Are These the "End Times?"

“But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.” -2 Timothy 3:1-7

We hear a lot about how awful the world is becoming, and people have been saying for years that we live in the end times, especially here in the Bible Belt (I’m writing this from Tennessee). The purpose of this iDevo is not to convince you that Jesus Christ is going to come back today. My purpose is just to convince you that it’s time to examine your life because Jesus could come back today.

Read this Scripture from Matthew 24:44: “Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” Have you heard the Memorial Acclamation? It says, “Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.” Surely you have focused on Christ dying and rising again, but how often do you focus on Christ coming back? Christ’s death and resurrection are the foundation of our faith, and it is the reason that we can live with a hope of eternal life, but they already happened. Jesus Christ’s second coming has not happened yet, and it is something that you could very likely be a part of! So it’s time to consider where you are at with God. If Jesus came back tonight, what would you do differently today?

Go back and read the theme verse, 2 Timothy 3:1-7. Paul is warning Timothy about how people will be in the “last days.” However, notice verse 5: “having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power.” Paul is not talking about atheists or pagans; he is talking about people who say they are Christians. Now, ask yourself some hard questions. Do you profess Christianity and yet fall into these criteria? All of these stem from the first one: “lovers of self.” Are you obsessed with yourself? Do you think things like this: “I should love my neighbors like myself, but I don’t like myself, so I’m just going to focus on building myself up,” or, “I really didn’t like the worship music today; I can’t worship to southern gospel,” or, “I have to stop sinning; why am I so bad? I’ll try harder next time, God!”? Do you ignore the poor around you while making yourself more comfortable with a better house, a nicer car, a new shirt, a better meal, or a bigger savings account? Do you disguise your stinginess for “being a good steward”? Do you throw out Church tradition because it doesn’t let you worship “how you want to” as if you know better?

Let me tell you, the gospel is not safe. The gospel is not comfortable. The gospel is not easy. The gospel is not selfish. The gospel does not ignore the poor. The gospel is death to us. The gospel calls us to pick up our crosses and DIE every day. The gospel requires us to give up our desires and follow Christ’s desires. If you are so focused on yourself that you have boiled Church down to what you like and dislike, you are a living abomination to what the Church is supposed to be. Jesus could come back NOW. If you were to stand before a holy God, waiting to be judged, what would matter to you? This is not a rhetorical question. This is a question that demands an answer. Don’t let life go idly by without surrendering to the will of God. Get over yourselves. Jesus is coming. Are you ready for him?