Wisdom from the Apostle Paul concerning the Last Days Church (Part 1)

The Apostle Paul knew he was getting ready to die. The Romans had him in chains and his death was imminent. During these last few moments of his life in his prison cell, Paul penned a final letter to his son in the faith: Timothy. Near the close of the letter, Paul strongly admonishes Timothy with these words:

1 I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom:
2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.
3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires,
4 and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.
(2 Timothy 4:1-4 KJV)

In verse 3, Paul states that the time would come when the church would not "endure" the important teachings of the Bible... the sound doctrine or the meat of the Word. There is little doubt that it takes a spirit of endurance to comprehend the deep teachings of Jesus and the great doctrines of the Bible. The Greek word that Paul uses for "endure" is anechomai. The literal meaning of this intense Greek word is: "to hold oneself up against, i.e. (figuratively) to put up with:--bear with, endure, forbear, suffer." How different this is from the spoon fed messages we find on our television sets every day! We don't need to know how to COPE with life... We need to know how to OVERCOME it! Sinners have to cope with an eternal hell. I am not coping. I am longing! Saints, your future is so bright, it is unbelievable. Paul's recipe for spiritual strength is for us to be rooted and grounded in the Word of God. There is so much to learn about God and His glorious eternal Kingdom and it is ALL found in His Word! In Col. 1:9,10, Paul explains this to the Church at Colossae:

9"...We have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,
10 so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God." (NASB)

God has warned us that His people are destroyed for a lack of prayer? No. For a lack of worship? Nope. For a lack of church attendance? For a lack of Holy Ghost shouting? For a lack of speaking in tongues? No, no and no. God says: "My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge." (Hosea 4:6)

As we begin to delve deeper into the doctrine of Soteriology (doctrine of Salvation), we are going to confront many issues that you may have never been exposed to before. Ask God for a greater desire for the strong meat of the Word. In VERITAS Bible Class, our goal is not simply the acquisition of knowledge. But rather, our goal is to learn how to apply the acquired knowledge (applied knowledge=wisdom) in our lives so that we may grow closer to God Himself and grow in the grace of God. This will make us better servants of the King. That's what I want to be. How about you?

To be continued...