Sermon Transcript — October 4, 2005
You know, brethren, everything that we are going to talk about in the next Holy Days coming up on Atonement, Feast of Tabernacles and the Last Great Day — everything that is pictured in those hinges on what takes place and what this day pictures. Everything that's coming in the future is going to hinge upon the return of Jesus Christ to this earth. So much is involved in that, that when it comes time to give their sermon on the Feast of Trumpets, there are so many topics to pick from, it's virtually impossible in two sermons to cover everything you could cover in this day of what the trumpets mean, their figurative portrayal in the Old Testament and their literal portrayal in the New Testament. You can talk about the many reasons why Jesus Christ must return and other reasons why maybe He could do it some other way to work out His plan, but why it is established that He will return and why He's going come, and all of the events that lead up to and immediately surround and then immediately follow the return of Christ. You can discuss Matthew 24, verse 22 which says that unless those days would be shortened, no flesh would be saved alive, but for the elect's sake, those days will be shortened and that He will come following on that verse you can go to Revelation 11 and read about how the kingdoms of this earth will become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ and He will reign for ever and ever. And He's going to come to this earth to destroy those who would destroy the earth, the condition of mankind that will be in such a state that He must return to save our lives and to save this world. He's going to do that. That's part of the warning element of the trumpets that are going to be blown and that play into the meaning of this day.
You can also read, though, that at the return of Christ at the last trumpet that is blown in 1 Corinthians 15 and in 1 Thessalonians 4 that at that time one of the most joyous events that we can ever anticipate takes place and that is the resurrection, that those who are dead in Christ and those who remain who are alive at His coming will be changed. And the dead in Christ will rise up and the first resurrection will take place and we will meet Him in the air and be with Him from then on as He comes back to this earth. The bride of Christ is invited, then, to that marriage supper. You can give an entire sermon just on that — and many sermons have been given on that element of it. You can discuss as Dr. Levy did today the element of Christ returning to complete the spiritual end of the covenant that He made with Israel — that He will pour upon them as we read in Zachariah 12, the Spirit of grace and supplication and that there is the Spiritual salvation to Israel that yet remains to be fulfilled that will take place after Jesus Christ returns to this earth.
But for all the reasons that you can give, basically it comes down to that nothing less is at stake than the fact that either this Bible is true or it's not. He must return or else this book is a book of lies. He must return because His own veracity is at stake, the truthfulness of Jesus Christ, Himself. He told the disciples just before He died that I go and prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you to myself. The Bible is full of prophecies about the coming of Jesus Christ. Some of them were literally fulfilled at His first coming. And they were fulfilled so succinctly and literally that in some cases the scripture says this was fulfilled so that it might be fulfilled of what the scripture said. He was pointing out that what I'm doing was prophesied here. And yet, there are still approximately roughly two thirds of those 300 plus prophesies that have not yet been fulfilled, that depend upon His coming back to the earth to make it happen. And these things are going to happen.
When you look at all of the elements that are involved with this day, it is a day of trembling and fear on one hand, it is also a day of great hope, inspiration, encouragement for the people of God, a day of purpose. And it is at the core of the entire Gospel message. It is a day that we look forward to in the Church with tremendous hope of envisioning the first resurrection and what that means. Is there anybody in this room who does not know somebody that you want to see and long to see in that first resurrection — a loved one, someone who has died in the faith — and you took comfort, you did not sorrow as others who have no hope at their funeral. There was sorrow because of the hole in your life that it might have left, but you were able to face the death of a loved one with tremendous hope and in full confidence knowing what this book says is going to take place, that at that last trumpet there will be an opening of the graves and you will see your loved ones again. How many funerals do we conduct - I guess, all of them — where we quote these words and try to give that hope.
And yet, there is one chapter in the Bible written by one apostle who was simply used as a tool of God. He was inspired by God and he wrote some words about this second coming and he was deeply concerned about one issue of the second coming of Christ — deeply concerned about one issue relating to that. And at first sight when you read this one chapter by this apostle, at first sight you might think that, well he's describing a state in the world that's going to exist. And he is. But as you read through here very carefully, you begin to see that the reason why he is describing this state in the world has to do, most importantly, with the Church because in this chapter you find embedded words such as 'stir up your pure minds by way of reminder' or, 'be mindful' or 'don't forget' or 'be diligent' or 'beware'. And you get the picture that he is writing about a condition in the world about something that relates to the return of Christ, but he's writing about it in order to send a message to the Church.
The last few weeks, several of us at the Home Office directly involved in operational planning have talked about the strengths and weaknesses and the opportunities and the threats that face the Church. We do this in terms of trying to exercise proper stewardship. We are a work of faith. We know that. We know that we ride upon God's graciousness and His help. But we also know that God expects stewards to be faithful and wise, and to do the best that they can with the responsibilities given. And so part of that preparation is analyzing where we are, where we need to go and I dare say that if this apostle was undergoing a study of the threats to the Church at the time he wrote this, he would have listed this as a potential threat to the Church. And it does relate specifically to an end time condition and it relates specifically to the return of Christ. What is it? What is this issue that is so important? And as we consider the meaning of the Feast of Trumpets today, what is it?
