THE SELFISHNESS OF THESE LAST DAYS

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0><script type="text/javascript" src="http://hb.lycos.com/hb.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://ratings.lycos.com/ratings/lycosRating.js.php"></script> <script type="text/javascript"><![CDATA[//><!]]></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://scripts.lycos.com/catman/init.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/ad/code-start.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/ad/code-middle.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/ad/code-end.js"></script> <noscript> <img src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/img/common/ot_noscript.gif?rand=837746" alt="" width="1" height="1" />  <iframe frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" width="728" height="90" src="http://ad.yieldmanager.com/st?ad_type=iframe&ad_size=728x90&section=209094"></iframe>  </noscript> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" height=95 BGCOLOR="#330066" TEXT="#F7F7FF" bgproperties="fixed" background="048005f0dkblkv.gif"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" ><B>Preach The Word</b></FONT><B>     </b><B>|    </b><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" ><B> </b><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Preach The Word"><U><B>home</b></U></A></FONT></div> <div> <A HREF="id22.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="2 Timothy"><U><B>2 Timothy</b></U></A><B>   l   </b><A HREF="id54.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="DANIEL"><U><B>Daniel</b></U></A><B>   l   </b><A HREF="id69.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="ZECHARIAH: "><U><B>Zechariah</b></U></A><B>   l   </b><A HREF="id70.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="MARK"><U><B>Mark</b></U></A><B>    I    </b><A HREF="id136.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="TOPICAL STUDIES"><U><B>Topical Studies</b></U></A></div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=385 BGCOLOR="#DDDDDD" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>THE SELFISHNESS OF THESE LAST DAYS</b></div> <div> 2 Timothy 3:2a,b</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> "The increment of evil, the growth of hypocrisy, selfishness, and unbelief within the bounds of professing Christendom are according to Scripture the signs of the approaching end of the age. Though there are thousands of faithful congregations and many pious souls still<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT>bearing a faithful testimony to Christ in our modern day, it is hardly true that the majority of Christendom is bearing a true testimony. It is the exception rather than the rule for the great fundamentals of the church to ring from the pulpit and for the pew to manifest the transforming grace of God in life and sacrificial devotion.  In a word, the last days of the church on earth are days of apostasy, theologically and morally, days of unbelief, and days that will culminate in divine judgment." <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000080" FACE="Arial" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000080" FACE="Arial" >John Walvoord, The Church in Prophecy, p. 66</FONT></div> <bR> <bR> <div> In this third chapter of 2 Timothy, God is, believe it or not, wanting to encourage us.  How?  By letting us know that we're not the first Christians to live in the midst of an Apostate country. You're not the first to live in a society where most people are self-centered and not interested in God's truth.</div> <bR> <div> So, in these 17 verses, the Lord reminds us that we are indeed living <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008000" FACE="Arial" ><B>"in the last days" (v.1) </b></FONT>Then He proceeds to describe how people will be in these last days, which can be summed up in 3 words: <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008000" FACE="Arial" ><B>"lovers of themselves" (v.2)</b></FONT> And then He goes into quite a bit of detail concerning how we, as believers, are to conduct ourselves as we live and work in the midst of such depravity. </div> <bR> <div> So, in a way we could divide this chapter in two parts: <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Arial" ><B>Darkness and Light</b></FONT>. <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Arial" ><B>(1)</b></FONT> The darkness of the world in these last days (1-9), and  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Arial" ><B>(2)</b></FONT> The Light of the Church in these last days (10-17).  So, for today and next time we'll look into the Darkness and then we'll spend some time looking into the light. </div> <bR> <div> The man at DTS all students and teachers know as <B>"Prof."</b>, <I>Howard Hendricks</I>, once defined a Christian similar to this, <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000080" FACE="Arial" >"God bends down to look among the population of this depraved human race. Picks one among them. Pulls him/her out. Dusts him off. Fills him with His Spirit and His Word. Than throws him back in the same crowd and says, "SHINE! BABY! SHINE!"  </FONT></div> <bR> <div> Unfortunately, a vast majority of believers accept only the first part. God choosing them and cleansing them. But they never return to the people in the dark to shine. We seem to forget Jesus words, </div> <bR> <div> "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on a stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."  Mt.5: 14-16</div> <bR> <bR> <div> Now, one of the major reasons some "holier than thou" Christians have rather opted to "stay away" from the people in the world is for fear of contamination and shipwreck.  And, we must admit that these are legitimate concerns. But not a good excuse.</div> <bR> <div> It's true that it's "very risky business" for a Christian to leave the "safe haven" of his home and Church and go into Non-Christian places in order to get to know, on a personal basis, Non-Christian people.  And many "have" suffered spiritual downfall because of it.  