In the Last Days Perilous Times Will Come?

Thank you, Mr. Bornhorst. Good afternoon, everyone. Sorry, I was chuckling. I brought up a bottle of water, and there's about a half a dozen of them under there, so... Not a big chance of dehydration hitting me today. So, yeah, the room does look more full from up here. And I appreciate the hospitality of the Dayton congregation. We kind of missed this last year for the camp staff. We just invited everybody to just go up to camp, because we didn't... Since we've dropped out of the American Camp Association, we're not required to have a certain minimum number of training hours. But we kind of miss getting together. So this year, I did sort of a compromise. You might notice, if the staff seems slim, it's because I asked them to come either to here or to Columbus, where they're probably hearing a much better sermon by Mr. Martin. But I figured I'd wait until we got to this point, so you wouldn't jump in your car and try to run over. But, again, I appreciate the Dayton congregation hosting us. I'm glad to see the camp staff. Some of you I didn't get a chance to stay high to beforehand, but it's great. We had a group from Tennessee that's come up. At least one from California, Arizona. You guys think you've come a long ways. We've got one from the Southern Hemisphere. So that's kind of exciting. So we're all going to come together and hopefully have a really good week. I'll add to those prayer requests. Mr. Barker mentioned, if you would, pray for cooler, drier weather than we've had. This is the wettest winter in spring. I can remember in all my days in Ohio, and then suddenly it turned hot. Of course, I'd rather have it hot but not raining than cold and rainy.

I should probably get around to a sermon sometime before this goes too long.

I've thought back over a lot of years in the church, and some things come and go. But there's a scripture we tend to quote fairly often. The Apostle Paul wrote it, and it begins by saying, And I know scholars have some disagreement over exactly what the Apostle Paul meant, but even without getting into that, we might hear that term and say, Well, could we make a case for saying that these are perilous times? I think maybe we could. And just because I didn't want to just go on my own thoughts about that, I found a website maintained by the FBI that has a data on it. That has a database of crime statistics. It goes back to 2011. It showed that over these recent years, there have been about a million and a quarter to up to two million violent crimes in the United States every year. That's a lot of violence. This table showed about three-quarters of a million aggravated assaults each year.

About 15,000 murders each year in just this one country. Something I found perhaps more sobering was a study that showed that of violent crimes that happen, probably half or more aren't reported to the police. So of all those numbers I just mentioned, imagine just double them or more. That's something going on.

And if you watch the news or listen to the radio, you know there has been ongoing terrorist attacks. There seems like there's a school shooting or a shooting at a workplace every time we turn around. The Middle East has been ravaged by a civil war in Syria for what seems like forever. And now we wonder, is the United States about to go to war with Iran? Well, we might say the same about North Korea.

And relations with the U.S.S.R. I almost said the U.S.S.R. That's going back a little ways. Was it now that whatever Republic of Russia, some people say we've already entered a new Cold War, or perhaps we're about to. Which gives us that thought of the danger of nuclear war. That's something that was, when I was a kid, that was very present. Matter of fact, when was it? Sometime not long ago, I was flipping channels, and I saw there was a movie that came out in the 80s called War Games, I believe, where these computers were threatening to take over the world and start a nuclear war. Something that could exterminate life off the planet. That makes this sound like a pretty perilous time. But is that really what Paul meant? I'm setting that up, but if you will, let's turn to 2 Timothy.

It's actually in 2 Timothy chapter 3, beginning at the start of the chapter.

I was going to say, I didn't know how much special music we'd have, so the sermon might be shorter than it should be. But then again, I brought my non-classroom Bible, where it takes me a while to find scriptures, so that stretched things out a bit. Let's read the first few verses.

It makes it seem that Paul wasn't talking so much about a physical peril from violence as a moral peril. People not understanding and wanting to live by the standards that God promoted. And it does sound pretty bad.

But one thing I could say before I entered my career in the ministry, I used to be a history teacher. And a lot of what Paul just described has been going on for years, for centuries.

And still, as long as I can remember, I started attending what was then the worldwide Church of God when I was 10 years old.

And since that time, I've heard ministers talk about how we must be living in the last days because perilous times are around us.

And as I said, I think we can make a point of that. But is it worse today?

And you might think in your head, well, maybe it's worse, maybe it's not worse. Is it worse for me, where I live? Worse for the other guy?

But I think, again, in many ways I'd say yes. Even if we're not in physical danger, as I watch the news and events around us, I could say that Christianity seems to be in peril. It's getting tough to live by this book. There's attacks against it, trying to undermine the standards and values that Jesus Christ taught.

And, you know, it's difficult to live a godly lifestyle in the midst of a society where there are traitors and headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure, more than lovers of God.

I think those of you who are young were preparing to go up to Camp Catubik next week and work with our teenagers.

And I think, how hard is it to grow up in an environment such as it is today?

It wasn't easy for people my age, but it seems like it's getting harder. If you will, let's turn back to Isaiah 5. I want to read another description, it seems, of a difficult time.

