What to Expect in the Last Days 1 Timothy 4:1-5 (NKJV) It doesn t take much to realize that we are in the last days. The signs of the end times are everywhere. It s been true from the time that Jesus departed; it s His hope that every generation will live with the anticipation that He can come back at any time. And here, Paul will remind us what we can expect in the last days. Let s read verses 1 through 5, and then come back and walk through it. Vs. 1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons As we get closer to the rapture, there are some things that we will see, that we are already seeing that Paul warns us of, something he wants the body of believers to be careful not to fall into. What to expect in the last days: 1. Departing from the faith Notice this word depart. Depart: to withdraw, to become faithless. For a person to depart from the faith they had to be in the faith. You can t depart from something you never took part in. This is speaking to you and I as believers. The Spirit of God is warning the church that in the last days there will be some who were in the faith, who were walking in a relationship with Jesus Christ that will depart. They will withdraw, the writer of Hebrews reminds us, just as Israel did back in the day and they wandered in the wilderness of unbelief. We too can find ourselves doing the same thing. Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of trial in the wilderness, Copyright 2016 Chris Fraley 1
where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, and saw My works forty years. Therefore I was angry with that generation, and said, They always go astray in their heart, and they have not known My ways. So I swore in My wrath, They shall not enter My rest. Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called Today, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end Hebrews 3:7-14 (NKJV) Again notice verse 12, he is speaking to the brethren, those who are born-again. If you don t take care of your heart and fill your heart with truth, a deception can take you out and you can find yourself departing from the faith all together. Verse 14 reminds us of the need to abide. If you and I are partakers of Christ, then we need to be steadfast until the end. Not working for Christ, but abiding in Christ. It speaks of a relationship not of works; it s not something we do to appease Him, but something we do to stay connected with Him. It s what we see Mary doing. She was sitting at the feet of Jesus, connecting with Jesus, while her sister was always busy. And remember what Jesus said to them Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me. And Jesus answered and said to her, Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her. Luke 10:38-42 (NKJV) Notice Martha, the doer, was distracted with doing, not that being a doer is wrong, it was just not what was needed at the moment. And you can see what it was doing to Martha; she blasted Jesus for allowing Mary to chill out while she was doing all the work. But then Jesus cleaned it all up. Copyright 2016 Chris Fraley 2
Martha is worried and troubled, striving and restless, and only one thing was needed, to sit at His feet and worship, sit at His feet and listen to His voice. That s abiding, folks. There are times we work, but it must come from the overflow of time spent in worship. Don t ever leave the worship for work; if you do, then you might find yourself bitter, angry, and comparing yourself like Martha. It s why we are always checking up on our servants, making sure they get time in to worship so that they don t burnout in service. I know the pastors here they will come on the weekend and work the whole time. I am always reminding them, Make sure you re sitting with your spouse in church, taking time to worship, taking time to sit at His feet, or it s just a matter of time before there will be an issue. Notice what s next on the list: giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons 2. Truth is replaced with the counterfeit. Paul would say it this way in Romans 1, speaking of the downward spiral of depravity that takes place when we suppress the truth in our unrighteousness, he says who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. Romans 1:25 (NKJV) We all have a heart to worship someone or something. If not Jesus, then it will be someone or something other than Jesus, a counterfeit, and the counterfeit comes in all sizes and disguises. It might not actually be an idol, like a carved out Buddha; it might come in the package of pleasure or prosperity. It s the way were created. We are worshippers, and if we are not worshipping the Creator, then we will worship what s created. When I was a kid, I wanted to be a racecar driver. I watched Speed Racer with a passion, then I realized that was too far away and speed was replaced with Pelé, and soccer was my next thing. That didn t happen like I hoped though. So I took up tennis, practiced with the varsity players all summer, and in my Copyright 2016 Chris Fraley 3
