It's About Time - Part 2
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It’s About Time
It’s About Time
32 of the sons of Issachar who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, their chiefs were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their command;
11 And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.
12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.
13 Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy.
14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.
In other words, Paul was saying to the Romans that we need to change something. We are like sleepwalkers, who need to wake up. We get lulled into a routine - a rut, if you will - and we are stuck there. It’s hard to get out of a rut.
Think about a rut:
Ran across this article in Human Kindness: The US standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. That's an exceedingly odd number. Why was that gauge used? Well, because that's the way they built them in England, and English engineers designed the first US railroads. Why did the English build them like that? Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built the wagon tramways, and that's the gauge they used. So, why did 'they' use that gauge then? Because the people who built the tramways used the same jigs and tools that they had used for building wagons, which used that same wheel spacing. Why did the wagons have that particular odd wheel spacing? Well, if they tried to use any other spacing, the wagon wheels would break more often on some of the old, long distance roads in England . You see, that's the spacing of the wheel ruts. So who built those old rutted roads? Imperial Rome built the first long distance roads in Europe (including England ) for their legions. Those roads have been used ever since. And what about the ruts in the roads? Roman war chariots formed the initial ruts, which everyone else had to match or run the risk of destroying their wagon wheels. Since the chariots were made for Imperial Rome , they were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing. Therefore the United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches is derived from the original specifications for an Imperial Roman war chariot [which was determined by the width of two yoked horses].
Now, the twist to the story: When you see a Space Shuttle sitting on its launch pad, there are two big booster rockets attached to the sides of the main fuel tank. These are solid rocket boosters, or SRBs. The SRBs are made by Thiokol at their factory in Utah . The engineers who designed the SRBs would have preferred to make them a bit fatter, but the SRBs had to be shipped by train from the factory to the launch site. The railroad line from the factory happens to run through a tunnel in the mountains, and the SRBs had to fit through that tunnel. The tunnel is slightly wider than the railroad track, and the railroad track, as you now know, is about [four fet, eight & a half inches]. So, a major Space Shuttle design feature, of what is arguably the world's most advanced transportation system, was determined over two thousand years ago by the width of [a horse drawn chariot].
Someone defined a rut as a grave with both ends knocked out.
It is easy to get in the rut of doing the same thing we’ve always done. To go through life sleep-walking.
It is time to wake up
If you have read the news in the last several weeks and even just the last few days, you will know that Paul’s, admonition to Timothy about TIME was spot on:
1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:
1 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.
1 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.
1 BUT UNDERSTAND this, that in the last days will come (set in) perilous times of great stress and trouble [hard to deal with and hard to bear].
χαλεπός (chalepos), violent; dangerous; hard. Heb. equiv. fr. LXX: ירא (1×)
Only used twice in Scripture:
28 When He had come to the other side, to the country of the Gergesenes, there met Him two demon-possessed men, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way.
28 When he arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met him. They were so violent that no one could pass that way.
29 “What do you want with us, Son of God?” they shouted. “Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?”
30 Some distance from them a large herd of pigs was feeding.
31 The demons begged Jesus, “If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs.”
32 He said to them, “Go!” So they came out and went into the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and died in the water.
These men were “chalepos”:
Violent - they attacked anyone who crossed their path
Unyielding - they would not give way to anyone
Controlled by demonic influence
What was the reaction of the city where these men lived?
33 Then those who kept them fled; and they went away into the city and told everything, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men.
34 And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus. And when they saw Him, they begged Him to depart from their region.
The city was willing to tolerate these violent, unyielding, men, as long as they got their bacon!
We are living in a similar “chalepos” time in the world right now!
We have tolerated evil until it has become violent and unyielding.
Paul encountered the same thing in Ephesus where Timothy was now the Bishop/Pastor.
For a brief time at the end of his second missionary journey, and then for more than two years on his third missionary journey, Paul ministered to the church at Ephesus (Acts 18:18–21; 19:1–41). During his time in this city that housed the famous temple to the Greek goddess Artemis, Paul saw many converted to faith in Jesus Christ and many others who opposed his preaching in the synagogues and homes. One prominent silversmith, Demetrius, who made implements for the worship of Artemis, found his business suffering greatly because people were converting to Christianity. The ensuing near-riot led Paul to leave the city, but only after the apostle had done much to stabilize and grow the Christian community there.
