"... in the last days perilous times will come: 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 people turn away!"
When Cain slain Able and the earth's inhabitants mocked Noah the nascent days look an awful lot like the last. When Hitler ruthlessly exterminated countless Jews and Charles Manson mindlessly murdered innocent victims that ventured into his path, the present looks an awful lot like the past. My Mom and Dad would say to me, "My goodness, we never saw things like this when we were young." Funny, I echo the same to my children. Distinctive lines between the wretchedness of man's past and present, present and past sometimes seem terribly blurred. Sin is sin, but man's unabashed and brazen willingness to expose it for all to see does seem to become more bold over time. Sin's future is more prominent than its past, that's what the Bible says.
Rather than look at the whole world, I'll look at the church world, the church universal. Here is seen an elevation of sin's exposure more than ever, at least from my vantage point. Men giving way to sexual favors, lusts and the like are demolishing families. Church elders are being taken down like a string of lined dominoes toppling one on the other. Monetary gain has taken precedence over godly gain. Women refuse to submit to the heavenly order of purpose, assuming roles God never intended. I guess these are in deed perilous times.
Lately I've become angry at these epochs. The devil is wrecking havoc on God's church. But the devil is God's devil (cf. Job 1:12), and nothing happens to His church without the granting of permission. It's right to be mad, but it's also right to view such perilous times as an order of God. Why? To somehow, someway bring honor and glory to Him. I don't get it, not fully. Couldn't He just keep everyone in their place and not permit such darkness to roam the earth? Of course He could, but then where's the contrast? What's glorious if there's nothing to compare it against? I don't know if this is God's purposes, but it's the best way I know how to make any logical semblance, meaning and logic out of treacherous times. This is comforting, and this supplies peace where nothing else can give satisfaction.
One thing's for sure. Avoid such men!
Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus!
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