A description of what seems to be a society that's antithetical to Christianity. And I wrote that just so I could use the word antithetical up here and sound impressive. I'm glad you're all suitably impressed.

This is in a prophecy to Israel describing those conditions and some punishment to come. I'm not going to read the whole chapter. Let's begin with verse 11.

It seems to be describing a society where enjoying the pleasures of the flesh and intoxicating here a drink, but there's other substances more than God's ways and His works. If we go down to verse 20, this is the one I really wanted to get to.

I'll bet in your mind you're already thinking of examples of that happening.

Who put darkness for light? Light for darkness. Bitter for sweet. Sweet for bitter. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight. If you move to verse 25, Therefore, because of not only what I read but the many other scriptures, that's the reason the anger of the Lord is aroused against His people. He stretched out His hand against them and stricken them. The hills trembled. The carcass of the Lord was refused in the midst of the street.

This was describing ancient Israel millennia ago, and yet it sounds strangely like our society today. There are movements of people trying to change standards or campaigning for new ones. The big movement, it seems, lately is trying to convince people that there aren't really differences between men and women other than what they imagine them to be.

You can have a choice to be one or the other, or neither, or both. I lose track of what all it seems to be going. Millions of women are campaigning for legal protection for the prerogative to kill their unborn children, while at the same time they accuse their political rivals of being cruel to children and trying to destroy families.

While it might be accurate to say, perilous times have existed, I think in some way or another, since the Apostle Paul wrote those words, our times today seem to be pretty perilous, and again, especially for living God's way of life. I hope this doesn't sound too doom and gloom. Usually I'm a lot more upbeat when I'm getting ready to go to camp. But this is just the early part of the sermon.

And we could say, if I've been focusing on some bad, maybe I'm asking the wrong question. Maybe we don't need to know if this is the perilous time. Because even if there is a small chance we're living in a perilous time, maybe the question we need to answer is, what do we do about it? Do we rush out there and start changing the world? I'm going to teach those people they shouldn't say this, they can't do that. I'm going to run for office. I'm going to write my congressman. Are those the things we need to do? How can we protect ourselves from that peril? Can we avoid a very perilous peril? I wrote that in my sermons waiting to see if I'd hear chuckles. I guess it's been a long time since Monty Python and the Holy Grail came out. But I would have dropped that reference anyways.

It's a perilous peril. Can we protect ourselves? Can we protect our children or help them to endure it? Well, this started with the Apostle Paul saying last time's perilous times would come. Well, why don't we look to him to see what he suggested to do? Let's go back to 2 Timothy. 2 Timothy also in chapter 3.

You might have noticed I didn't finish reading all of the passage. I stopped after verse 4, but if you just glance over the first four verses where all these heady, high-minded, unloving, on this, on that, traitors, headstrong. Verse 5 says, But denying its power. Then Paul gives a very simple directive. From such people, turn away.

You don't have to be around some... Well, maybe I should qualify that. Sometimes you have to be around certain people, but you have a little bit of control over where you are, how much you intermix. And he's saying, in the midst of an apparel, put some separation. And that seems to be a common sense thing to do. And why do we need to do that? Let me say that again in English. Why do we need to do that?

Well, the Apostle Paul said earlier... Well, actually, it's in 2 Corinthians 15 verse 33. You don't need to turn there. There's a simple phrase. It's five words. Evil company corrupts good habits. Evil company can corrupt good habits. I don't want to be corrupted. I'm guessing you don't want to be corrupted. Who would? And he's saying, if you're around people that have these types of attitudes and standards and values, they can rub off.

And maybe I shouldn't be saying you. I should be saying me. You know, none of us are immune. There's something similar that the Apostle Peter said in his famous Pentecost sermon. We often think of where people are cut to the heart and say, men and brethren, what must we do? And he says, repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. The promise is to you and your children.

But as part of that passage, he continues, and he says, be saved from this perverse generation. I think if Peter thought that generation was perverse, he should come here and turn on the television. But it's not just a New Testament idea.

I do want to turn, if you will, back to Proverbs 14. Proverbs 14 and verse 7. This isn't... Well, I don't know. It doesn't set quite as high a bar from, you know, turn away from... Because Paul describes some pretty wicked and bad things and people with poor traits that he said, from such, turn away. Proverbs 14 and verse 7, Solomon, sort of displays, somebody doesn't have to be evil for you to decide that maybe they're not the best one to hang out from.

Again, it's my slow Bible. You might be there ahead of me. I've always liked this one, though. It says, go from the presence of a foolish man when you do not perceive in him the lips of knowledge. As I said, this is a lower bar than staying away from lovers of wickedness and such. But he said, when you figure out a person's got foolishness on their mind or what they're speaking, just go away.

Walk away. You've seen a number of admonitions from Scripture. Yeah, stay away. Keep yourself. Don't be spotted with the world. Why don't we follow this advice? Or I should say, sometimes it seems that we don't. And I am saying we on purpose there. It's not just you. Well, sometimes foolishness isn't so obvious. Sometimes foolishness looks like a lot of fun. And sometimes it is fun for a little while.