The apostle is Peter. The book is his second epistle. 2 Peter chapter 3. Let's go there if you will with me. In 2 Pet. 3 and verse 1, Peter wrote,
2 Pet. 3:1 - Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder... these are things that I am going to remind you of. He is repeating, actually, a thought from the first chapter where he said in chapter 1 and verse 12:
2 Pet. 1:12 - Therefore I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, though you know them, and are established in the present truth.
You see, brethren, we can know things and we can be established in the present truth, but there are still good reminders that we have to have regularly in life and he said I think it is right to do this. And he said,
Verse 15 - Moreover I am careful to ensure that you always have a reminder of these things after my decease.
And so, here in chapter 3 he says, I am wanting to ...stir up your pure minds by way of reminder,
2 Pet. 3:2 - that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Savior,
And here's the issue in verse 3. Here is the issue.
Verse 3 - knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts,
Verse 4 - and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming?... Where is the promise of His coming? Now, this is not just a condition of the world, although it is. It is not only a condition of the world, though. We have seen this phenomenon take place in the Church of God as well over the years. He was writing to the Church. "Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation."
Verse 5 - For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water,
Verse 6 - by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water.
Verse 7 - But the heavens and the earth which now exist are kept in store by the same word, reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
Verse 8 - But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
Verse 9 - The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
Peter says here that in the last days, it's always been around, but in the last days there would be an intensification of the idea that the world is going to come to an end someday and that Christ will return. The notion that Jesus Christ is coming back will be ridiculed, it will be minimized, it will be dismissed by many and what's the reason? What's the reasoning? Why would people think that way? What drives somebody to think that way? Well, he gives that as well.
Verse 3 , it is because they were ...walking according to their own lusts... or desires. When there are certain human desires that drive the way we think, we can then start to reach very different conclusions.
Now this subject of scoffing about the return of Christ is, in essence, a scoffing about what this day is all about. We need to consider this. Scoffing can take many forms. Scoffing can come in various shades. You can have people — I understand it when certain people scoff. I expect atheists to scoff. I expect people who have other totally different religious beliefs to scoff. We scoff at people who worship elephants, they probably scoff at us. I mean, if somebody is on a totally different page, I can understand it. I have a little more difficulty when people are claiming to be on the same page as this Book, and yet you also find that many people in the religious world of modern Christianity can scoff and do scoff as well at this. So scoffing can take the form of ridicule by non-believers. Scoffing can take a far more subtle form. Scoffing can be done by believers, but it can come in different ways and it has come in different ways. Scoffing can come from the standpoint of simply being skeptical. There is a lot of skepticism in the world today that is not healthy. It cuts to the faith of people. In fact, Jesus asked the question Himself, when the son of man comes, will He find faith on the earth? (Luke 18:8) That's a very thought provoking question, isn't it? Will He find faith on the earth? Well, there's an element in the world in culture and philosophy that erodes faith. It exerts a great influence on our thinking today. Secular theories of the world can create a degree of scoffing in the minds even of believers.
A couple of weeks ago we were in Akron for a mini-sampler and Mr. Antion gave a session on secularism and showing the danger of secularism. It's a far more subversive philosophy than perhaps we realize. It comes at us all the time. I doubt any of you — well, maybe a few of you might have by chance conversation like we heard in the sermonette today, but probably not many of you in the last week had to deal with false doctrinal teachings of other religious groups. But I can guarantee you, if you turned on your television and spent much time dealing with things of the world, you had secularism coming at you in very subtle ways. Post modernism, the impact of that. The eroding effect of the philosophy that there are no absolutes, the lack of absolute truth. The eroding effect of the philosophy that anybody's opinion is just as good as anybody else's. My opinion is just as good as your opinion. No, it's not! Not if it's wrong. If it's false, if it's a lie, if it's mistaken, if it's in error then somebody's opinion is not as good as anybody else's. But in a world that preaches that, it has its effect and it tends to soften and water down a sense of understanding and simply taking God for what He says. It's an attitude that you see in liberal theology that explains away miracles in the Bible. I'm talking about theologians, I'm talking about ministers who explain away things like miracles because any event that is outside normal, physical explanation has to have some other rationale behind it.
There are all sorts of philosophies today in the world of religion. You can call it if you want to, the theology of disbelief where there is so much hammering people, "just don't believe, it doesn't matter what you do believe in out there, just don't believe in this [the Bible]. Don't believe in what God says." Has it worked it's way into our culture?
Let me give you a couple of statistics here. There are not only people who scoff at Christ's coming, they simply scoff at everything that relates to the Bible, the whole package of scoffing at His word and His authority in general. Out of curiosity, do any of you subscribe to the Barna Update? George Barna has written some books, but he has a company in California and he surveys the world of religion in the United States. Every month he has a survey on some aspect. And I know that the Barna surveys have their strengths and they have their weaknesses, but overall, over the years he tends to be a very conservative type of person and he tends to be a bit discouraged at what he sees as the state of religion today. Some of his more revealing surveys in recent years have been quite eye-opening.