sophomore year, I made varsity. Guess whom I wanted to be like? Andre Agassi, with his cool hair and jean shorts. It wasn t until I committed my life to Jesus after high school that I realized I was settling for something less than the greatest of all men, Jesus Christ, my Creator, and most of all my Savior. Let s remember who is behind the counterfeit Satan and his seducing army. Deceiving spirits: misleading, leading into error, and imposter or seducer Demons: a diving power, a spirit inferior to God but superior to men, messengers and ministers of the devil. The enemy is always deceiving and seducing, throwing out the counterfeit to get us away from the real thing. If it s not another religion, then it s going to be someone or something created. Don t settle for anything less than Jesus Christ! He is the same today, yesterday, and forever. He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. Notice what this seducing army is into Vs. 2 speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron 3. Speaking lies in hypocrisy Let s remember this one thing among many things about the enemy: he is a liar. Jesus, in speaking to the religious who would not hear the truth, He said You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. John 8:44 (NKJV) Copyright 2016 Chris Fraley 4
Remember that when he speaks to you, he is not speaking truth because there is no truth in him. He has no desire for you to hear the truth and for the truth to set you free, that s counterproductive to his nature. So if he uses truth, he will use it out of context, throwing in a subtle change that will move you just enough that you start to believe the lie. He speaks lies in hypocrisy, in other words, not only is it a lie, but it s masqueraded in hypocrisy. In other words, it s not working for them, and it s not going to work for you. It s a bogus belief system that will not work. Have you ever looked in at someone s life and said to yourself, Man, their life is not working right the way they live, the belief system they follow, the things they put their hands to. They know it, but instead of making changes in their life to fix it, they solicit their lifestyle to others, hoping that you engage so they feel a little bit better about what they re doing. The devil is a liar, and he knows what he believes is not working for him, and so he is going to do everything he can to bring the world down with him. He speaks lies in hypocrisy. And if we live in this long enough, the outcome will be a seared conscience. Notice 4. Conscience seared One of the themes throughout First Timothy is the conscience. It s something that Paul wants Timothy, a young pastor and his leadership, to make sure they maintain. You don t ever want to get to the place where you re just moving through the motions of ministry in public while your private life is full of sin and deceit. Our private and public life should be consistent. It will keep our conscience from filing bankruptcy. There came a point when Judas eventually had to come to a fork in the road. He could no longer play the part and put on the face, he had to show his true colors and make a decision about whom he was going to be. Copyright 2016 Chris Fraley 5
Little by little, that pain in his heart was no longer there, and he turned Jesus over to his accusers for a few bucks, only to end it in suicide. Hear me today, that s where the enemy ultimately wants to take us; over and over again, he will move us beyond the pain of our conscience so that he can completely take us out. Be careful of going against your conscience, it s been put there by God to protect us from the devil who wants to murder us. Notice the next two things we will see take place in the last days Vs. 3 forbidding to marry 5. Attacking the covenant of marriage It s what we see today. The marriage covenant is always on the chopping block. Some would rather just live together instead of making a covenant with one another before the Lord, missing out on God s blessing in the marriage. Others want to reinvent the marriage covenant to make room for bogus marriages. The U.S. has legalized same-sex marriage, but in the eyes of the Lord, they re not married. He is the one who invented and created marriage, and He has the say on how it works. From the very beginning, it was between a man and woman, so the same-sex marriage is bogus. It s not a legit marriage because it s not recognized by heaven. Marriage is a picture of the church and their relationship with the Lord. Husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved us when He laid down His life for us. Wives are to submit to their husbands as unto the Lord. It s a beautiful picture of you and I, the church, and what the Lord did for us to birth us into the church. In the last days, this will be on the chopping block, under fire. And then lastly, notice what else they attack Vs. 3-5 and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is Copyright 2016 Chris Fraley 6
received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. 6. Attack the liberty we have in Christ. Notice here, we receive it with thanksgiving. It s sanctified by prayer and the Word, which means it becomes holy and useful for digestion. Thank God for these verses. I have eaten some stuff in other countries that I am not sure how they could ever be holy. But we prayed over it, spoke truth over it, and it brought nourishment to us. That s why Paul says So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. Colossians 2:16-17 (NKJV) Did you get that? Don t embrace the shadow when you have the substance. Who is the substance? Jesus! No diet is going to make you right before Lord. It may offer you a better quality of life, but Jenny Craig is not the way, the truth, and the life Jesus Christ is. That s whom we preach. That s whom we listen to in these last days. Let s finish with this last verse Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. John 14:6 (NKJV) Copyright 2016 Chris Fraley 7