PERILOUS TIMES
2 Timothy 3:1
But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come.
Perilous – (Greek: chalepos) difficult, dangerous, furious, fierce,
through the idea of reducing the strength;
to lower (as into a void)
From the base word chasma – chasm or gulf, impassable interval
2 Timothy 3:2-5
For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such turn away!
2 Timothy 3:10-17
But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance, persecutions, afflictions, which happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra – what persecutions I endured. And out of them all the Lord delivered me.
Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.
But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.
But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, 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.
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
2 Timothy 4:1-5
I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom:
Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables.
But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
2 Peter 4:7-11
But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers.
And above all things have fervent love for one another, for love will cover a multitude of sins.
Be hospitable to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it with ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
We are in perilous, fierce, furious times.
Daniel 7:25 – He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, Shall wear out the saints of the Most High, And shall intend to change times and law.
It’s plain to see that men are lovers of themselves – all the things listed in 2 Timothy 3. We need to be careful that we are not totally immersed in just ourselves, our ministry, our calling, our destiny.
God intends to work in each one of us, and we are not to ignore the place and purpose that we are called to – we must fulfill it – but we must every be mindful of the whole body of which we are a part. Each part must do its job or the body doesn’t function, but we cannot dismiss another’s part while we focus on our own calling. 1Corinthians 12:21 – And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need you.”; nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”
On the other hand (speaking of body parts 🙂 ), sometimes we say, “It’s not about me, Lord – it’s all about You.” That’s one side of the coin. Everything Jesus did, especially on the cross, was for us, for me, for you. It actually is all about me and you. But not so we can be self-absorbed but rather complete and ready to do his calling and be a blessing to the body of Christ and all the world.
When you think how we as parents and grandparents dote on our children and grandchildren, it’s only a small reflection of how God desires to dote on his children.
So, too, in that scenario, children must fit into their parent’s lives for a time and live orderly within the home in order to grow and learn and fulfill their purpose. Just as we dote on our children we also discipline them. It’s two sides of the same coin.
In the last days, the end-times, we also have two sides of the coin. We must be cognizant of what is going on in the world – all the things predicted in 2 Timothy 3 and throughout the Bible – and we must recognize that in the midst of that time, God has great purposes, blessings, destinies for us. We are here, as Esther, for such a time as this.
In the time of Esther when the decree from Haman went out to destroy all the Jews throughout Persia, the Jews did not know that behind the scenes God had placed Esther in the King’s Palace – and probably not the place she desired to be at the first. Only she and Mordecai saw God’s hand, and even they were not sure if the plan would work.
The Jews throughout the land had to prepare themselves, pray, and trust God.
There have been great persecutions which we have not seen – to the Jews and to Christians throughout the generations. Very recently the beheadings of Christians in the middle east, the abduction, torturing, and slavery of Christians in the Sudan. There is probably much we have not seen or heard. Because of that we must pray, pray, pray.
Israel is under constant bombardment by Hamas – right now rockets and burning arrows are being shot into Israel. They are often shot from homes, hospitals, and schools, so that when the Israeli Defense Forces shoot back, it’s into places where innocents dwell. Then the news is about how evil Israel is.
We may think we experience a lot of persecution or very little.
If we think in terms of fierce and furious times with the intent to weaken or reduce strength or to wear out the saints, I think we can see a great deal of persecution going on in our culture.
Now, when we think of the Last Days or the End times we may thinks in terms of wars and rumors of war, earthquakes, and the rise of the anti-Christ, and troubling times, all Biblical. So many aspects.
Shane Warren has written a book, The Last Days of America?
I watched him share highlights from the book.
In Revelation 7, God talks about the angels at the 4 corners of the earth (incidentally – the Jews would be scattered to the 4 corners of the earth) and the 4 winds.
Pastor Warren sees the prevailing winds that have affected life on earth in every nation over all time as
War, Economy, Religion, and Politics.
And as he says, these winds are escalating and getting violent.
Right now, in this day in which we live, the world uses these winds (war, economy, religion, and politics) to push their ideology (in line with the spirit of anti-Christ). And if anyone stands in their way they are to be eliminated.
