A Word in the Last Days and Perilous Times From a Sinner - 2 Timothy 3:1-5

I am a hypocrite and in a little while I am going to take you through a list of my sins with nothing held back. You might never have seen a sermon like this article and might never want to see one again but God wants you to know that even you can be forgiven, seeing as He sees my sin and loves me enough to show it to you. I have not seen many sermons preached like this and met few preachers with all my faults, and so I hope as I do it you might respect me more for my honesty towards the end rather then what I said about myself. Paul had this to say to Timothy about what people will be like in the last days and how when these exist we are indeed in these perilous times he spoke of.

2 Timothy 3:1-5 (New King James Version) 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!

Lovers of themselves.

I love myself. I love speaking and being heard. I love preaching on the Internet and writing these articles. I am full of pride. Though I have to stop here and give Jesus the Glory as I have read some of the things I have written, and it is proof to me that God uses me and some of the things I have said are really inspired. May Jesus be praised that He can use such a mess like me.

Lovers of money

I love money but not as much as some people. People that have a little bit of money can love money. I give a lot of my money away and this is a good cure to this one. Do you love money more then God?You need to come back to God. Thank God I am not too guilty of this one.

Boasters, proud

I am happy with how many people have read my articles on EzineArticles.com and I can't help but boast about it in my happiness. Without check I get into pride and boastfulness and this is sin. I am proud and think I am the world's best preacher and can get quite angry if I am in your church for two years and you do not let me preach. This is a bad sin. Do you have my problem?

Blasphemers

I don't use Jesus name in vain but I often say God told me this or Jesus said this to me, and this is a form of blasphemy that God is upset about. Do you do that?

Disobedient to parents

I still think I know more then my parents and do not often obey their counsel. As a young child I was disobedient and not much has changed in later years. Mum is pleased that I will at least listen now and take direction, but I won't always. Are you disobedient to your parents?

Unthankful

I have been given a good gift for writing and life and health, and yet you don't often read how thankful I am to the Lord Jesus Christ. May the Father be honoured by my thanking Him right here for all the good things He has given me. So often when we are well we are not thankful for our health but in times of ill health we realise how good health is. Be thankful to God today!

Unholy

I am a wicked sinner and have many sins I could tell you about. This makes me unholy.

Unloving.

I show partiality with my love. I love who it is profitable to love. This is unloving and makes me fall way short of Jesus. I have trouble loving an enemy that has caused me such grief when Jesus says this is what we are meant to do.

Unforgiving

There are many people I have not forgiven and I am going to a counsellor to help me with all this bitterness I hold onto.

Slanderers

I gossip and say bad things about my enemy to others on a one on one situation, and a group of people which is slander. It seems all right to me and it is a bad sin. Jesus does not go and tell the world how bad we are.

Without self-control

I have got a bad temper when I do not get what I want. Some times in the last few months this enemy has turned up at my Bible study and my church, and I have made a big scene with my temper and anger. I lacked self control in these situations. All of my sins are a lack of self control.

Brutal

I am not often violent but sometimes I sin with brutal honesty that hurts a person. Like my honesty here might put you off every other article I have on here. How can you read things written by such a bad sinner? I got asked by the Holy Spirit to write this one as my sins are meant to be a mirror to you, but brutal honesty can hurt a person and it's a sin.

Despisers of good

I have trouble tithing sometimes when I don't agree with the church I am in. This is sin. I despise hard rebuke sometimes, and will try and stay away from a preacher that will do it for me and to me. This is despising what is good. I don't like drinking water, though it is good for me. I don't like cleaning up though it is what is good. Despising what is good is living a sin lifestyle when you know better.

Traitors,

I get told something someone has said about me and I go to the person and confront them with it. This is betraying my friend who told me and causes more bad then good. I turn my eyes from a person in need when I can help, I am a traitor of God and a hypocrite. When I sin I am a traitor to Christ who has taught me a better way.

Headstrong, haughty.

I have to respect you to listen to you. I am hard to teach. This is my pride and this is because I am all in the head, my head and thought life is strongly against being told I am wrong. A lot of good pastors have wasted messages on me as I rejected their message because of my hard headedness. So I suffer illness and calamity from the Lord to soften my pride and get me on my knees and pliable to change.

Lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,

I like going to the movies each fortnight. Sometimes I do this regardless of what God wants me to do. I might even see movies the Holy Spirit would not be comfortable with. I don't care often and I go to have my pleasure. Yesterday I lost my wallet in a movie and it shocked me. Perhaps God is cranky now with me and its time to change. Do you love the world and its lusts?

So I am really bad. Are you as bad as me? If you are bad like me you have to change. You have to ask God for help and change your ways.

No we have to pray and do something about this problem. First we have to come to the Lord and let Him know our problem and our sin. If you have seen your sin above, you have to open your heart and soul to be healed and overcome the sin. You cannot harden your heart and say, this is true of Matthew but not true of me.

Psalm 95:6-8 (New King James Version)

6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker. 7 For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture, And the sheep of His hand.

Today, if you will hear His voice: 8 "Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, As in the day of trial in the wilderness,

Often times we like our sin and we cannot get past a sin and let the sin go while we love the sin. We have to take the Psalmists advice and hate sin, and allow God to deliver us out of this bad state we are in and away from people that corrupt us.

Psalm 97:10-12 (New King James Version)

10 You who love the LORD, hate evil! He preserves the souls of His saints; He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked. 11 Light is sown for the righteous, And gladness for the upright in heart. 12 Rejoice in the LORD, you righteous, And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.

We cannot and will not be delivered of any sin that we love. We have to hate evil and depart from our wicked ways. This can't be done over a prayer, this has be done with prayer and fasting, and much Godly sorrow as we let go of our sin.

We have to call out on the Lord and make a vow that we will cease from sin, and with the right heart God promises that He will hear us and He will shine light on our ways.

Job 22:27-28 (New King James Version)

27 You will make your prayer to Him, He will hear you, And you will pay your vows. 28 You will also declare a thing, And it will be established for you; So light will shine on your ways.

When we humble ourselves and cleanse our hands from sin and weep and mourn, God promises He will exalt us in due time.

Job 22:29-30 (New King James Version)

29 When they cast you down, and you say, 'Exaltation will come!' Then He will save the humble person. 30 He will even deliver one who is not innocent; Yes, he will be delivered by the purity of Your hands." James 4:6-10 (New King James Version) 6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says:

" God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble."

7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

Let us pray

God give me the Holy Spirit to show me the things I am doing wrong. As I fast and pray I hope that you shall show me my error in my life. Help me accept the sin I can see in my life in this article and help me to find a place where I can reach, where I want to let go of the sin I can see myself doing.

In Jesus name I ask

Amen

If you have enjoyed my article you can read the book "The parables of Jesus made simple" for free here in its entirety or just selected parables in chapters at http://www.parables-of-jesus-christ.net/ The book will be published in book form in January 2011