you to sit down, He called you to stand up.  He did not call you to give in to sin, He called you to defy it.  It is really easy to sit down and do nothing while Satan inspires your children to become like him.  God blessed you with the opportunity to show your children how to live like Christ.  This is not a burden you bare.  It's what God has called you to do.  You were made for this purpose.  You should love your wife, as Christ loved the church, showing your children how a healthy, God based relationship should look like. If you sit down and leave it all to your spouse, Satan will fill the gap for you.  Are you giving your family to God or letting Satan have free rein?
   Here's the cool part!  God is not asking you to do this alone, He is with you every step of the way.  He never said it would be easy, but He said He would never leave you nor forsake you.  It's time to be Men of Courage. Take hold of God's word, and establish a relationship with God first.  Don't accept Satan's request in your home. Whether it be through music, video games, tv shows, clothing, internet, or any other means Satan may use.

Joshua 24:15

New King James Version (NKJV)

¹⁵ And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

WHEN GODLY MEN SIT DOWN, EVIL ME WILL STAND UP!  STAND UP FOR CHRIST.  BE THE MAN OF GOD YOU WERE CALLED TO BE.  ITS TIME TO.....

MAN UP

What are you doing, with what God has given you?

1 Peter 4:10

New King James Version (NKJV)

¹⁰ As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

    God has entrusted  us with the talent that He has given you.  This  includes the skills that God has given to us for His purpose.  A more specific word for a Christian's talent would be giftedness.  God doesn't give us talent just so we can benefit from it—it's meant to benefit others. We live in the "me" generation. Everyone only wants to be served, not to serve.  There is not an overflow of God's goodness coming out of the hearts of people. 

Romans 12:3-5

New King James Version (NKJV)

Serve God with Spiritual Gifts

³ For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. ⁴ For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, ⁵ so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.

   In these verses, Paul said we shouldn't get the wrong idea about who we are and lose sight of God's grace.  We are who we are by God's grace; therefore, we should be willing to serve Him with all He has given us. If we do this, others will grow in their relationship with Him.  If we are only recipients of God's gifts and not conduits of His grace, we are abusing the stewardship role.   God expects that since He is good to you, you should be good to somebody else.  Often times, in my ministry experience, I have seen people with talents that go unused.  What these people do not understand is, these talents are not theirs to hoard.  Not using your talent for God's glory is selfish, and an act of disobedience!  We could all have the mentality of -- " Use the next person Lord, I'm not ready."  Where  would the body of Christ be if we all took on this mentality?  If each one of us would give our talents and time to God, the way He intended us to, imagine the impact we could have on others.

   It's time to get out of your comfort zone, and do your part in the Body of Christ.  Don't put this one off!  Let's make an impact in the lives of others with the talent that God has given us!

ARE YOU GOOD STEWARDS OF WHAT GOD HAS GIVEN YOU?

Matthew 25:23

New International Version (NIV)

²³ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’


God will always let us know who owns what and who is in charge. How do we know He was still in charge when Adam and Eve rebelled in the Garden? Because He pronounced a curse upon the serpent. He told Adam and Eve the consequences of their sin: conflict in the home, pain in childbirth, sweat in toil, and banishment from the garden. Adam, Eve, and the serpent were all held accountable for their lack of stewardship. God let them know that He is the owner. 
God is only going to hold you accountable for what He gave you, not what He has given someone else. Never get upset because somebody else has received more from God than you have. More will be expected from them, and their stewardship does not concern you. If we would spend more time using what He has given us correctly, we wouldn't have time to look at what He has given someone else. Why? Because we'll be focused on progressing in our own Christian life.
God expects you to take what He gives you and maximize its potential. We should be satisfied with what He has given in terms of our gratitude, but we should always take what He gives us and get more out of it. We put our money in the bank to make interest, or we invest it to create a profit. We maximize the potential of that money.
The stewardship mentality says that we joyfully receive what God gives us and use it to the best of our ability, making the most out of it for His glory. 

OUR DOWN PAYMENT

"One hundred . . . two hundred . . . three hundred," counted the man as he placed the money on the table in front of Jacob's dad . "I'll pick up the car on Thursday."