You know, a lot of the things that you get in trouble for is great at first, and one thing leads to another and another. Wham! Consequences. That's the word we've been using with Connor. Consequences. There are consequences. And I think of Proverbs 14.7, partly. It always brings back an image in my mind from when I was a much younger man.

I'm not going to say how much younger. But I remember on this occasion, I was on the other side of leaving when someone doesn't have the lips of foolishness. No. When you perceive. No. What does it say? Go from the presence of that foolish man. On occasion, I remember I was the foolish man. I was at a party, young, single. There were cute girls there that I wanted to impress. And I think I was speaking some foolishness.

But I remember, this is an example that I said, later I realized I need to be willing to emulate. I was talking to this pretty young woman trying to impress her. And at one moment there was a gap, and she said, Excuse me, I'm going to go over there now. And she walked away.

And I thought, hmm, Frank, what's going on with you? And later on I was able to reflect that she was following God's advice. Now, she wasn't walking away from someone evil and corrupt and heady and high-minded, but I wasn't being very wise. Okay, so, good example for us. But let's pause and address the other side of avoiding corrupt and evil people. Because one thing that young people in the church have pointed out to me and others is that, they've said, I know people that I go to school with, that I work with. And they're not lovers of wickedness. They're not outright fools. There's some pretty good people in the world.

Some nice people that want to uphold goodly values, godly values, as much as they know and understand them. And they don't like hearing a minister get up and say, the world's evil! Get away! Don't touch those people!

And they say, wait a minute, what about Joe that I work with? He's a pretty good guy. And for that matter, few of us within God's church are what we would call unalloyed good. We have our problems and faults. So, telling Christians that we should have no dealings with people in the world, that's not very practical.

Might not be entirely beneficial. I can make the case it's not actually biblical. Let's read some of what Paul wrote in another place. I believe it's in 1 Corinthians, but when I get this page to turn, I'm going to know for certain. Yes, 1 Corinthians 6, verse 9. He's zeroing in on a specific sin here, and partly because, you know, if you studied 1 Corinthians very much, you know that Paul was having to correct the congregation on a number of matters.

And one of them was the fact that they had a member who was engaged in something everyone knew about that was very immoral, and he had to tell them, you need to stop keeping company with that person. Okay, so let's—we know that's the context. Here, starting at verse 9 of 1 Corinthians 6— Wait a minute.

Sorry, I'm looking, because what it says in my notes is not what it says I wanted to read here. And let me check and see if that was actually 2 Corinthians. This is what happens when you travel and you don't have all your stuff together. No, it's definitely not 2 Corinthians.

Hmm. I would ask—now, if this were back at ABC, I'd ask the students and they'd know where I was trying to go to. 1 Corinthians? Yes, I'm in— 1st 9?

Yeah, well, I know that's—I'm there, but that's not what I'm looking for. I'm looking for where Paul says, I wrote you not to keep company with sexually immoral people. Hmm? That's 1 Corinthians? 5. 5? Thank you. That's exactly it.

Now, some of you are going to think, this guy teaches the Bible. Sometimes I'm a little more organized than this. I was only 1 chapter off. I'll change this for next time. So, I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. That's supporting what I've been talking about before I got lost and couldn't find my place. But, yeah, go from the presence of the unwise. From such people, you know, sexually immoral, turn away. Paul said I wrote that, but he said, wait, I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world. Or, for that matter, with the covetous or the extortioners, idolaters. Why? You need to go out of the world. Paul is saying you can't not have any company with people who sin. It's impossible unless you leave the world. He wants to clarify what he meant. I have now written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother who is sexually immoral or covetous or an idolater or a reviler or a drunkard or extortioner. No, not even to eat with such a person. He's saying, okay, if someone claims to be in the fellowship of Jesus Christ and of the body of Christ, we would want to help them. We would want to point out you're involved in something that's wrong and sinful. We don't want to support that. So, there is a time when you say, hey, you've got to change. And if you're not willing to change, maybe we shouldn't be keeping company because you know better. You have a calling. God has opened your mind. But for people whom God has not called, that's not our point. We're not there to judge them or separate from them. As he says, continuing in verse 12, What have I to do with judging those who are on the outside? Don't you judge those who are inside? But those who are outside, God judges. He says, therefore, put away from yourselves the evil person. And that's getting down to the point he had just there. Now, I'm going to take a risk. I want to go to John 17. I say a risk because I'm assuming that I didn't print all my scriptures wrong in my notes. But Jesus Christ said something very similar in his prayer to God the Father on his last night before he was crucified. He's praying for his disciples. And he knows he's not going to be with them, so he wants protection and help for them.