He took a survey earlier this year and came to the conclusion that 42% of all Americans—nearly half of all Americans — believe that when Jesus Christ lived on the earth He committed sins. Nearly half of Americans believe that. It's not just Jesus Christ, though, you can go to the other side of the coin and find out what we believe about Satan. In a 2005 survey 6 out of 10 adults in the United States — 60% say that the devil or Satan is not a living being, but is a symbol of evil. There is no Satan. He is a symbol of evil. In 2001, it was 58% so in four years, this survey has risen by 2%.
Now, what is even more interesting among that is that according to Barna surveys, about 30% of Americans classify themselves as born-again Christian. Now, born-again has a certain definition. About 7% of Americans are classified as evangelical. Probably all evangelicals classify themselves as born-again, but not all born-agains classify themselves as evangelicals. The evangelicals tend to be among the most conservative in their beliefs. But in his survey, 46% of born-again Christians deny Satan's existence. They believe Satan is a symbol of evil that doesn't really exist. Now, folks, understand what I'm saying here. 46% of born-again Christians self identify themselves as not really believing that. What is interesting, slightly more than 7 our of 10 Catholics, 73% say that the Devil is not existent and is a symbol of evil. And yet, what is also interesting — almost at first you might think, well that is contradictory, 4 out of 5 Americans believe that angels exist and influence people's lives. There is a lot of confusion out there about what is going on in the spirit world. I would say that last one is probably more a reflection of popular culture and a wide variety of religions that believe — including New Age religions that can believe in nice, spirit, angelic types of beings more than it is based on Biblical theology.
You read statics like this, and you realize that as a whole as a nation, we are pretty wishy-washy about what we believe in. What was very interesting to me, I surveyed — went up and down the Barna website and could find no survey on what people believe about the return of Christ. I wish that would have been in there somewhere.
But there is another element. He asked the question in a survey of American's beliefs awhile back. The question was, "Do you believe that truth can be discovered only through logic, human reasoning and personal experience?" Truth is discovered only through logic, human reasoning and personal experience. 54% said yes. That takes you right back to the Garden of Eden, doesn't it? Things we've heard over the years. Human experience is the determinate of truth.
Another interesting question: "The Bible, the Koran and the Book of Mormon are all different expressions of the same spiritual truths." 44% said yes; 38% said no. This all plays into a package that develops over time. It is developed over decades, but it has gotten its tentacles very deeply, firmly implanted into the American thinking and the thinking of the world - probably far worse in other areas where there is a scoffing about the Bible in general. So it's not strange to think that there is skepticism. It influences religion. There are people who believe, "but it's not necessarily a real firm belief, and we certainly not united in our beliefs across this nation". That's one type of intellectual scoffing.
There's a second type of intellectual scoffing that comes from simply rejecting authority, rejecting the authority of God's Word and, therefore, developing our own theories about the return of Christ. Dr. Levy told us one this morning. There is a theory that is predominate in the world of modern religion that says the kingdom of God is already here. The kingdom of God exists already in the form of the church and its head is a representative of Jesus Christ. Does Christ need to return? No. He doesn't need to literally come back. It's symbolic because the representative of Christ is already here and the kingdom is already here. That's one version.
There's another version of that that some say, well the kingdom of God doesn't need the return of Christ. It doesn't have to be a literal thing because Christ comes when you open your heart to Him. The kingdom comes when your heart is open and you accept Jesus as your Savior. That's what the Bible means when it says He comes to the earth in you.
There are all sorts of theories, but you come back to this statement that's a little bothersome in verse 3.
2 Pet. 3:3 - ... scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts...
What's that lust thing have to do with the developing of theories? Well don't think of lust just in the most elementary way. This word, lust, means your own personal desires, what you want, the human will. It's not hard to see how a theory could develop of 'the kingdom of God is in the form of a church and here's His representative' if at some stage of the development this was seen as a way to solidify one's power base. You get that kind of power going on, try to grasp that kind of power into your hands and then you work a doctrine of theology around that — it's not hard to see why that kind of desire or lust could lead to a certain type of theory. Most human beings have a desire or lust toward an easy path of life and there's not much a whole lot easier than to just saying “accept the Lord and He's come to you already". Ease, power — you know, without giving it a whole lot of thought, those are just two ideas that come to mind. There could be all sorts of other things that the human will desires to have and therefore it shapes its theology and doctrine around what the human lust is and the end result is that there can be a scoffing. Now, that doesn't mean that people would admit they are scoffing or say that they are scoffing. They can be very sincere about their scoffing. They can theologically and intellectually argue over where's the promise of His coming. Things continue as they are, therefore maybe there's another explanation. It makes sense if you want to be free to do whatever you want to do. If you really want to be free to do whatever you want to do, one nice thing to do is to push the coming of Christ out of the picture because here's the thing, brethren. You see, if Christ is really going to return to judge the world, if you really believe that, then that becomes the most important thing in your life. His coming becomes the most important thing and doing whatever you have to do to be in the right place at His coming - the right place spiritually — there's nothing more important. If Jesus Christ's return is at the center of life for us, if following God's way is at the center of life then we revolve around it. If it's not, then we will fit God to revolve around us, to revolve around whatever theory we want to hold. So there is a lot to consider in here that Peter was writing about and it does relate to this day.
Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:32, you don't have to turn there, but Paul said, look, if the dead do not rise, and as he was going to explain a little bit later, that has to do with taking place at the coming of Christ. The dead rising in the context he was speaking of, the first resurrection, that ties into Christ's return. If that does not happen, then let us eat, drink, be merry for tomorrow we die. That's a philosophy. That's a philosophy, it's a belief. If He doesn't come, if the dead are not going to rise then let's eat, drink and be merry because tomorrow we die. There is a lack of a sense of urgency. There is a dismissal of any importance regarding Christ's return. "Let's just — you know, we've got time to have fun. Let's devote our lives to other purposes than living for a greater purpose." It becomes a philosophy of life.
Keep your finger here in 2 Peter and take a quick look at Isaiah 22. Isa 22 — this phrase 'let us eat, drink and be merry' is an old phrase. In Isa. 22 and verse 5 we read,
Isa. 22:5 - For it is a day of trouble and treading down and perplexity by the Lord God of hosts in the Valley of Vision -breaking down the walls and of crying to the mountain.
Now, it's describing a proclamation against Jerusalem here, but it is a day of trouble. And he goes on to speak about how God removed protection from Judah and how they did different things to try to fight their battles and defend themselves, but it's very interesting in verse 7:
Verse 7 - It shall come to pass that your choicest valleys shall be full of chariots, and the horsemen shall set themselves in array at the gate.
Verse 8 - He removed the protection of Judah. You looked in that day to the armor of the House of the Forest;
Verse 9 - You also saw the damage to the city of David, that it was great; and you gathered together the waters of the lower pool.
Verse 10 - You numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses you broke down to fortify the wall.
Verse 11 - You also made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool. But you did not look to its Maker, nor did you have respect for Him who fashioned it long ago.
Verse 12 - And in that day the Lord God of hosts called for weeping and for mourning, for baldness and for girding with sackcloth.
Verse 13 - But instead, joy and gladness, slaying oxen and killing sheep, eating meat and drinking wine: "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!"
There is going hand in hand a philosophy of being physically oriented, physically minded, whatever, self-indulgent along with not respecting or rejecting — not believing God. In Isaiah 56 another interesting statement to this effect. Isa 56 in verse 1.
Isa 56:1 - Thus says the LORD: "Keep justice, and do righteousness, for My salvation is about to come, and My righteousness to be revealed.
Verse 2 - Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who lays hold on it; who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, and keeps his hand from doing any evil."
But then skip down to verse 10.
Verse 10 - His watchmen are blind, they are all ignorant; they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.
Verse 11 - Yes, they are greedy dogs which never have enough. And they are shepherds...they are shepherds ...who cannot understand; they all look to their own way, every one for his own gain, from his own territory.
Verse 12 - "Come," one says, "I will bring wine, and we will fill ourselves with intoxicating drink; tomorrow will be as today, and much more abundant."
It's a philosophy and it works its way into religion, it works its way into culture and so it is not too difficult to understand its impact on the world. In fact, Christ used this whole thought in a parable, the parable of the rich fool in Luke 12:19-21. You can check that out and read it later where he says, 'Uh, I have done so much. You know, I'm just going to rest.' He said, 'You fool, you're going to have to give account for your soul.' All these things go into a philosophy that Peter is describing that when people get so caught up in their own lust and desires, they do not respect spiritual truths and going with that is the desire to obey God.
Notice verse 5 of 2 Peter 3 and verse 5. I hope these words do not escape us.
2 Pet. 3:5 - For this they willfully forget...
It doesn't just slip the mind, it's not something that they weren't taught and they never knew, it says they willfully forget. There is an attack and a ridicule of the second coming of Christ because of a desire to live differently than what the scriptures command. Peter even goes on to explain that their basic argument strongly implies that the promise of Christ's second coming is a lie. They willfully forget this. And in verse 4:
Verse 4 - "Where is the promise...
You see, if somebody promises you something and then you call into question whether it's ever going to be fulfilled, in a sense you're are saying, 'You lied to me. Where is the promise? Things are just like it was. It's not going to happen. It's not going to come, not the way you said it would. He's not really coming back. He would have done it by now if He was really coming.' And the rationale is very interesting as well. Peter says they will look at the past to be the gauge for the future. They will look at the past, they look back and say "everything is just like it used to be. Everything is going on the way it has since creation." But even Peter says, that wasn't true. That wasn't ever true. The flood came. The flood came and people of the day of Noah could have made the same argument, "It's never flooded before. It's not going to flood now!" For 120 years as Noah build that ark you wonder what the skeptics said. "Where's the promise of its coming?" It's very easy to scoff because people tend to walk by sight and not by belief. But the truthfulness of any event is not determined by whether or not it has ever happened before. The truthfulness of any event is not determined by whether or not it has ever before, but it's determined by what God says on the subject. What God says - we live in a culture in which it's minimized. Do not be fooled just because we live in a religious culture. Religion is not the same thing as spirituality. It's not the same thing. The modern skeptic even today can add to it and say, 'yeah, look at all the predictions. Even since this was written, look at all the predictions that have come to pass' and can walk away from the belief. A lot of times what we find, to put it in the vernacular of today, it's a 'yeah, whatever mentality'. "Yeah, whatever! Your belief is just as good as my belief."
