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The Book of Second Timothy:
Message Thirty
By Dr. Michael
Guido, D.D.
To be
forewarned is to be forearmed. The apostle Paul was
an old man, and he was writing a letter to a young
man, Timothy. All about him was evidence of the foes
and forces that were against Christ and the Church.
So he wrote him a letter of warning, saying, "In
the last days difficult times shall come." Then
he followed that warning with a dark catalog of evil
men and their manners.
It's written,
"Men shall be despisers of those that are
good." Before I became a Christian, I didn't
care to be with Christians. They bored me and
bothered me. I played for dances and all I cared
about was jazz music, not music about Jesus. I had no
taste for the Scriptural or spiritual things. And
there are many today who find the company and
conversation of Christians something to be avoided.
But how glad I am that the Lord saved me. Before my
conversion I wasn't living, just existing. My heart
goes out to you who have no love for God or the
godly. There's something missing in your life, and
you'll never find it until you come to the Lord.
It's written,
"Men shall be traitors." The Bible isn't
speaking of men outside the church, but inside; men
not true to Christ. "But," you ask,
"how can one inside the church be a
traitor?" Let's see. The word
"traitor" means "one who goes
before." A traitor is one who goes before the
enemy and leads the enemy. He surrenders a position
before the enemy can capture it. He betrays a duty, a
trust, or a friend. This word describes a church
member who bears the name of Christ but not His
nature. He has been baptized but not born again. He
condones the evil that Christ condemns. He listens to
the Bible Sunday after Sunday, but he doesn't live
it. He pronounces the doctrines, but he doesn't
practice then. Such a person was Judas. He was
associated with the Lord Jesus for three years. He
heard His wonderful words and witnessed His wonderful
works. But he wasn't true to Jesus, for the Bible
calls him, "the traitor." Oh, don't be a
Judas to Jesus.
It's written,
"Men shall be heady." The word
"heady" means literally "falling
forward." It signifies that which is rash and
reckless. It describes a man who's swept on by
impulse and infatuation to such an extent that he
doesn't take time to think things through. More
transgressions are committed from lack of thought
than almost anything else. How many times you would
have been saved from hurting your loved ones and
yourself, if only you would have stopped to think! If
you think, you won't transgress. "No one can
think deeply," said Samuel Johnson,
"without thinking religiously."
It's written,
"Men shall be highminded." That really
means "puffed up." "Conceit may puff
up a man," said Ruskin, "but can never prop
him up." Someone else has said, "The bigger
a man's head gets, the easier it is to fill his
shoes." How quickly people pass from hero to
zero.
It's written,
"Men shall be lovers of pleasure more than
lovers of God." There's a fable that tells of a
swarm of flies that came to eat up a pot of honey
that fell to the floor. They ate until there wasn't a
drop left. But their feet became so clogged that they
couldn't fly away. Dying in their delight, they said,
"Miserable creatures that we are, who, for the
sake of an hour's pleasure, have thrown away our
lives." Oh, how many have murdered their souls
for a moment of sin!
It's written,
"Having a form of godliness, but denying the
power thereof." Recently I read of a strange
revival. It was reported in the tropical forests of
Brazil, and it was led by an escaped parrot that
belonged to a religious widow. This woman taught her
parrot a number of prayers and hymns. On gaining its
freedom this feathery escapee flew straight north and
the report seems to show that he has converted a
whole tribe of cockatoos. Travelers who came through
the forest said that it's echoing daily with the
sounds of prayers and hymns coming from a choir of
green-and-red-feathered birds. Many church members
today have little more than cockatoo conviction and
conversion. It's on the lip, but not in the life. It
comes from the head, but not from the heart. There's
no change within because the Christ is still without.
Receive Him as He says, "Behold, I stand at the
door, and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open
the door, I will come in."
copyright 2000 Guido Evangelistic
Association
All Scripture verses are
quoted from the New King James Version.
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This series of messages on the
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Sower." They are collected and reprinted here
for your enjoyment and spiritual edification.
