Friday, February 24, 2017

Last Days - Worldliness (LG39)


‘Last Generation’
Luke 21:34-36 “But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
    This warning from our Lord Jesus Christ that in the last days the great danger to Christians will be accepting worldliness, which will trap them along with non-believers; and they will definitely miss rapture.

1 John 2:17-19 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world — the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life — is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
    Whoever loves this world and the things there in, does not love the Father. These are carnal, worldly, proud and covetous Christians.

James 4:4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
    Whoever befriends this world loves this world and the things therein, has committed adultery.  The bride of the Lamb who loves the world had made himself an enemy of God.

1 John 3:18-19 By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?
    Our Lord has given us an example of true love by dying for us so that we do not have to suffer the fire of hell. We too ought to lay down our lives for our brethren. If anyone lacks mercy and compassion, then he really loves this world more than God.

Mat 16:23-26 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
    We are only pilgrims in this world and then we have to leave this earth to our eternal destination. What a pity it will be to find ourselves so happy and successful in this world to be cast down into the everlasting fire.

Doctrines of God always lead us into truth, godliness and holiness, so that we can be conformed into His image and be with Him in His everlasting kingdom. But false doctrines, distorted truth and heresies will always lead to worldliness, carnality, death and destruction leading to eternal damnation.

Brethren, therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles—when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. In regard to these, they think it strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you. (1 Pet 4:1-4)