Paul wrote Timothy to stand firm in the face of such an evil society!
Paul probably wrote 2 Timothy during a second imprisonment in Rome following a fourth missionary journey that is not recorded in Acts. Expecting that death would come soon, Paul wrote this “farewell” letter to Timothy, who was at Ephesus, urging him to stand firm and asking him to come for one final visit.
Let’s read the whole chapter:
1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:
2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good,
4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!
6 For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts,
7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
8 Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith;
9 but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was.
10 But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance,
11 persecutions, afflictions, which happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra—what persecutions I endured. And out of them all the Lord delivered me.
12 Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.
13 But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.
14 But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them,
15 and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
“Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men oppose the truth...”
— 2 Timothy 3:8
Who were Janice and Jambres?
Aha! You find they have a Wikipedia entry. What more do characters need?! Wikipedia says that “In Jewish and Christian traditions” these are “the names given to magicians in the Book of Exodus.” When you dig a bit deeper — and consult some scholarly sources — you find that these names appear in the literature from the Qumran community (the Dead Sea Scrolls), in several other Jewish sources, and even in the Latin language writers Pliny and Apuleius. They seem to have been names given to the sorcerers who worked for Pharaoh at the time of the Exodus. When Moses began to work miracles and call down plagues on Egypt, Pharaoh “summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the magicians of Egypt, also did the same by their secret arts” (Exodus 7:11 and then again 7:22; 8:7). These magicians or sorcerers could mimic the plagues of blood and frogs; but for some reason they were defeated by gnats (8:18) and could do no more. I don’t know why they couldn’t manage gnats, but their failure signaled their defeat. And their defeat anticipates the final frustration of Pharaoh in his attempt to keep the Hebrews in slavery.
They opposed Moses because they were on the side of the enslavers, the oppressors; they wanted to use their power to keep the Hebrews under the cruel burden of slavery. There is a pregnant parallel with the false teachers in Ephesus. Paul has just said that these people “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 3:6,7). (Incidentally, that doesn’t mean that all women are weak, but just that in the Ephesus of Timothy’s day some were. The false teachers seem to be men, and they are a despicable group. So it’s not an anti-women comment.) The point is that the message of these false teachers enslaves. It takes people with troubled consciences, “burdened with sins”, and it never sets them free. The Gospel redeems, sets free, rescues us from slavery to sin. But false teaching enslaves; it leads to burdened people who can learn and learn and learn but will never know the truth that sets them free. It is all so like the confrontation between Moses the redeemer and the enslaving magicians. That is why it is so appropriate for Paul to compare the conflict in the Ephesus of his day with that ancient conflict in the Egypt of the Pharaohs.
The purpose of these difficult, demonically influenced times is to keep individuals in bondage - enslaved to sin and without hope.
And society - and even Christians - will continue to appease these demonically influenced attacks as long as they can keep their lives relatively routine. In other words, as long as we can get our bacon, we’ll put up with a few crazy people.
What Christians don’t realize is that we are surrendering a territory to the enemy when we don’t stand firm on the Truth of the Word of God.
Quite often we surrender this ideological territory right in our homes and among our own children.
What are we to do?
2 Timothy 3:14–16 (NKJV)
14 But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them,
15 and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
1. Do what you know.
1. Do what you know.
2. Measure everything by the Scripture
2. Measure everything by the Scripture
3. Don’t doubt that Scripture is God-breathed
3. Don’t doubt that Scripture is God-breathed
13 Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy.
14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.
4. Walk in the Light of Scripture
4. Walk in the Light of Scripture
105 Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.
11 Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.
Will you sincerely promise in the presence of God and these witnesses that you will accept this Bible as the Word of God, believe and practice its teachings rightly divided—the New Testament as your rule of faith, practice, government, and discipline, and walk in the light to the best of your knowledge and ability?
5. Take off the flesh and Put on Jesus
5. Take off the flesh and Put on Jesus
21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus:
22 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts,
23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.
So what is our hope?
23 Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him.
24 And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep.
25 Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!”
26 But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.
27 So the men marveled, saying, “Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”