Sabbath 9/27/14 West Palm Beach SDB Pastor Jasmine sermon The Last Days

The Last Days by Jasmine Lynch 9/27/2014 Our Text is 2 Timothy 3

We often here individuals say “we are living in the last days,” and we often say that too when we look at what is going on in society. It is interesting to note that the apostles thought they were living in the last days. That means the last days started over two thousand years ago as we shall see in the scriptures and then we will see how what is happening in our last days line up with the scripture. I know you came to church to get away from all the sad and bad things in the news, and I want to leave them behind too, but we are going through the Book of Timothy and I can’t skip over this chapter because I do not like what it talks about.
Pray
First I am going to let us look at the Scriptures to prove that the last days started over 2000 years ago. Turn with me in your Bibles to Acts 2:16-21. This is a very familiar story of what happened on the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was poured out on the disciples. When they began to speak in different languages, the people said they were drunk and Peter stood up and addressed the crowd to let them know that they were not drunk. He said,
No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
17
“‘In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
18 Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.
19 I will show wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below,
blood and fire and billows of smoke.
20 The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
21 And everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved.’[
a]
Peter said they were living in the last days. Hebrew 1:1-2In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. Author of Hebrews is unknown. Now we come to 2 Timothy 3: our text for the day. Now Paul is speaking. “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.” (NIV)
But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come (NKJV)
What are some of the things that mark the last days:
The word perilous means dangerous. I am just going to read the chapter while you follow. (Read the chapter)
The last days is a time of wickedness: lovers of self- selfishness reigns. V. 2-5
2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And fr They are pleasure seekers. om such people turn away! Let’s just look at V2-5
I don’t think there has been a time when people love money as they do now. We have people working two and three jobs, and in spite of that, people are filing bankruptcy, business going out of business, not because they are not making a profit, but they are not making as much profit as predicted. The US Department of Statistics recorded in 2012 1,648,388 filed bankruptcy. Fl. Had 68,604.
Boosters, proud, blasphemers- Isol group is beheading innocent people and boasting about it. Children in school used to boast that their parents were better than your parents, they could write better than you could, play ball better than you. Today, they boast about how many times they get drunk, how many girlfriends they have, and how many friends they have on face book. TV hosts enjoy talking about the number of Martini they had or they need right now in the early morning show. They even drink it on the show.
“disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy.” Ingratitude is a word to describe the “Me Generation” They feel entitled. You cannot do enough. They do not know the word “No.” Can you imagine a young man hacking his mother and father to death because they told him he cannot have a party? Not only did he hacked them to death, but he closed the door and had 65 of his friends over and had the party with the body of his bludgeoned parents behind the closed bedroom door. That happened here in Port Saint Lucy, but it could happen in any community. Look at what happened in the elementary school in Connecticut. He killed his mother and then went and killed 20 innocent elementary school students and six teachers. Just last week, a man killed his daughter and five grandchildren and himself in florida. And what about mothers and fathers leaving their babies in locked cars to go shopping? Do these fit the description “without self-control, brutal, despisers of good.”

Talk about 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,” 5
The President and our elected officials and leaders from around the world are afraid of these people. Over 100 Americans and numerous British citizens have joined the Isol group. Everyone is calling them the worst kind of traitors. Notice because of their brutality, they have made brutes out of God fearing people who now vow to go in and destroy them, wipe them off the face of the earth, but in the process must destroy towns and innocent people. Then yesterday, we had a man in this country who was imitating the group, stabbed a woman at his work place and then beheaded her and was shot by a security guard before he behead another woman. In my beautiful Island of Jamaica, in the past couple years, we hear of individuals robbing people and beheading them just being brutal and despisers of good.
But that’s not the only kind of traitors there are. Those who have a form of godliness but denying its power are also traitors. Outwardly, they are religious. They tell others they have accepted Christ as their Savior and fail to follow Him or keep His commandments. When we do that, we are traitors to our commander in chief, to the kingdom of Heaven. Notice how loyal those men are to their newly found leader. They do anything he tells them to do, leaving behind their country, their parents, brothers and sisters to follow their new leader.
Matthew 16:24 “Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” Oh that we could be so devoted and do exactly as Jesus tells us to do.

Blasphemers are impious against God, showing no respect for God or God’s people. God tells us to discipline our children, train them in the way they should go. In these last days we have the state telling us how we should train them. Look at the shift in just this topic how things will get worse and worse: In 1999, the Oklahoma State Law gave parents the right to spank their children. The bill was approved in the House 96-4 and in the Senate 36-9. Now because of the depravity and violent nature, lack of love, of parents, we have people in various State and the Federal Government taking that right away from parents. Parents are now afraid to discipline their children. The world is in chaos. Just this week a parent sent her child to play outside while she is inside cooking. A neighbor saw the child playing without supervision, took the child to the parent but called child protective services. Where do you draw the line? Here this woman had a form of godliness. She is looking out for the child’s wellbeing, but couldn’t she just take the child to his parent and caution her about kidnappers and not call the police? We are to look after each other for good not to create problems for them. V. 5 says we should turn away from people who have a form of godliness and deny the power of God.

V. 6 For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, 7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. This explains why the divorce rate is so high today. In these last days. Wikipedia reported the divorce rate although it said we are comparing two different populations, the number that got married in a year with the number that got divorced in a year not taking into account the years individuals were married. One observation I made was that the countries that had the highest number of divorce were not God fearing or Christian countries. Many were small countries like Belgium with 71%, Hungary 67% Portugal 68% Check Republic 66% Estonia 58%, Luxembourg 67% Great Britain 47% and US 53% . The statistic is for the year 2010. Individuals loaded down with sin are led away by various lusts. V. 7. Notice that these people are always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. They never look inwardly to see what is wrong with their behavior, their attitude to the opposite sex, they keep going from one woman to another. What did Paul say,
“always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
v. 13 But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. Our hope is in V. 14 -15 14 But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, 15 and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
And why should we continue in the things we have learned from the Scriptures? V. 16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.

Conclusion: We are living in the last days which started two thousand years ago. Each year things get worse and worse and we know that Jesus said, he will shorten the days for the elect. Don’t give up now. Our redemption draws near. Let us seek out the truth and practice living a life of truth. Let’s not join the greedy, money lovers, the boasters, the proud, the haughty, and the godless. Let’s continue in the things which we have learned from the Scriptures. Persecution of Christians is happening in many parts of the world. We saw the Isol group rounding up Christians and having them dig their own graves and burying them alive. When we see these things, we must look up for our redemption draws near. We are living in the last days, but let’s take heart, God will not give us more than we can bear, but we must be ready to meet Him. He said, “This Gospel of the message must be preached into all the world, and then shall the end be” TBN along with various denomination including our own are spreading the gospel message all over the world. Are you ready for Jesus return? If He should come today, are you ready?
 
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