Focus on Good News. . . .

A family member sent me an email last week that lines up with Piper’s devotional passage for today. His email said “Can’t help but feel the effects of the last days described in 2 Tim 3:1-5. I’m sure you feel the same. Very hard to watch the news these days… I am reminded to keep focused on the Good News that will help soften that bad news around us.”

He also said that it was not his place to say when the end would come. However, this passage does describe much of current news:

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. (2 Timothy 3:1–5)

I’m with him on focusing on the Good News. Piper didn’t do that at first. Instead he gave statistics that are three decades old and make me shudder. Men abuse women. Many abuse the police. Murder rates are high. Mocking Jesus happens and still does. Mass shootings, people driving vehicles into crowds, brutality and lack of self-control. It is all part of current world events including the abandoning of God both in public and in private.

But there is good news too. In our city, large shelters feed and take care of the homeless. The love of Jesus is taken to the streets by those who build relationships with those who feel helpless. Many groups take care of needy families with new babies. Others supply beds for children who have none. Several offer help and shelter for women who are in danger.

God calls His people to avoid those described by the above bad news. I could finger-point and shake my head in disgust at each newscast with the vanity that “at least I’m not like that” but my sin is just as disgusting to God as their evil behavior. Instead, He challenges me with verses like this:

But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not become partners with them; for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. (Ephesians 5:3–12)

The Lord does not want me to do such things, and not even talk about what they do. Instead, He tells me, “If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” (James 1:26–27)

What is more challenging than to control what I say? Maybe to change my thoughts? Maybe to be occupied with doing good instead of bad-mouthing those without Christ who are helpless to do anything that pleases God? Maybe to show other Christians how to have a relationship with those who hit the news for the wrong reasons? To pay attention to words like:

Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:16–21)

PRAY: Jesus, evil is not overcome by more evil, particularly the vanity of thinking I’m better than those involved in sin — and neglecting to glorify You as the only reason for anything good in me. You died for the world — while we were still sinners — and everyone needs to know You and Your incredible love, sacrificed to deliver us from sin’s deadly bondage.

 

The Last Day

 

Journalist Bill Vaughan once said, “An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves.” This year, if he were still alive, he might say it’s the optimist who stays up to see the old year leave, hoping a better one is coming.

Most of us are tired of the daily count of covid cases and the constant change in rules that to protect us from getting it. People are crying for a return to normal, whatever that might be. On this last day of 2021 I want to look again at what the Bible says about the last days. While the general hope is that life will improve and stay that way, Christians know that God says this is not the case. However, not all of the prophecies spell disaster and judgment. Isaiah 2:2–4 gives this good news:

It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come, and say: ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.’ For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.”

This hardly seems possible right now with daily news of conflicts and saber-rattling. It is easier to relate to what a heavenly being told Daniel: “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end. Many shall purify themselves and make themselves white and be refined, but the wicked shall act wickedly. And none of the wicked shall understand, but those who are wise shall understand.”

Peter’s NT sermon in Acts 2:17–21 is even more specific:

“ ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ ”

This is a mix of good news for God’s people amid all sorts of scary wonders in the world. While the word “magnificent” is used, this will be glorious only for those who know Jesus and terrifying for those who do not.

This next passage is a warning for God’s people and a description of today’s newspaper headlines:

2 Timothy 3:1–5. “But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.”

2 Peter 3:3–7 is even more pointed as it describes godless people: “Knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, ‘Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.’ For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.”

Another indicator of the last days is when people reject Christianity and abandon the church. This too is in the news . . .

1 John 2:18–19. “Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.”

 GAZE INTO HIS GLORY. The Bible does not give dates, only indications. Some scoff. Others are hopeful that God will change His mind. For me, one day at a time. Focus on Jesus. listen for His instructions and be obedient. Let Him be my source of peace and joy. He came the first time; He will come again, just as He promised. I am secure because He said, “And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.” He also said, “The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day” meaning He will end all the bad news defeating all who defy Him and every knee will bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord! In the end, Jesus wins!

 

Defining words and taking God seriously

“Whoever controls the definitions controls the argument.” 

Don’t know who said it, but this often applies in many situations. In a difference of opinion with someone last month, I realize that we were not talking about the same thing because we held different definitions of one key word. No one came out the ‘winner’ of the debate because we were discussing two different things!

This easily happens in theological conversations. For instance, at least one phrase in this passage could be translated two ways giving two variations in how to view what it says and how to apply it.

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. (1 John 2:15–17)

Here the phrase is “pride of life” with the ‘pride’ part being easy. It means “a false pride, a self-exalting, self-absorbed conceit of one’s own superiority; especially one that believes that all achievements are of their own doing.”

The more difficult term is that little word “life” which can be taken two ways. It literally means “livelihood or the financial means whereby one lives. However, in this context it can also mean the state of existence where I am proud and patting myself on the back about anything, not just how I make my living, but how I cook, or look, or do anything, even Bible study. Thus it could have the narrow meaning or the broader one. Most translations and theologians look at the context and conclude it is not just being proud of my job.

Christians think of loving the world as ‘worldliness’ and include in that problem the desires of the flesh and the eyes. This isn’t too hard to figure out. My flesh is that old sinful nature that ‘wants what I want when I want it’ and know that this sinfulness eventually will pass away, giving in to wanting the will of God instead. I usually interpret this as a desire for comfort that can keep me from obedience. If God wants me to do something that takes me out of my ‘comfort zone’ then this desire in my flesh will resist doing His will.

The desire of the eyes is craving what I can see, a greedy, I-want-it-all attitude that puts me in bondage to stuff. I’m already convicted about this one. I just checked my email and there was a notice of a fabric sale from an online supplier that I’ve used in the past. I have enough fabric to last the rest of my life but was immediately taken with some of the sale items. This bit of Scripture has me thinking twice about buying more stuff that I don’t need.

Back to that ‘pride of life’ thing. Is it all kinds of pride, or limited to pride in the way I make my living? I cannot narrow my interpretation just because of the word for ‘life’ that it uses because the rest of the Bible will not let me. Two examples come to mind:

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. (James 4:13–17)

Making plans without considering the will of God is a boast in myself, an arrogance. This passage uses the same word for false pride that is in the one from 1 John 2. This is bad enough, but another that uses this concept is this strong warning . . .

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. (2 Timothy 3:1–5)

Here the idea of false pride and arrogance describe those who have no use for God at all. These are worldly people through and through. This and other passages tell me that I cannot limit this command about loving the world. It goes beyond pride in how anyone is making a living and includes pride in anything, thinking that all that I have and do is my doing and leaving the grace of God out of it.

^^^^^^^^^^^^

Lord Jesus, I know that being comfortable, having possessions, and making a good living are not evil. The evil is in making those things more important than loving You and doing Your will. Sometimes the choices are obvious but more often they are subtle, distracting. I need the Holy Spirit to keep me focused on what lasts forever rather than the stuff that will pass away. Grant me a strong perception today of Your will and of the temptations from the world and my fleshy pride.

Today’s thankful list . . .

- God exposes the subtle sins.

- this life and this world will pass away — there is more to come.

- the answered prayer record of our little group of prayer warriors.

- yesterday and today felt like spring not November.

- the gift of Christian sisters.

- the gifts of music and of laughter.