The man left, and Jacob's father put the money away. Jacob was curious. "Dad," he said, "that man is buying our old car, isn't he?" Dad shook his head yes. "You sold it for only three hundred dollars?" asked Jacob. "Is that all it's worth?"

Dad smiled. "The money Mr. Gary gave me isn't the total price of the car," he explained. "It's a down payment. He'll bring the rest when he gets the car."

Jacob nodded. "But what if he changes his mind and decides not to buy it?"

"Then he'd lose the $300," said Dad, "and I'm sure he wouldn't want to do that. A down payment is proof that a person really means it when he says he wants to buy something. It's like a guarantee that he's going to buy it." Dad grinned at Jacob. "Do you know that God has given all of us who accept Jesus as Savior a down payment on our inheritance on heaven and all that it holds"? "The Bible calls the Holy Spirit the guarantee of our inheritance."

"Cool Dad," said Jacob.

"In old English, it's something like a name," said Dad. "People used to call a down payment earnest money.'"

"Really?" Jacob said .  "But what if you change your mind, Dad? What if you decide you really don't want to sell the car to Mr. Gary?"

"That wouldn't be honest. When I accepted the down payment from Mr. Gary, I gave up my right to own the car". "I'm afraid we're not always that honest with God, though. Even after we've given ourselves to Jesus and received His Holy Spirit, we sometimes try to take our lives back and have our own way."

Jacob nodded. "I'm like that sometimes".

HOW ABOUT YOU?

Have you given your life to Jesus Christ? If so, God has given you eternal life and promises you a home in heaven where you will live with Him for all eternity. He has given you His Holy Spirit as a guarantee of that wonderful inheritance, and God won't back out on His promise to you. Be sure you are honest with God, too! Don't try to take over the control of your life again. With the help of His Spirit, live each day in a way that is pleasing to Him. 
 (Ephesians 1:13-14)
You were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance. 

All for God's Glory

2 Peter 3:18

New King James Version (NKJV)

¹⁸ but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

To Him be the glory both now and until eternity.

  God's glory is like a pair of colored glasses that tint everything you see. Whatever you do should be done for His glory. The question you must now ask about everything is, "How will this glorify God?"

  God is intent on displaying who He is. Psalm 19:1 says: "The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands." The whole earth gives us a picture of the glory of the invisible God. Nature preaches us a sermon on His glory. Everything should point us to His glory, and if it doesn't, it's because we are too "me-centered" to look for His glory. And if we are centered on ourselves, we are in sin. Sin is simply falling short of glorifying God. Romans 3:23 says: "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." You don't have to rob a bank to be a sinner. All you have to do is try to take the glory that belongs to Him alone. We are all cosmic thieves.

  God's glory is everywhere. Revelation 21:23 says when we get to heaven there will be no need of the sun or moon because the glory of the Lord will illuminate everything. There will be no night there, for the place will be consumed with the glory of God. His glory is so awesome that it will light up our heavenly home. Our problem today is that we are not consumed with the glory of God.  

2 Corinthians 3:18

New King James Version (NKJV)

⁸ But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.
  God will share His glory with no man. If you are not passionately pursuing the glory of God, He is not hanging out with you because He won't share His glory. The reason He has saved you, the reason He elected you, the reason you are a child of God is to make you part of the community of people called the church, which exists for His glory alone.  
  We are dealing with the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, the Creator of the universe, and we just give Him the leftovers in our lives. We are reluctant to adjust to what He wants. We won't redo our schedules or our plans because this is our life. But to ascribe glory to Him is to give Him recognition and authority in our lives. Jesus said in John 17:4: "I glorified You . . . having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do." Remember also that Jesus prayed before His death: "For this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name" (John 12:27-28). Christ died for the glory of God.
Can you say that in difficult times you will submit to the Lord's purpose and trust that He will be glorified? God uses all things for His glory. Once we look into the mirror of His glory, we will find that He can transform our hearts, and whatever He wants us to do, He takes responsibility for providing for it to be done. Whatever you do in word or deed, He wants you to wake up, and go to bed, with Him in mind. And if you do, He'll transform you.