[x_custom_headline type=”left” level=”h4″ looks_like=”h4″]You and I are living in the last days, and what the Holy Spirit calls, “Perilous Times.” When you read the verses below, I think you will find it very interesting what the Holy Spirit considers “perilous times.” If you were making your own list of what “perilous times” were, I wonder if your list would be anything close to that which the Holy Spirit gave to the Apostle Paul.[/x_custom_headline]
[x_blockquote cite=”2 Timothy 3:2-4″ type=”left”]“For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;”[/x_blockquote]
Wow! What a list! Look closely at each of these things that the Lord said would be stressful and troublesome in the last days. Because you and I are already living in this time, I have placed each of them in the present tense.
[highlight]1. People are in love with themselves.[/highlight]
This simply means that they are going to put themselves above you every time, no matter what.
People who are in love with themselves are the hardest people to deal with
[highlight]2. People are covetous.[/highlight]
In these last days people want what they have and what you have, too.
[highlight]3. People are boasters.[/highlight]
Monitor the conversations going on around you. Notice how much bragging and boasting goes on in those conversations. Sometimes it gets so thick that it can be nauseating.
[highlight]4. People are proud.[/highlight]
God blesses humble people. God uses humble people. Proud people always cause trouble; at home, at work and at church.
[highlight]5. People are blasphemous.[/highlight]
The airwaves are filled with blasphemous music, talk shows and television programs. The newsstands and bookstores are overflowing with blasphemous publications of all kinds.
You cannot deny that we live in an anti-God, anti-Christ, anti-church, and anti-Bible world.
[highlight]6. Disobedient to parents.[/highlight]
In these last days, this has come to a near crisis in many homes and families.
[highlight]7. People are unthankful.[/highlight]
Perhaps this is the most unthankful, ungrateful generation who has ever lived. No one seems to appreciate anything any more. People seem to think that everyone “owes” them something.
[highlight]8. People are unholy.[/highlight]
Every generation and society has been filled with unholy people. But our generation has mastered the art of broadcasting it and publicizing it.
[highlight]9. People are without natural affection.[/highlight]
It isn’t natural to want to kill your unborn child.
It isn’t natural to want to have homosexual relationships.
It isn’t natural for parents to hate their children or for children to hate their parents.
[highlight]10. People are trucebreakers.[/highlight]
We live in a time when even if you have a signed contract with people, they still won’t keep their word.
[highlight]11. People are false accusers.[/highlight]
Just like the devil, who is the accuser of the brethren, false accusers are everywhere. It has come to the point where you can believe almost nothing you are told about others, especially when the one speaking to you has an obvious intention of making the other person look bad.
Don’t believe everything you hear. Those who receive a false accusation are just as guilty as those who tell it.
[highlight]12. People are incontinent.[/highlight]
These are people who have no self-control. They do what they want, when they want, no matter who it may hurt.
[highlight]13. People are fierce.[/highlight]
These are savages. They are wicked people bent on destroying other people’s lives. Our world today is filled with such people.
[highlight]14. People are despisers of those that are good.[/highlight]
It seems hard to believe, but there are people who hate you and want to see harm come to you simply because you are a good person. Wicked people hate good people because the goodness exposes the wickedness within them.
[highlight]15. People are traitors.[/highlight]
Those who you thought would be there for you forever are often the first to abandon you when you need them the most. But traitors are even worse. They not only abandon you, they completely turn against you and side with your enemies.
[highlight]16. People are heady.[/highlight]
Heady people are reckless. They are headstrong and often make hasty, rash decisions which can cause harm to others.
[highlight]17. People are highminded.[/highlight]
When you study this word “highminded” you find that it means to be “wrapped up in smoke.” In other words, these people are so conceited, arrogant and full of themselves that they can’t see past their own noses.
[highlight]18. People are lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God.[/highlight]
There is no question about the truth in this statement. The TV comes before Jesus. Hobbies come before Jesus. Sports come before Jesus. In fact, anything and everything you can name seems to come before Jesus in these last days.
[x_blockquote cite=”2 Timothy 3:5″ type=”left”]“Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.”[/x_blockquote]
These people are pretenders. They pretend to be godly, but everything about them denies the power of godliness.
What are we supposed to do with people like this? Avoid them.
If your list of friends is people like those we just read about, you will be in big trouble in these last days. So get into a solid church teaching the uncompromised Word of God, and make friends from among the sold out believers there. You will be eternally grateful that you did.