Yes, and I did print my notes wrong. I said, 5, I wanted 15. Boy, I was having an off day that day. John 17, verse 15, he prays to the Father and says, I do not pray that you should take them out of the world. Father, don't take them all the way out of the world, but that you should keep them from the evil one. We sometimes describe this situation as being in the world, but not of the world. Matter of fact, we considered that for being our theme for camp this year, for Christian living classes, and we adopted something that meant something similar. You know, we're in the world even if we're not of the world. I suspect if God wanted to, he has the power, he could have separated us entirely. Could have set us up in a commune out in the middle of Nevada or Siberia or who knows where.

But he chose not to. He leaves us surrounded by people who almost always, through no fault of their own, don't understand his ways. They haven't had his spirit put into their mind to understand his word, to know his way of life. I think that's one of the reasons Jesus might have told us, judge not that you be not judged. I'm not going to turn there, but supposedly it's in Matthew 7, verse 1.

I say supposedly because I've learned not to trust what's printed on the page before me. So there are a lot of, as I said, good, decent people out there that we don't have to separate ourselves from. Now, I put a disclaimer because there's some stinkers out there, right? That's not in my notes, but amid a bunch of deceived and naive people, there are some people who are pretty bad. There's wickedness of plenty in the world. Even so, though, God chose to leave us in that world. And he tells us to be different, to not be evil ourselves, but be unspotted, to quote James 1, 27.

If you'll turn with me there... this is getting to be a fun exercise. James 1, verse 27, I don't know if there's people listening on a webcast, do they have video too? Otherwise, they might not have any idea that I'm going through my notes and can't find anything. This definition, pure and undefiled religion, James 1, 27, before God and the Father is this, visit orphans and widows in their trouble.

Let me pause there and say, James didn't say they had to be widows and orphans that are members of the United Church of God, or any particular Church of God, but just be willing to help. Visit the widows and the orphans in their trouble. But then he adds also, and keep oneself unspotted from the world. Okay, you're mixing in, you're helping people, but we're going to try to be unspotted. That'd be a challenge, even if we didn't live in a totally unspotted world.

I'm in a perilous world. I know I said something wrong. And, you know, I remember sometimes thinking, especially when I was younger, boy, this is tough! Why does God do this? He seems like he's telling us contradictory things. Turn away from the wicked. Evil company corrupts good manners. But at the same time, don't judge. Judge not. Do not take them out of the world. But still, keep yourself unspotted from the world. But I don't think it's contradictory. I'm leading up towards one of the main points I wanted to make, is that I think it's a matter of balance and priorities.

Again, we're in the world, but not of the world. We're striving to live God's way in the world that surrounds us today. And we can do it. And there's a reason. God wants us to be a witness, an alight, an example. If you will, turn to Matthew 5. This is a well-known scripture. Even I couldn't get wrong. Matthew 5 will begin in verse 14.

One of the reasons we're not taken off to Siberia or some desert commune just to be holy for ourselves... Actually, I can begin in verse 13. You are the salt of the earth. God has us as something special but rare in the midst of this world. But if the salt loses its flavor, how can it be seasoned?

It's good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. He continues, you, speaking to Christians, those who he called, who gave his Holy Spirit, you're the light of the world. A city set on a hill can't be hidden. Moreover, he said, they don't light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand. And it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men.

Be there among them. Be that example. Let your light shine so they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. Again, we can be a witness to the world, those people we interact with, including the people that we know that we might be friends with, who, as I said, they might be good folks.

They don't seem to have the understanding we have. And we want to remember, none of us have the power to call someone into God's church. Even if they're impressed with your witness. I remember my brother-in-law once told me, well, if I ever do go to a church, I'm going to go to your church. And like he said, because you guys do what you say, I thought, hey, I must be doing something right. That's one of those times Frank pat myself on the back. I'm glad he thought that. But still, I couldn't call him into the church. And believe me, when he married my sister, I prayed that God would bring him into the church.

I started scheming. How can I make that happen? Frank Dunkel cannot call anybody into the church. No one can, except God the Father. You can make note of John 644 and John 665. Just for the students here, those are Grandma scriptures. But we may be the means by which God the Father does call someone into the church. It would be nice to know ahead of time if that was going to happen.

So there's a need for us to be balanced. It's more likely, more likely than God using you to call someone into the church or me, he might use that as a starting point for when the resurrection comes. I've often thought of that. When someone comes up in the resurrection and they see you standing there as a shining spirit being, hopefully they'll say, I knew there was something different about you.

And then you can say, yeah, let me explain that to you. And now you're going to understand and get it. That's where that being a light on an example, because you don't want them to look and say, really? You? Why did you get in here? I know what you are doing. And in some cases, I thought for me, that's liable to happen, and I'll have to explain repentance and forgiveness, that it's very real. And that might be useful because I can say, if God forgave me, surely He can forgive you.

It's going to be okay. God is very merciful. We just need to keep that balance and know we can't go beyond the directive. We can be the light, but sometimes we have a good friend that we know at school, we've known maybe since we were little, and he starts getting into a problem with drugs.