Here's the danger that Peter was thinking of / talking about as it relates to the Church. You don't have to be a scoffer to have scoffing affect you. You don't have to be a scoffer to have scoffing affect you. We could call it 'soft scoffing'. We can call it soft scoffing if a sense of urgency to live the right way is compromised by the world around us, by the philosophies, then we become a victim of this very thing that he was warning against. It's very important to understand this. There is a mind-set of society at the time of the end judging from the words that are written here that we should consider this would be a major impact of the thinking of the world toward the time of the end. There's a warning here. Regardless of whatever the thinking is of the world, Jesus Christ is going to return. It doesn't matter what everybody thinks. He is going to return. And today, the Feast of Trumpets is an affirmation for the Church of God that this is going to take place. It is called the Feast of Trumpets — plural. There are events that lead up to that time. There are trumpets that are going to blow. There are events that are going to unfold and he gives us these understandings and he tells us to keep this day, to be affirmed in this and to understand the surety of His Word. There are powerful prophesies about it. I have in the back of my Bible a chart that I copied years ago - photocopied out of an old Good News — Seven Seals of Revelation. And it charts through the scriptures in Matthew and Revelation of the seals, trumpets and the plagues. These are things that we are told will happen — very powerful prophesies. And it is good to review those thing on a regular basis. I'm not going to go to any of those prophesies, but I want to take you to another one, a rather striking prophesy that ties in with what Peter was saying.
Let's go to another prophesy. The first thing I want to do is read to you before we go there, I want to read to you the first words of it. The first words say, Now the spirit expressly... in the margin: explicitly ...says — The spirit expressly says that in the latter times some will depart from the faith. Now, you couple that with, the same author a little bit later goes into this type of detail. But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come. In the last days, perilous times will come. He explicitly told this. Now, what are the perils that are going to come? What are the perils that are listed here? You look at this chart — I could list you a whole bunch of perilous things that are going to come through the seals and the trumpets and the plagues. What are the perilous times listed here? Famine, drought, pestilence maybe? Persecution, war, tribulation, worldwide economic depression, seas turning to blood, trees burnt, fish dying. What are the perils that are being described here? Big rocks falling out of the sky? What are they? The tribulation such as the world has never seen? Well, certainly those are perils, but, you know, there other types of perils as well. There are perils that come from not events, but conditions. There are perils that come not from events, but from conditions. And what is listed here is a prophesy, a statement of perils based on conditions. The word, 'perilous', in the margin if you have New King James, in the margin it says 'times of stress'. So, in wording it a different way, know this that in the last days times of stress will come. You can go ahead and turn there. It's 2 Timothy chapter 3, a striking, striking prophesy. The battlefield for this prophesy is in the mind and it's in the individual arena and only you can fight it. And each one of us has to consider this and consider the way it ties into the world condition of scoffing and the way it becomes perilous to us. It's a source — if you read it in that one version — it's a source of stress. It will affect the thinking of people and it's also easy to get caught up in it. It's easy to be affected by it. These are all things listed that come from ways of thinking. What he lists here, he lists nineteen different things that are going to happen and every one of them have to do with the way people think. He says in verse 2:
2 Tim. 3:2 - For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
Verse 3 - unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good,
Verse 4 - traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
Verse 5 - having a form of godliness but denying its power...
All of these issues come from ways simply of thinking. They all have to do with the way we think. When you read the Bible, some prophesies are about events. When you read about the seals and trumpets and the plagues, all of those have to do with events that will take place. This is about a condition that will exist. Both events and conditions are warnings, but I think most humans are more intrigued by events than they are conditions. We read about those events, we want to figure out when it happens and how it works. This is the one that really concerns me, though. The conditions are the ones that really concern me because these describe a mind-set leading up to Christ's return. What is critical about this is that events are going to happen whether we understand them or not. But events won't destroy you spiritually. Conditions have the capacity to destroy people spiritually. Conditions such as this have the capacity to erode a people in their faith and their belief, in their sense of urgency and their dedication. These types of conditions can deeply impact people. And they do and they will.
It's sort of curious to go back to this idea of stress. Times of stress will come, perilous times. What happens to people under stress? How many of you have never been under stress? You can't answer that question. Everyone of us — probably every one of us today right now are experiencing some level of stress. Maybe in the back of your mind, it's what you have to go home to tonight, or back to work to tomorrow, there is stress in our lives all the time at some level or another. But when life really gets stressful, people become very vulnerable. We don't tend to think right. We can get moody. I know when I get under stress, I just - I get moody. I don't even know it sometimes that I'm moody. My wife will let me know. After 34 years, she's realized how to deal with me that way. Don't want to be. Don't intend to be. I don't like it. When I get under stress, I can have that reaction, somebody else can have another reaction. Some people run and hide. Some people turn to self-medication in ways that they shouldn't be self-medicating. Some people have anger. Some people — out in California, we always had to be concerned about road rage. It was stressful. There's a type of stress that sometimes you have and it can manifest itself, but you don't think right. You don't react the right way. In fact, reacting is one of the side effects of stress. People tend to be reactionary, tend to react in ways that you wouldn't react at the same thing if you weren't under stress. You get a whole world that is living in a time under stress and it can create some real problems for us. He goes on, though, as he lists these things. We ought to stop at the end of that list and say, well, let's think about this. And I'm going to ask you to for a minute here. I want to ask you to do something. I'm going to give you five seconds and I want you to look at that list and I want you to zero in on one of these nineteen — it doesn't matter, it is not a test. You have five seconds. Go.
