As we look forward to a new year and the beginning of a new decade I believe the words of the apostle Paul are very relevant for us as Christians in order to be awake and alert in these times. The quote below is an amalgamation of various translations of 2 Tim 3v1-5:

 

“Know this, that in the last days perilous times (times of stress) will come. People will be lovers of themselves, self-centred, lovers of money, greedy for material things, boastful and conceited, abusive, speaking blasphemy, disrespectful and disobedient to parents, ungrateful, and unholy.  They will be heartless, inhuman, cruel and sadistic, liars who slander others, troublemakers, despising goodness. Lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God while at the same time some will go for some kind of religion but they will reject the true and living God.”

 

First, let us view these words from the positive standpoint:

 

These things are signs of being in the last days - and the good news for us is that JESUS IS COMING AGAIN SOON. Are we awake and alert to what is really going on and are we living in order to be ready when He returns?

 

There could not be a more precise description of the age in which we live, than Paul's words here. They were true of the 1st century when they were written, but the degree to which these things abound today and the way in which they are true of multiplied millions of  “ordinary people” makes these words very applicable to our day and generation.

 

Of course there are many decent and law abiding citizens but would you agree that the following statements are pretty accurate generalisations for our own European nations?

 

•This generation is set on pleasure seeking – spending vast amounts of money at Christmas, on holidays abroad, entertainment of all descriptions, binge drinking (by girls as well as boys) etc.

 

•This generation has little time for God – many would agree that there is a God (of some description) but they really don’t want Him interfering in their lives.

 

•The younger generation not only teenagers but children are already hardened (like their parents), by the ways of the world and against God.

 

James in his letter gives us some advice to help us to live as God's people in perilous times:

 

• James 1:21-22: "Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

 

Let God’s Word be implanted in your heart - and obey it. We cannot impact the world for Jesus if we are just like they are...  

 

• James 1:27:  "Keep yourself unspotted from the world."

 

It’s not that God doesn’t want us to enjoy life or have pleasure. He has given us all things richly to enjoy (1 Tim 6:17) – It goes wrong when people are lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God,  when the pleasures of this world take over and God is left out.

 

• James 4:8-10: "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up."

 

These may seem to be harsh words but we do need to purify our hearts in the face of all that is going on around us. Because the filth of the world is so much a part of our culture and with the things we see in films and on TV, we can so easily become immune to the terribleness of it all and end up being conditioned and influenced by it without realising it. The key is to draw near to God and the promise is that He will respond – He will come close to us and lift us up above all the impurity around us.

 

• James 4:13-15: "Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.  Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.”

 

Submit all your plans to God  – don’t decide anything without Him.  As Proverbs 3:5-6 says: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths."

 

I believe that James is showing us not just how to survive in perilous times - but how to live life to the full as Christians living in these last days. We are not called to go around condemning the world around us because people are so sinful.  We are called to show the world what they are missing by leaving God out of their lives. Let us live in such a pure and joyful way with God's blessing on our lives that people around us will want what we have got.

 

In closing how about using the prayer of Jabez as a New Year Prayer for ourselves and others:

 

“Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!”

 

A full exposition of the prayer of Jabez can be found by clicking from the Home page to Pastor Paul's Messages of the month December 2018

 

or here: http://www.ymforum.org.uk/?use_flash=1#/prayer-of-jabez/4594479608