So I don't want to withdraw myself. Maybe I can help bring him back. It's natural to have that thought. And it's hard to say, maybe you can, but there comes a point where you have to, from such a person, turn away. Sometimes the occasion comes up, young man, I love her. I think she might be the one. God must be calling her into the church just for me. Now, I've been there and done that, and usually most of the time it's not working that way. But just because I can't call someone, I can't open their mind to the truth, that doesn't mean I should shun that person.

I have to be the light. That's what God wants us to do. So the balance comes partly in how we set our priorities. There is an in-between, in-between, shunning contact with people outside of God's church and having them as all of our closest relationships. As I said, we want to strive for that balance and try to model it. I mentioned, can we teach our young people to not succumb to the perilous peril? We can, partly by modeling this example. We can live in the world, but not of the world. We can live God's way today. As I said, that is our Christian living theme for our campers this year.

I hope I'm not spoiling anything, but I think that's gotten out. I'm going to turn back to Romans 12 and verse 10. This is a scripture I've been fond of because I think it does show a little bit of a balance and also how to set priorities. Sometimes I wonder, I might be taking it slightly out of context, but I still like the way it's phrased.

Romans 12 and verse 10, speaking of the brethren within the church, Paul says, Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love. That's how we're to treat each other. In honor, giving preference to one another. As I say, often the most proper way to translate that means, Okay, I defer to my brethren. I serve them. I give up my own will for them.

But I like to emphasize perhaps a secondary meaning of this and giving preference to one another, meaning, I want to choose when I'm deciding who to spend my time with. I'm going to prefer to spend time with my brethren. Spend more time with them and less with those that God has not called.

Now, that's not a completely either or situation, but it's a balance and a priority. When we have that choice, it might be better to have a closer relationship with someone whom God has called, who's in his church than not. Because when we do that, that's when we experience that phenomena of iron sharpening iron that we use to quote supposedly Proverbs 2717. I say supposedly, and this is going to stop being funny after a while, but twice in one sermon is pretty bad. Proverbs 2717, or let's turn to Proverbs 13 and verse 20.

This is another one that I really like, so I'm going to ask you to turn there. Proverbs 13. When I started to understand this, I said, Frank, you need to follow this advice. Proverbs 13 and verse 20. He who walks with wise men will be wise. You spend your time with people who got something going on right between their ears. They're wise. They're making wise decisions. That's going to rub off on those around them. Of course, the opposite, he says, but the companion of fools will be destroyed.

So let's give preference to the wise men. Now, you don't have to be called in in God's church to be wise. So we want to understand that, but wise in the ways of God is something that comes through His Holy Spirit. And I know this can be difficult and it can be challenging, especially for young people in the church that don't live in southwestern Ohio where there's a lot of other young people in the church.

Some people are saying, hey, there's few people in the church that I can give preference to. They're scattered far and wide. You have to be able to spend time with a person to build a friendship, to build a relationship.

And does that mean, on the other hand, do I want to deliberately spend less time with someone that I do like just because they're not in the church? Sometimes, especially for some of us, it's rare to find someone that's willing to be your friend. I said, for some of us, I've gone through that at times. Matter of fact, I do remember another example I'll share. This happened, I think, starting when I was about 19. I met a new friend and we just clicked pretty well. I spent a lot of time together, good sense of humor, but I noticed over time, negativity, and just started rubbing off on me. And some of my other friends started saying, Frank, you're acting a bit different. And so, eventually, I started spending a little less time with that friend. It was painful, but I said, I need to back off, maybe divide my time up among other friends, and get involved with other pursuits that are more constructive and beneficial. And that constructive and beneficial is something worthwhile. I want to turn and focus on that, because so far it's just been, okay, balance, try to not spend too much time with people that are going to drag you down. But what else is there? Is there anything else? Let's go back to 2 Timothy. 2 Timothy chapter 3.

Okay, if you're wondering, 2 Timothy comes before Hebrews, not after.

Again, we saw a lot of this describing, you know, bad people. Verse 6 talks about those who make captives gullible women, loaded with sins, led away by lust. Verse 7, always learning, never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Let's go down to verse 9.

They will progress no further. Their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was. But you, Paul is writing to Timothy, but we could say, you, here in this audience, and me, you have carefully followed my doctrine, Paul's doctrine, leaders of the church, manner of life, purpose, faith, long-suffering, love, perseverance, persecutions, affliction. Yeah, we know all this about you, Paul. Let's go down to verse 14. Sorry.

From this book, from God's Word, from childhood, you've 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. It's profitable for doctrine. Doctrine is another way of, say, teaching and guidance. God's Word is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, for instruction and righteousness.

I want to say, part of how we'll protect ourselves from the peril that's surrounding us is continuing in God's Word, making sure we're anchored to it and we're learning from it, and we continue in it.

Now, am I saying just... especially I could see younger people, I say, you're just telling me if I read my Bible, I've got no problem? Well, I don't want to say it just like that.

Although I do believe we should spend time reading our Bible every day. That should be part of a daily routine that builds us. We fall in love with God's Word.