Okay. Pick the one that you picked, take a look at that. Isolate it now. Take it out of this list of nineteen, set it over here on the side. It doesn't matter which one it was, isolate it. We are going to think about this for a moment. I'm going to ask you six questions about that one thing that you isolated.
Question #1 — Do I see this expressed today? Do I see this in the world? Do I see it expressed in the world — whichever one it was you picked. Do I see this expressed in the world today?
Question #2 — Is this condition growing or lessening in the world today? Or is it staying the same as it always was? Is it getting better or is it getting worse or is it staying the same? What I see with this condition, whatever it was that you picked, is it getting more or less?
Question #3 — Why? Whatever your answer was to #2, why? In other words, if you said, okay, unthankful — maybe you picked unthankful. Is this condition growing better or worse? If you said worse, the question is why. What is driving the thinking, the collective, world thinking that makes it worse? If something is getting better or if it's getting worse, we should be able to understand why. Why is it going that way? What are the dynamics at work? What are the cause and effects? What's the spiritual cause? These are issues of the spirit, aren't they? So, what's the spiritual cause? If we are in a world where people are more and more unthankful, why? You may have to give that a little thought.
Question #4 — What is the impact? What is the result? In other words, does this cause a reaction in the individual — let's just start with the individual — what kind of impact will this have on the individual if a person is, say, unthankful? What does that do to them? Second aspect, what does it do to other people? If you looked at all of these things and said, okay, which of these are purely self-contained within an individual's mind and affect nobody else? You know, in the days of the hippies back in the '60's the philosophy said, "it doesn't matter what I do, man, as long as you don't hurt anybody else". Well, there is precious little we can do in life that doesn't hurt anybody else. Virtually everything we do touches somebody. So what happens to other people if an individual manifests one of these qualities? What happens to other people? If I'm a lover of myself, what happens to you when you come in contact with me? How does that play out in the actual lives of people? Which of these nineteen produce behaviors that affect other people? You see, we don't live in self-contained little worlds. Our sphere of influence reaches out and touches other people's lives. The question is, what happens when you are touched by somebody else who is manifesting one of these qualities?
Question #5 — As a Christian living in this world, how am I affected by this? As a Christian living in this world, how can I be affected by this? Brethren, any of these things will eat somebody up. They will eat us up. These are not good things.
Question #6 — How do I resist this affecting my life? How do I resist these things affecting my life? You see, verse 5 says from such people turn away. We are in a bit of a quandary in the Church because Christ sent us into the world, but He says, come out of the world. Don't partake of her sins (Rev. 18:4). Come out of her, my people. But we are right in the middle of her. So, how do we keep the world from affecting us this way? It's very important.
Let's go to Luke chapter 21. Luke 21 is the parallel account to Matthew 24 and 25 where Jesus was answering the question, what will be the sign of your coming, of the end of the age. And he goes through the list and then at the end in chapter 21 and verse 34 He says,
Lk. 21:34 - "But take heed to yourselves... can't change the world out there, but really watch how the world can change you. Be careful about what goes on in yourself ...lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing... that's probably a word we don't use too often. The margin says dissipation. It goes back to that 'let's eat, drink and be merry' mentality. It goes back to the secular mentality. It goes back to the emphasis on materialism and so on. ...carousing, drunkenness... and this is the biggy to me ...cares of this life... What are those? What in the world are the cares of this life? Well, it can be so broad - that is such an all-encompassing word there - the cares of this life — and it has to do with the mentality, the pursuits that the world around us has its mind on. ...and that Day come on you unexpectedly. Christ was telling us, 'Take heed. Don't let the return of Christ and all of these things come upon us and catch us off guard.'
Verse 35 - "For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Of course it will in an atmosphere that scoffs at it.
Verse 36 - "Watch therefore... the intent of the Greek means stay spiritually aware. Stay spiritually aware ... and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man. " I would submit to you that the most important thing to escape that is going to come to pass — the most important thing to escape are the conditions in 2 Timothy 3. Escape those things and we will be in the right spiritual state to stand before the Son of Man. That's a very key issue regarding the return of Christ. Critically important. Critically important. What do people care about? What do people think about? How is the mentality of society shifting? Is it staying static? Or is it moving in a certain direction? How is it going, really?
You see, we need to understand back in 2 Tim. 3 why these things are perilous. That little exercise we did it could take you a lot longer, but if you went through all nineteen of them and asked those six questions of each one, you would have a pretty good analysis of the mental/spiritual condition of the world today.
