Coffee With The Lord

Yesterday I opened my post in “coffee with the Lord” this way…

We live in troublesome times – times that alarm and grieve the heart of righteous people!  It seems we are watching a country birthed in Judeo-Christian ethics decay, disintegrate, and unravel before our very eyes and many feel helpless to do anything about it.  And what is true of the United States is also true of our world as a whole!  What can Christians do?  What should they do?

Yesterday’s passage (2 Timothy 3:1-9)  provided warning and analysis… It also provided a partial solution to the dilemma designed to preserve God’s people from the contamination and decay of their culture!  The passage I read today (2 Timothy 3:10-17) provides the rest of Paul’s solution to living victoriously in these troubled time comes…

First of all Paul warns that nothing will change as we approach “the last days” … He says, “Evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived!”  In other words as we approach the Lord’s coming we can expect things to get worse before they get better!

Paul’s advice, in light of that, beyond what we considered yesterday is this…

 1.  Don’t expect approval and acceptance of Christian life and witness – PERSECUTION WILL COME!  Don’t approach the future with “rose-colored glasses” when it comes to how other religions or even our own culture will feel about authentic Christianity… He warned, “Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted!” (vs. 12)

2.  Then Paul then urged us to continue to follow the faithful lives of other Christians leaders we know, have observed, and respected.  His advice?  Live like them!  Here is how he put it:  “Timothy you have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me … CONTINUE in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it!” (Vss. 10-11, 14)  His advice?  Don’t fall prey to deceivers and charlatans!  Follow the lives of consistent, faithful Christians you know and have observed whose life has made a difference and who have lived for the Lord regardless of the problems and pressure they have faced!

3.  His final advice?  PRIORITIZE SCRIPTURE in your life!  Recognize that it is “your all-sufficient guide for faith and daily living!”  It has everything necessary to sustain you, guide you and protect you (and your children) through difficult and perilous time.  Here’s what he said about that: “From childhood you have been acquainted with the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired (breathed out by God) and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that the man (or woman) of God may be complete, equipped for every good work!”  As we approach the “perilous time” prophesied (and clearly developing before our very eyes) we need the Bible more than every to guide us and sustain us!

We live in troublesome times – times that alarm and grieve the heart of righteous people!  It seems we are watching a country birthed in Judeo-Christian ethics decay, disintegrate, and unravel before our very eyes and many feel helpless to do anything about it.  And what is true of the United States is also true of our world as a whole!  What can Christians do?  What should they do?

In my Bible reading this morning I read Apostle Paul’s prophetic prediction about the character of “the last days” before our Lord’s return.  If a person didn’t know better, you’d guess that he must have been watching the evening news on television or reading the morning news in the newspaper or an electronic device! 

The passage I read this provides warning and analysis… But It also provides a partial solution to the dilemma – a solution designed to preserve God’s people from the contamination and decay of their culture!  (I looked ahead in my Bible and the rest of Paul’s solution in these troubled time comes in the passage I’ll read tomorrow… I’ll comment on it then J)

Here’s Apostle Paul’s warning and analysis about the sad state of things today (I’m quoting the New Living Translation of the Bible)…

“In the last days there will be very difficult times.  For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred.  They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good.  They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God.  They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!  They are the kind who work their way into people’s homes and win the confidence of vulnerable women who are burdened with the guilt of sin and controlled by various desires.  (Such women are forever following new teachings, but they are never able to understand the truth.)  These teachers oppose the truth… They have depraved minds and a counterfeit faith.  But they won’t get away with this for long! Someday everyone will recognize what fools they are!” (from 2 Timothy 3:1–9)

Wow!  I would say Paul got the analysis right, wouldn’t you?  But what of the solution?  What can godly people do to stay pure and righteous in such a culture – such a world?  In these verses Paul only gives a partial solution… but it is an important part!  (The following verses tomorrow will provide more of the solution he recommends).

First of all Paul urged, “Stay away from (avoid) people like that!  Paul was concerned about contamination and compromise!  He wasn’t downplaying the importance of evangelism and redemptive activity in our world, but he was concerned about the spiritual vitality and preservation of Christians in a decadent culture.

His second solution was partially prediction… He said, “Depend on it, the true character of those who claim to be religious but are really irreligious and wicked will be exposed!  In another place in the Bible it’s phrased like this… “by their fruit you shall know them!” So here’s the deal for me today… I’m going to do everything I can to stay pure and holy!  I want to share the gospel with everyone I can, but I don’t want the unrighteous quality of the culture I live in to influence me… I want to influence it with the gospel!  Secondly, I do not want to be deceived!  Not everything that calls itself “holy” is holy!  I need to be discerning… the true character of many so-called “religious” teachers and leaders will be eventually exposed and evident by their lifestyle… “By their fruit you shall know them!” 

Important dinner guests deserve to be served on the best china!  At “state dinners” the very best is served on the very best table settings available to impress and honor the guests (see the pic)!  My mother had some really nice china and silverware that she reserved for special occasions.  It wasn’t for everyday use – it only came out for very special occasions!

As I read II Timothy 2:20-26 this morning during “coffee with the Lord” this thought entered my mind: Followers of Jesus should serve up authentic Christianity on their very best “china.”

Here’s what the passage says…

“Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be A VESSEL FOR HONORABLE USE, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.  So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.  Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels.  And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.”

Every person is precious and important in the Lord’s eyes.  As Christians, we have a responsibility to seek to influence them to become followers of Jesus!  To use the analog of the passage, we should seek to “serve up Christianity on our very best china!”  Our lives should be pure and clean and our behavior should be Christlike!  We should be “ready for every good work.”  This passage identifies several things that should set us apart for maximum influence:  Sexual purity, righteousness, faith, love, peace and a pure heart.  We should not be cantankerous or argumentative.  Instead kindness, patience and gentleness should characterize our lives.

Oh, here is the cry of my heart… “Lord, help me serve up Christianity on my very best china!” I want to make a positive impression on others for “following Jesus” with my life, don’t you?