But, you know, running your eyes over the ink printed on the page isn't what does the job. So simple reading won't miraculously protect us from peril, from corruption. But I would say making God's Word a part of your character, using it as the basis for standards and morals and values, that's a powerful thing. That's what will shield us from Satan's attacks, from wrong ideas, from falsehood.

God's Word has amazing power. It can be what shapes our thoughts. It can set standards and values that we need to have. You think of the alternative. Most people in America, and I won't say I'm immune, but what do we do with our time? Where do we get our information on which we set our values and standards? Often looking at a screen, spend hours surfing the web, playing video games, watching TV and movies.

Do all those sights and sounds coming from screens affect people?

Yeah, I think so. I've seen commercials on TV for video games. It's funny, I used to play video games back in the 80s, when you actually went to a place and put a quarter in a machine. Boy, I miss those. At one point, I'd buy a roll of quarters at a time, and I'd spend 10 bucks a week at least. I got to be really good at playing Defender, though. But I've seen some of the video games today, like Halo and Grand Theft Auto, and I haven't even played them.

I've seen ads on TV for some shows that just the commercial alone creeps me out. I thought, if people are spending their time watching those programs, that could start affecting the way you think. What's on your mind? And that gets beyond fake news on the internet. Sorry, I'm borrowing Donald Trump's term.

It's funny, in my notes, I wrote pop-up ads. I haven't seen a pop-up ad in longer than I can remember. I think software has got around that. But I remember when I was new to the internet, and you clicked the wrong thing, and suddenly there's ads for pornography that come up faster than you can close, and finally you pull this cord out of the wall. It's like, it's coming looking for you. It can affect your mind and your thoughts. You've heard the old saying, you are what you eat. There's a parallel that's more accurate, I think. I could say you are what you think. What's in our heads determines who and what we are.

That's what makes us a person that we are. I'll give you a reference. Proverbs 23, verse 7. I won't turn there, because it's just a few words. Proverbs 23, 7 says, As a man thinks, or says, As he thinks in his heart, so he is. What I'm thinking about determines what I am. That's why I say, if I continue in the doctrine that I've learned, that'll make me someone closer to God. But if I'm focusing on violence, wrong ideas, and I think of the old computer programming acronym, was it G-I-G-O?

Garbage in, garbage out. What I put in my head will affect what comes out. If you will, turn to John 6, verse 63. This is one of my favorite memory scriptures. Because we could say that in a world that is deceived by Satan, that offers those things I was describing as food for our brains and our food for thought, in contrast, there is the Word of God. I said earlier, just looking at ink marks in a page doesn't make you impervious.

But let's be clear. God's Word is more than ink marks on a page. In John 6, verse 63, Jesus Christ, who was the Word incarnate, and who taught the Word, He said it's the Spirit that gives life, the flesh profits nothing. And He said, the words that I speak to you are Spirit.

They are life. God's Word is a spiritual thing. It gives us life. Let's turn also and read Hebrews 4, verse 12. And remember, I'm building up God's Word, but I'm making the point that Paul said, in contrast to the perilous times and all these evil states, the antidote is continue in the doctrine. And in God's Word, that's inspired and it's profitable.

Hebrews 4, verse 12 says, God's Word shows us how to do that, how to turn away from that or not become that in the first place. I can give a couple of other references. That I won't turn to. Psalm 119, verse 9. Psalm 119, 9 says, How shall a young man cleanse his way? I'm going to read this verse. Psalm 119, verse 9 says, How shall a young man cleanse his way? Psalm 119, verse 9 says, How shall a young man cleanse his way? We're going to be working with a lot of young men next week up at Camp Ketubik, along with young ladies.

How can a young man cleanse his way? And it answers by taking heed according to your Word. That's God's Word. God's Word can cleanse our ways. Help us to not be in peril. Similarly, in Ephesians 5, verse 26, Paul wrote of being cleansed by the washing of the water of the Word.

Washing of the water of the Word. Now, that doesn't mean I pour this on here, because that would be very bad. Although I'd be glad I brought this Bible and not my other one. But God's Word spiritually can cleanse our minds and our hearts. And that supports what we read from Paul to Timothy. The Bible is inspired by God, and it's profitable. It can help us through correction, instruction. So, like Timothy, we have to continue in what we've learned.

And that's how we can live God's way today. Matter of fact, Paul wrote something else to Timothy in 1 Timothy. I'm only a few pages away. 1 Timothy 4, verse 13, I think this fits with that thought. They were separated at the time, and Paul wrote, and he said, Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. That's something we should spend a fair bit of time. I think he meant primarily reading God's Word. Exhortation might be teaching and preaching based on it. That's something Timothy didn't have a chance to do, that people do today, is you can go to a website and download sermon after sermon.

Better ones than this one. And listen to them. Give attention to that exhortation. It's part of what keeps us from being in the peril. Now, I'm not saying Christians, either young or old, should devote all their time to reading the Bible. That wouldn't be very well balanced. I'm certainly not saying you should never watch TV, you should never play a video game, shouldn't go to a movie.