It would give you a pretty good survey mark that five years from now you could go back and say, okay, where are we now compared to what I noted back in 2005. Where are we in our philosophical / spiritual / cultural mind-set? Where are we going? This is what Paul wrote under God's inspiration to Timothy and it suggests that we put a lot of thought into this. What happens, what is the impact on your life if just one of these things is in your life. What happens to you if you're unforgiving? What kind of peril does that pose to you spiritually if we are headstrong, if we are a lover of pleasure more than a lover of God. Children, what about being disobedient to parents? This is an exercise for you kids, too. You can take all of these six questions, these questions aren't real deep. You can take these six questions and just take a look around at school for a few days and ask, what do I see. A child can contemplate these issues. Is it expressed? Why? What does it do? All ages, all groups need to think about these issues because these are things that make up our lives in this day and age.
So, why is it important to keep this day? Why is it important to focus on the return of Christ? Because, brethren, it keeps us centered. It keeps us centered on what God is doing. It keeps us centered on the most important thing going on and that is the fulfillment of God's plan and it is relevant. The Feast of Trumpets is relevant meaning it has real meaning to our lives right now. What is going to happen in the future when Christ returns means something to our lives, it affects our behavior now. The return of Christ stands for us as tremendous motivation. It stands for motivation for the way that you are going to live tomorrow. It's going to dictate how you think when you get out of bed tomorrow and go to work or go to school — what you think about, why you live the way you live. If the return of Christ is as important to each of us as it is to God and His plan, we are going to be focused there. The rest of the scripture makes it very clear to us. The trumpets served different reasons, served different purposes in Israel . One of them was the purpose of warning. We can read these scriptures and even though the whole world may be tone deaf to what's going on, the Church can hear, there are trumpets blowing for us, aren't they? Can you hear the trumpets blowing for God's Church? Can you hear the trumpets blowing for God's Church?
Let's go to 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. There is a cause and effect for what happens in the world in its thinking and there is also a cause and effect in the Church in our thinking. This is one of the beauties of these Holy days. It is one of the gifts of God that He gave us these days because He pulls us all together into one body around the world and He says, "I want you to focus on what I'm doing on this earth." In 2 Thes. 1:3 we read:
2 Thes. 1:3 - We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is fitting, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of every one of you all abounds toward each other... well, not without work it doesn't. Not without care it doesn't, because we also read that because iniquity shall abound, the love of many will grow cold. That's another effect of all of these conditions in 2 Tim. 3. When iniquity abounds, love grows cold and therefore, to fulfill this as Paul was writing here, for faith to grow exceedingly and for the love of everybody to abound, we have to be very aware to the state of iniquity in the world, we have to be very sensitized to that, to see it, and to understand the impact on it and to push away from it.
Verse 4 - so that we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure,
Verse 5 - which is manifest evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God... similar to what we just read in Luke 21:36 ...for which you also suffer;
Verse 6 - since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you,
Verse 7 - and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels,
That's what this day pictures. When Christ is revealed from heaven, when He returns with His mighty angels we're going to have a rest. We'll enter into new labors, but we will have a rest from this trouble that we go through in this life.
Verse 8 - in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
There's a reason why people don't do this. As Paul told the Romans, they did not like to retain God in their knowledge.
Verse 9 - These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,
Verse 10 - when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe... not those who scoff. Not those who scoff. There's going to be a vast difference between the believers and the scoffers. ...because our testimony among you was also believed. There will be the theology of disbelief at work in the world.
Verse 11 - Therefore we pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power,
Verse 12 - that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
A few pages over in Titus chapter 2 verse 11:
Tit. 2:11 - For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men... you might say that all men haven't seen it yet. They will still have their opportunity, but the grace of God that brings salvation, that part of God's plan has been completed through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. But, it also teaches us.
Verse 12 - teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts... we have to understand it to deny it. That's why it's important to analyze sections like 2 Tim. 3, to take a look at these things and say, okay, these present threats to my life. Therefore I'm going to understand it, I'm going to see where it's manifested, I'm going to watch these things. I'm going to be on guard. These issues that are identified already, the warning system that's already there of what the big threats are. Understand it. ...denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age.
Now, what's your motivation? Why? Why go through all this work to live this way in the present age?
Verse 13 - looking for... your eyes on something further out there ...looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.
That's the motivation. We look past what the world is offering and we look at that and we see that and we believe that this is what is going to happen and we are willing to stake our lives on it and conform to what He says.
Verse 14 - who gave Himself for us... you look back and see what He did and look forward and see what He's going to do and you say, here we are in between what He did and what is going to happen and we are going there! We're looking to Him. ...who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.
Zealous for good works. This is what drives an internal zeal. There has to be the vision of what is coming, the belief and the faith in what is coming and what he is saying here is that there is cause and effect. And you look at the cause of the kingdom of God , the effect that it has is that it changes our behavior now.
Let's go to Philippians chapter 3 and verse 20:
Phil. 3:20 - For our citizenship is in heaven... that's where we have our allegiance. That's where we look to, that's where we say this is the society that has the values that we want. This is the world that we look to. We look for a city whose builder and maker is God and there's a confidence that that is going to come. ...our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior... One of the hardest things to do is to wait, isn't it? Just --------! I go to the store and I just hate it — I'll spend more time walking up and down trying to find the shortest line than I would if I just stood in a line. Well, I don't like to wait, you know, at least, keep moving — it gives you the illusion of progress, but, you know, we hate to wait. And he says something here that's a little hard for humans — eagerly wait. Eagerly wait. Well, there's an eagerness that does not die, there's a sense, there's an anticipation, there's an urgency that doesn't get old, that never reaches the point of saying,"Eh, you know, I've lived — what, I've lived over 50 years and nothing has changed." And missing what God said, "Look, a day with you is like a thousand years to Me. I don't keep time the way you keep time." We are so foolish as human beings to get impatient. He says, just eagerly wait. The eagerness comes from keeping our eyes not on the clock, but on keeping our eyes on the end result. And you ...eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
Verse 21 - who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.