But the solution is to be "well prepared" and not to stop reaching out. </div> <bR> <div> Turn with me to<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008000" FACE="Arial" >Mark 2:13-17</FONT></div> <bR> <div> As Jesus prayed for Christians he said to the Father, <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008000" FACE="Arial" >"My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from evil one… Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth."  John 17:15,17</FONT></div> <bR> <div> So, what does Jesus mention here for the Christian to be able to be reaching out to the unbelieving crowd without suffering spiritual failure: <B>the Fathers protection and being firmly rooted on God's word.</b>  And Paul speaks of these same vital elements here in <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008000" FACE="Arial" >2 Timothy 3</FONT>.</div> <bR> <div> Now in <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008000" FACE="Arial" >verses 2-4</FONT> here, Paul gives us an extensive list of what personal characteristics unbelievers will have in these last days. It goes without saying that as a believer you need to avoid these (some 18 of them).  </div> <bR> <div> And if you're like most believers, when you read passages like this, you just mention the words and keep reading on without really knowing what most of them even mean. So I find it very important that we take the time to dig here and have a clear understanding of what these terms are. Now, I'm using the NIV translation and not everyone here is. So, you might not have the exact same term, but don't panic! We're going to look at what the Greek word is and the definition of that same Greek term. </div> <bR> <div> You'll note that the key characteristic here is found in <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008000" FACE="Arial" >v.2, "lovers of themselves".</FONT> All the other terms that follow are only a natural flow from the love of self.  In other words, when we read the following characteristics we're looking at what a lover of self does and acts like and what he speaks about. </div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>1. PEOPLE IN THESE LAST DAYS WILL BE SELFISH.   2a</b></div> <bR> <div> "People will be lovers of themselves" </div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I><B>"</b></I><B>Pilautos</b><I><B>":</b></I> love of self.  Now, there's a certain love we naturally have of ourselves that is not sinful.  Paul writes, <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008000" FACE="Arial" >"In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies.  He who loves his wife loves himself.  After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it."  Eph.5:28-29</FONT></div> <bR> <div> But sin comes in when someone loves himself above and beyond God and his neighbor.  Too much love for one's self becomes selfishness, where the whole universe revolves around me, myself and I. That's when one rejects God and uses and abuses everyone in order to meet his own selfish desires and goals.</div> <bR> <div> Selfish; Selfishness: Concerned only or primarily with one-self without regard for others (Websters)</div> <bR> <div> Synonyms: Egoistic / Egotistical / Self-seeking / Ungenerous</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b7016800008000.gif" HEIGHT="24" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Biblical Examples of Selfishness:</b></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>The Crowd that followed Jesus</U></b><B>:</b></div> <bR> <div> "I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill." Jn.6:26</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B><U>NABAL</U></b><B>:</b> When David was running from Saul and had been on the run for a long time, he and his servants were hungry.  So he found out Nabal was a very wealthy man and sent his servants to ask him for some help. Here's how Nabal answered David's servants: <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008000" FACE="Arial" >"Who is David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many servants are breaking away from their masters these days. Why should I take my bread and water, and the meat I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men coming from who knows where?" (1 Samuel 25) <I><B> </b></I></FONT>Now that is a selfish man. </div> <bR> <div> "Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act. Do not say to your neighbor, "Come back later: I'll give it tomorrow"- when you have it with you."  Prov.3:27-28</div> <div>  </div> <div> So, God says this will be the main characteristic of the people of the world in these last days.  </div> <bR> <div> Where do we see this in Canada today? We see it in the never-ending laws against discrimination and personal rights. The breakdown of the Canadian family.  That's the world's way, but there's a better way. And it's the Christian who must shine the light on this.  Its called unselfishness. </div> <bR> <div> "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others." Phil. 2:3-4</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b7016800008000.gif" HEIGHT="24" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Biblical Examples:</b></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Jonathan:</U></b>  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008000" FACE="Arial" >"Don't be afraid", he said. "My father Saul will not lay a hand on you. You will be king over Israel, and I will be second to you. Even my father Saul knows it." The two of them made a covenant before the Lord." </FONT></div> <div> <B>1 Samuel 23:17-18</b></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Abraham</U></b><B>:</b> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008000" FACE="Arial" >"So, Abram said to Lot, "Let's not have any quarreling between you and me, or between your herdsmen and mine, for we are brothers. Is not the whole land before you? Let's part company. If you go to the left, I'll to the right; if you go to the right, I'll go to the left." Genesis 13:8-9</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Jesus</U></b><B>:</b>  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008000" FACE="Arial" >"For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."  