God wants us to be balanced, but we want to give some thought to which ones we watch, what games we play. And I really believe we should spend some time reading this Bible every day. And we should use it to set our standards. Use it to shape our values and our morals. Don't trust the ever-changing relativism of the world around us, where they're starting to call good evil and evil good.

I said many people that we know and work with or interact with, they mean well. They're nice people, sincere. Many of them are loving and giving people. That's why I don't want to preach a sermon that condemns the people of the world. The problem is, without revelation from God, at least some of their reasoning is based on incorrect premises.

As I said, through no fault of their own. And that leads, though, to incorrect conclusions as to what to do with their lives and how to treat other people. God's Word should be and must be the premise of our thinking. It has to be the source of our values and our decision-making. And when God's Word and its teachings guide our thoughts, we'll be protected from deceptions. We'll be safe living in perilous times. Paul directed Timothy something more. I want to go back to 2 Timothy. That's also a part of how we survive living in perilous times.

I know that sounded kind of like a conclusion. Those of you who are getting ready to get to Taco Bar, we'll get there soon enough. Matter of fact, this has nothing to do with my sermon, but I remember two or three or four years ago at Camp Catubik, Mr. Barker was giving the sermon on the last Sabbath we were there, and he started off by telling all the teenagers, I know that I'm the only thing standing between you and dinner. And so he made sure the message didn't go too long. I try to keep that in mind sometimes. But here, 2 Timothy 4, I think Paul directed Timothy to do something more that I think is also part of how we can survive living in perilous times.

He says, I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead that is appearing in his kingdom, preach the word, be ready, end season and out of season, convince, rebuke, exhort, with all long suffering and teaching. When the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they'll heap up for themselves, teachers. They'll turn their ears away from the truth, be turned aside to fables. But you, be watchful in all things.

You, sitting in this audience, as well as Timothy, be watchful in all things and endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. Now, I understand this was instruction from Paul to a pastor, whose job it was to get up and preach a sermon probably every week, and to visit people, and do all the things that ministers do today, and perhaps more. That's not a job for all of us. But, in some ways, we have opportunities. And, it's funny, Paul said, the time will come when they'll turn away their ears. I think that's already come.

People are turned away from the truth. But we need to be ready. Most people around us have turned away from the truth. They believe fables. Like what? Well, all life evolved from a one-celled organism. There is no absolute right or wrong. It all depends on the situation. A person can choose his sex and gender. It's not set from birth. And those are just a few that come up. But, like Timothy, we're surrounded by that.

We must be watchful. Not taken by surprise, not deluded. We endure afflictions. But, as I said, we don't leave the world. Jesus Christ never intended to take us out of the world. We don't hide out in the wilderness. Now, it's nice to get a break now and then. Those of us are going to Camp Catubik.

Boy, doesn't all this talk about perilous times make you think, oh, it's going to be so nice to be in the zone. I can't believe I got through all this. A pre-camp sermon, I didn't even say zone yet. We'll talk about that later tonight and tomorrow. But, yeah, it's nice to get away, and you feel that everybody here is moved by God and shares what I have.

Boy, that's nice. But, after a week, it's time for us to go back out. We get our batteries recharged, and we're going to live in the world, live in God's way, even in the midst of this society. I think God intends that. That's why He didn't take us out of the world. We wouldn't be able to fulfill our mission if He took us out. It's a mission? Yeah, God gave His Church the mission to preach the gospel.

If you look at the end, especially of Mark and of Matthew, Jesus said, go to all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. And Matthew, His version, talked about where He said, go to the world, make disciples, teaching them all things I've taught you. And we do this in spite of knowing we can't open their minds. We can't give them the Holy Spirit. Only God the Father does that. But we can be a witness.

We can be that example. We can be the lamp put on a stand, not under a basket. I was looking to see if my notes were going to go back there. I'll tell you to turn to Matthew 6, and then it'd be in Matthew 5. Along with being that example, we are close to the general epistles.

If you flip over to 1 Peter 3, it's the common memory Scripture. So if you don't turn there, you'll say, oh, I know that one. 1 chapter 3 and verse 15, it begins saying, Sanctify the Lord in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense. Old King James said, to give an answer, an apologetic, and to everyone who asks you a reason of the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear. And we've said that that's sometimes a special opportunity to preach the gospel. Someone asks you, what's up with this? You won't come out with us on Friday night. Well, I keep the Sabbath that's taught in God's Word.

You're preaching the gospel when you do that. Or, no, I don't want to do that. That doesn't fit with my standards and values. We don't have to say, let me open the Bible and preach to you. But I wonder sometimes if part of this is not part of being ready to give that answer, that explanation, it's not only to convert people or to be a witness. In some ways, it's for our own sake. If you know how to explain it, you're not likely to be led away from it. The more we're prepared to teach someone else, matter of fact, I was talking to someone recently about how I never learned anything so well as when I had to prepare to teach it to someone else.

