Faith, part 4

It is because heaven is so real to us that we are compelled to bring people into the knowledge of truth which promotes godliness. But if you are not heavenly minded, and all you really see is this life, then maybe you would get upset with the church when we say that something is a sin. What is the purpose of correction if it’s not needed? Without the reality of heaven in the mind, a person only sees this life; and if you only see this life, with no God setting a moral standard, then why shouldn’t all things be acceptable? Why be so upset and adamant about living in a godly way, if God is not in their thinking. 

2 Timothy 3:1-5 “In the last days difficult times will come. 2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, 4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; 5 holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power...” This is what we are up against.

However, we are not up against these people as much as we are up against this type of knowledge. This knowledge is not according to godliness and yet we have been called to help bring people into that kind of knowledge. Notice that they hold to a “form of godliness.” They have a basic belief that there is a God and there is a heaven; but their lifestyle suppresses the power of God. They don’t know His power, subsequently, their spirits do not bear witness with the Spirit of God that they are on their way to heaven – so they live for today. They are lovers of pleasure not lovers of God. 
 

Let’s go back to one of the verses we looked at earlier. 2 Timothy 4:7 “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith.” Paul set an example of one who fought the good fight of faith. We started this study looking at his calling. He was called to help God’s chosen people to build up their faith. Everything comes down to faith. Our faith is in the fact that God cannot lie, that all the promises of God are true, and that we have an eternity with Jesus waiting for us. 

But there are a lot of things that want to oppose that faith. All those things we just read about - how people will be in the last days - stand against us. There are boastful, arrogant people who revile others (and especially the godly). There are ungrateful, unholy people who mock righteous living. There are unloving, malicious gossips who won’t hesitate to lie about us if it makes us look bad. These things are against us; therefore, we must stand with our faith in our God in the midst of this kind of persecution.
 

It seems even our own flesh wants to turn against us. When life goes bad, when our marriage goes bad, when our health goes bad, when our children turn from God, when we lose our jobs… all of these things work against our faith, trying to get us to turn our backs on God – as though that will, somehow, help us.   

All these things fight against our faith. What are we going to do about the day we are about to face? Most of us believe we are living in the last days and that things are not going to get better in America in the near future. What are we going to do if it does get worse? Are we going to give up on our faith? 

No, we are not! We are going to stand in our faith in Jesus. Just like it says in Ephesians 6, we are going to stand having our loins gird about with truth, with the breastplate of righteousness on, having shod our feet with the preparation of the Gospel of peace, taking up the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, praying and making petitions at all times in the Spirit!

Continued tomorrow