He stated that the spirit of anti-Christ has been growing gradually and slowly invading every area of life and culture so as to build a platform for the anti-Christ. Thus, when the Anti-Christ, the person, comes on the scene, he will be widely accepted – people’s hearts and minds have been prepared to accept him.
Revelation talks about the dragon with 7 heads, generally thought to be world empires:
Egyption, Assyrian, Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Grecian, Roman, Revived Roman
He identifies each of these with a prevailing spirit.
Egyptian – bondage
Assyrian – division
Babylonian – confusion
Medo-Persian – frustration, Nehemiah trying to rebuild the walls while the enemy sought on every hand to stop the progress
Grecian – persecution
Roman – tolerance
Revived Roman – anti-Christ
Psalm 137 – Babylon, confusion, took the Israelites into captivity. They lost their vision (purpose), song (joy), and their children were lost.
The Grecian spirit of persecution is the plan and attempt to change laws which is why the Supreme Court is so important.
Right now we have tolerance for everything except Christianity and Judaism.
Daniel 7:25 – the anti-Christ era is purposed to wear out the saints – perilous times
HOWEVER
*****
The greatest wind of all time is the Holy Spirit
Yes, the world will wax worse and worse
but our light shines brighter and brighter to the noon day sun.
When it’s the darkest, the smallest light is far-reaching.
We have a job to do in these perilous times.
Be ever vigilant to be tuned in to the Holy Spirit.
Pray without ceasing.
Pray with authority – we do not need to beg God – we take our place on the wall and pray according to scripture and by the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Have fervent love for one another for love covers a multitude of sins.
Realize that others in the body are not perfect, but they are the body and we cannot just criticize and say we don’t need them – we need everyone. So let forgiveness and love cover everyone while we do not hide from right and wrong. Confronting wrong can be done in love and faith.
Stay informed of what is going on in our country, in our government, in our economy, in the world, in Israel. Pray for the nations.
The nations will be judged by how they treat Israel.
When you look back at the great moves of God in the world, they were always prepared with prayer.
But, we must learn to pray with authority.
To sit in the heavenlies with Jesus and learn to see the end from the beginning.
When you know what Jesus has provided us –
salvation (wholeness, healing, provision, protection, restoration, prosperity, peace)
the right to be the Children of God
the assignment as His ambassadors, His place in this world
His body in the earth, ruled by the Head
the commission to bring His presence and salvation to every venue of life
The Word, to know His will
Then you will pray with authority and not bow to Satan’s schemes – not just with yourself, but your family, and all the places your feet go, the places where He has placed you.
Who impressed Jesus the most:
The Centurion whose servant was ill
Matthew 8:5-10
Notice what the Centurion understood.
Authority
And speaking the word in a place of authority
He had people over and under him and all commands were obeyed whichever way it went.
Jesus called it faith.
We have been given His authority in the earth.
When we command in the Spirit in line with the word, the enemy must back off.
This is not to command each other but to put the enemy to flight.
To command the weapons formed against us, our family, our church, our nation to cease.
We are not to be ignorant of Satan’s devices.
2 Corinthians 10:4
The weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to pulling down of strongholds.
Luke 9:1,2
Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases. He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.
Luke 10:17-20
Authority to trample over all the power of the enemy.
A traffic cop doesn’t have the physical ability to stop a moving car, but his uniform and his place gives him the authority to be obeyed.
We don’t wrestle physically with demon powers, but we are confidently given authority – we don’t have to scream, but we tell the enemy to stop with authority and confidence.
Last days appointed times, set times that God has given. You see it in the verses that speak of the fullness of time coming, prophecies and events set for the future days and past days in Israel’s history. As much as some of these we would like to pray against these arriving, we need to recognize that some things must come to pass. We need to be discerning and led of the Spirit while we take the authority of the Word. Obviously the perilous times are here and coming, men are lovers of themselves, but we have authority to pray for our family, that their eyes will be open and protection will be upon them so they don’t fall prey to the enemies schemes. We have much to learn in prayer and we need to get busy.
Prepare for next week:
What are the places of influence you have: __________________________
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What are the works of the enemy in those places: _____________________
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What are promises in the Word that show you what God would prefer in those places:
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Formulate a prayer, according to the Word, that you can pray or consider what confidence you can have to deal with the situation: _________________________________________
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Start praying that prayer or walking in that authority and confidence every day.
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