Boy, does that get in you and sticks. That's something all of us should be doing. If I'm able to explain the truth, I'll be less likely to be among those that Paul described as, I won't, I'll be less likely to be a lover of myself, a lover of money without self-control. I don't have that memorized or printed here. Despising good. If I really understand and I'm ready to give an answer, hopefully I won't have just a form of godliness but despise the power thereof.

And because we want to hold ourselves fast, be ready to help the others. I remember an analogy from back when I was a kid. I haven't heard it as much lately. We talked about us being like a fish swimming upstream. That perilous world around us is like a current sweeping us down. And if we're not active, we get pulled along even if we're not trying to go with the current. We can be caught up in a downstream of misguided ideas and false philosophies.

So to fight against that stream, what do we do? We study God's Word. We think of how we would explain it to others. We explain it to ourselves. So that we'll be getting closer to God, not just floating along. And you might think, I can't teach God's Word.

Now, I said that once before. I remember as a young person, never would have dreamed I'd be the coordinator of ABC. But you can start with simple things. Is it wrong to murder? Yeah, I think the Ten Commandments says something about that. The Bible teaches we shouldn't steal. I'm going to live by that. Don't lie. Some of the basic things are things we can be examples of and can teach and explain to others. Okay, you don't have to move into explaining the difference between Trinity, unity... What's the word for by? A Trinity, a binary in God?

The thing that we don't believe in. That's why I can't explain it very well. You know, some of the doctrines are a bit tough to explain, but it's amazing how much the ones that really affect our lives are not that hard. And we can be ready to give an answer.

Young people... It's funny, I've got a story that's in my mind because I wrote it in a sermon that I haven't given yet. I'm not sure if... Well, maybe I should ask if we normally have 90-minute services here, or 120. Before I go off into another... I'll save it for another time. But I do want to bring up another aspect. I do want to go back to 2 Timothy and read chapter 2. 2 Timothy 2, beginning in verse 2. This is one of the primary reasons the ambassador of Bible college was founded, but it's not just for ABC.

It's something that pertains to all of us in God's church. Paul wrote to Timothy, he said, These things that you've heard from me... What things? The truths of God, the explanation of God's Word, how to live, God's plan and His purpose. These things you've heard from me among many witnesses? Commit them. Commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. It's pretty evident that Timothy did do that. Timothy and others passed on the truth, and they passed it on, and on and on. And we have it today. Because people understood God's Word and continued in it and taught others so that they were safe from peril.

We have the truth. And for that truth to endure, we have to commit it to others. And not just teach them, but help prepare them so that they'll be able to teach. And I say that, that's where we really get into our preparation for summer camp. It's not exclusive to us at camp, but what a privilege for young adults and some of us who are not so young adults to work with teens in the church and strive to commit to them the precious truths of God's Word.

And let them know, we're not going to be here forever. Well, when Christ returns, we will be here forever, but that's another matter. But we need you to get it so that you can teach those after you.

So that, you know, if God's plan goes on a couple hundred more years, the church of God will be carrying on and teaching His Word. What a privilege it is for us to do this. Oh, that's what I wrote in my notes. I was just saying, I've reached the point where now, you know, it's been this pleasure to work with several people that I knew as campers and now their colleagues on staff. Well, I see Kyle's one of them. I saw Grace Divini, and I remember when Matt was like a 10-year-old running around camp, and now he's my senior counselor. It's amazing, and it's a privilege, and it's humbling. It's like, oh, yeah. Matter of fact, I remember talking to Darris McNeely the other day, and he said, one thing I've realized is we have less time than we think. And he wasn't talking about Christ returning. He was talking about us looking in the mirror, saying, man, my whiskers used to be brown, and now they're white. At the end of a week of camp, I'm exhausted. I used to want to go another week, three weeks. Now I want to go home and sleep. But there are younger generations who understand God's truth, who have adopted it, who are not getting caught up in the ways of the world and are preparing to pass it on, and are passing it on. That gives me a lot of confidence and hope. And that's one thing I've seen over the past several years. Our teens and young adults in God's church, for the most part, they do want to understand. They want to live God's way. Sometimes they ask us to help us understand better, but they're not fighting and arguing against us. Partly because I think they realize they live in perilous times. We live in perilous times. So we can't afford to let ourselves be vulnerable. And I want to reiterate again, it's not our purpose to condemn people out there. People that aren't called because the people that aren't called by God now, they live in perilous times. It's perilous for them because of Satan's deceptions. He's called the God of this world, the prince of the power of the air. God has called a few of us from that peril, not because we're better. Think of what it says in 1 Corinthians chapter 1. We're the not many wise men. We're not the mighty, the powerful. We weren't called because we're better, but because we are called, we're better off. And God can help us through this peril. He's given us a precious gift, one we don't deserve, but a gift we need to use. And we need to pass it on so that we can all survive these perilous times and we can live God's way today.