Today I have to do something different. I must follow the leading of the Holy Spirit lest I burst. Turn with me, if you will, to the second letter Saint Paul sent to Timothy. Let us look at chapter four, verses one to eight.
4 I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; 2 preach the word; be instant in season, and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4 and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. 5 But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. 6 For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. 7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: 8 henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
Look around you. There is “fake news” that people prefer to believe over the truth. There are religious myths being promulgated as Gospel. The ancient Pagan cults are returning with new teachings to fit the modern way of life. Humans who call themselves “Christian” reject the teachings of Jesus Christ himself and turn to self-fulfilling, egoistic doctrines of religiosity and not faith. Those who follow the faith of Christ as He handed it down are persecuted in their own churches, in their jobs, and in society as a whole. Can you look at this and not conclude the time is now?
When I studied this passage in Bible college, I thought Saint Paul was only referring to religious doctrine in verse three. But in the United States political climate, people are willing to believe the most outrageous falsehoods if they satisfy their political prejudices. A man that was a true hero, whose body was broken by enemy torture, is denigrated and his heroism denied in false reports made up to satisfy the political whims of the president, and people will swallow the falsehood over eye witness accounts because it satisfies their own “itching ears.” If this isn’t the last days, I hate to think of the mayhem to come.
Saint Paul firmly believed until the day he was beheaded by the Romans that the Day of the Lord would come in his lifetime. Only when he was certain that it was not to be, did he write these words to his prodigy. Can you, with Saint Paul, say that you are ready to be offered up? That your time of departure is at hand? That you have fought a good fight, finished your course and kept the faith? Do you have a crown of righteousness laid up for you by the Lord until His judgment? If you answered no or are unsure of any of the answers, my suggestion is to make it right.
Ol’ Fuzzy is not employable and was denied for disability benefits. The only thing I have is the blogs. But I don’t qualify for ads on the blogs until September. If you like the scribbles I post, please help me keep it going. You can leave me a gratuity by dropping a buck or two in Ol' Fuzzy's Tip Jar. This is a PayPal account I opened on Wednesday, April 5, 2017.
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