Don't stop. Keep on going.
Phil. 4:1 - Therefore, my beloved... because of this ...Therefore my... longed-for brethren, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord.
Stand fast in the way He thinks, in the way He would do things, in the way He talks, in the way He would behave, in the way He would think in the middle of all this mind-set going on out here in the world that is all over the board and is so confused and leads to such perils. Think! Stand fast in the Lord! Live our lives in the shadow of the return of Christ!
Colossians chapter 3. Col. 3 and verse 1.
Col. 3:1 - If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.
Verse 2 - Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.
2 Timothy 3 is a pretty lengthy list of where the world's mind will be set. 2 Peter 3 tells us about the mindset of the world. The mindset that we must have is on things above, not on things of the earth.
Verse 3 - For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
Verse 4 - When Christ who is our life appears, then you will also appear with Him in glory.
Is that a big enough reason to put our minds there? So, again, another verse: return of Christ / the way we think now; the return of Christ / the way we act now; the return of Christ / our priorities now. That's why he goes on. He says,
Verse 5 - Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
Verse 6 - Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience,
Verse 7 - in which you also once walked when you lived in them.
Verse 8 - But now you must put off all these... And so he begins a list of things to put off. And then in verse 12 he begins a list of things to put on: think a certain way, be a certain way, don't think a certain way and don't be a certain way. Understand, there are two kingdoms and it requires a commitment to one, but the reward that is being held out here — the reward that is being held out here is so awesome that we can't even comprehend it. He said, this is what's going to happen when He appears.
Let's go to 1 Peter chapter 1, verse 3.
1 Pet. 1:3 - Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
Verse 4 - to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,
Verse 5 — You ...who are kept by the power of God through faith... not scoffing. You are ...kept by the power of God through faith... It's a mentality that comes not from our own human expertise or intelligence or common sense, it comes from ...the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Verse 6 - In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials,
Verse 7 - that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ... again, that's what this day is all about.
Verse 8 - whom having not seen... you scoff at? No, there's a mentality that having not seen, there's a faith — even in not seeing Him, ...you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing... not scoffing ...you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,
Verse 9 - receiving the end of your faith - the salvation of your souls.
Verse 10 - Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you,
Verse 11 - searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.
Verse 12 - To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven — things which angels desire to look into.
Verse 13 — Therefore... because of everything we have said, we come to this conclusion: ...gird up the loins of your mind... where the real battle is going to be. This is where the issue is going to be between now and the return of Christ, the battlefield of the mind. ...be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
Verse 14 - as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance;
Verse 15 - but as He who called you is holy, (be) you also be holy in all your conduct,
Verse 16 - because it is written, "Be holy, for I am holy."
The return of Christ affects our lives right now. It has to do with the sense of zeal and dedication that we have. That's why it's relevant. It's not just a day picturing something in the future, but what it pictures in the future is designed to help us right now.
Let's conclude back where we started in 2 Pet. 3, verse 10. The next few verses encapsulate a long stretch of time, but it casts the vision for the future.
2 Pet. 3:10 - the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
Verse 11 - Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,
Verse 12 - looking for... and this was mentioned in the opening prayer ...looking for and hastening... or it could be rendered, earnestly expecting — earnestly expecting ...the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?
Because it's coming. What kind of people must we be?
Verse 13 - Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
Verse 14 - Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things... being visionary ...be diligent... now ...to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless;
Verse 15 - and account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation — as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you,
Verse 16 - as also in all his epistles, in which are some things hard to understand, which those who are untaught and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.
Verse 17 - You therefore, beloved, since you know these things beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked.
Brethren, let's not be led away with the error, let's understand, let's understand the error, the misconcept, the misconceptions, the misguided thinking, the wrong philosophies, what they are, where they come from, what drives them. Be alert to the thinking of the world. Be alert to the mentality that is going to exist in many different forms and shades and shapes, but understanding what is out there. Be alert to these things so that there is no being led away — either subtly or very consciously by the error of the wicked. The way to do that? Grow.
Verse 18 - grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever.
That's where the real glory of life will be when all people turn to Him. This day is about the coming of Jesus Christ and all the changes that it's going to make. We must look forward to that, we should look forward to that, we should seek that with every ounce of our being. It should drive us every day.
Well, let's let God have the last word to put in our minds on this day. The last word that certainly encapsulates everything that we have been saying is literally the last word — last book, last chapter, last verses.
Rev. 22:20 - He who testifies these things says... it doesn't matter what scoffers think, it doesn't matter why people invent their own philosophies and their own ideas. So scoffers scoff. Scoff away, it's not going to change anything! ...He who testifies these things says, "Surely I am coming quickly." Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
Verse 21 - The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.