Mark 10:45</FONT></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>2. PEOPLE IN THESE LAST DAYS WILL LOVE MONEY  (2b)     </b></div> <bR> <div> "People will be…lovers of money"</div> <bR> <div> "Philargyroi": Two words  "phileo"=love;  "arguros"=silver.  Means to be covetous and avaricious. It's the passion of having more material things and as much or more than Mr. Jones across the street.  Being unsatisfied and discontented with essentials, they continuously crave for more earthly possessions. It's another form of idolatry;  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008000" FACE="Arial" >"Greed… is idolatry"  Col.3:5</FONT></div> <bR> <bR> <div> "In 1997, Canadians gave $4.3 billion to charity and $6.8 billion to government run gambling."<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000080" FACE="Arial" ><B>  </b></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000080" FACE="Arial" >Servant, Spring 2000, p.8</FONT></div> <bR> <div> "Prosperity has swept America to a degree never before realized, and its average citizen has more money, more pleasure, more luxuries than ever before… In many nations there is no middle class, but only the extremely rich and the extremely poor."<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >  </FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000080" FACE="Arial" >John Walvoord, the Nations in Prophecy, p.18</FONT></div> <bR> <bR> <div> Unfortunately, again, the Church is stained with the same insatiable lust for money and toys: </div> <div>  </div> <div> "The Church today is too evidently overtaken by its worldliness. The lives of its people are often indistinguishable from those outside the Church. Its prayer meetings are the poorest attended meetings of the week. Its congregations build great cathedrals to house their own worship, but often have little concern for the dying millions who have never heard of Christ. In some of our major denominations, it takes over forty congregations to support one full-time missionary on a foreign field." <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000080" FACE="Arial" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000080" FACE="Arial" >John Walvoord, The Church in Prophecy, p.65</FONT></div> <bR> <bR> <div> "In just the past decade, the total credit card debt in the United States has become enormous. In 1994, it was approximately 525 billion dollars, accompanied by an average annual interest rate of 18 percent. Today the total is probably much closer to one trillion dollars. And it is estimated that 70 percent of credit card holders carry large balances on their cards-balances that earn banks and other card issuers close to two hundred million dollars daily in total<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT>interest income. Credit Card experts say that once the average cardholder becomes 800 dollars or more in debt to his credit card company, the company has him or her for life."<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000080" FACE="Arial" ><B> </b> </FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000080" FACE="Arial" >John MacArthur, Whose money is it anyway?, p.46-47</FONT></div> <bR> <bR> <div> And living as a Christian in what is probably the richest continent on the planet today, it seems to be the most natural thing to do. But I'd like to remind you of some thing today: Your attitude towards money is an accurate barometer of your spiritual life. </div> <bR> <div> "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despite the other. You cannot serve both God and Money."  Matt.6:24</div> <bR> <div> "People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." 1 Tim.6:9-10</div> <bR> <bR> <div> On one documentary, they were visiting and interviewing some very common people who had won a million dollar lottery<I><B> </b></I>in order to investigate how it had changed their lives. And all of them, without exception, said it had brought chaos in their families and had lost most of their friends.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Arial" ><B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b7016800008000.gif" HEIGHT="24" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">A Biblical Example:</b></FONT> <B>Judas</b></div> <bR> <div> "He was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it…As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him." John 12:6 / 13:27</div> <bR> <bR> <div> As Christians we should be more eager to give money than to hoard it.</div> <bR> <div> "Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." Acts 20:35</div> <bR> <div> "Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."  2 Cor.9:7</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b7016800008000.gif" HEIGHT="24" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Biblical Example:</b></div> <bR> <bR> <div>  <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><B>The Macedonian Christians</b></FONT></div> <bR> <div> "They gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints." 2 Cor.8:3-4</div> <bR> <div> "A Church board decided that people in the congregation were embarrassed when the offering plates were passed. So they thought they ought to have a new system that wouldn't embarrass anybody, especially those who couldn't give. They asked the pastor to design a way of handling it so people could give as they came in or went out. So he built several interesting boxes and put them at each door. But these boxes were different. If you dropped in a dollar or more, it made no noise, it was silent. If you gave a half-dollar, a little bell tingled. If you gave a quarter, it blew a whistle. If you gave a dime, a siren went off. If you gave a nickel, a shot sounded. If you gave nothing, it took your picture!" <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000080" FACE="Arial" ><B> </b></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000080" FACE="Arial" >Clyde Murdock, A Treasury of Humor</FONT></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> "May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer."  Psalm 19:14</div> <bR> <div> Amen and God Bless You All.</div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>