The word marvel is defined as being filled with wonder or astonishment! When you marvel at something you are in awe or surprised by what you experience. In the Christian world, it seems that people are always surprised and astonished by the world’s ways. They are surprised by the government, the schools, and even the changes within churches. But if you know the Bible, we should not be surprised that an unregenerated world continues to move further away from the values we as Christians hold so dearly.
In II Timothy 3:1-5, we are told that in the last days, perilous times will come. Perilous times are times of great danger, times of persecution, and great trials. It then gives us a description of the ungodly lives people are living. Each of these is easily seen in our world.
I don’t remember a time when people were more consumed with self-love. They are covetous, they desire what others have so much, they will do wrong to obtain it. They are proud and boast about themselves. They do not see God as the loving, holy, creator of the world. They blaspheme God. This is to speak of God unjustly, to attribute to Him acts and attributes that He does not possess. It is saying anything that would insult His name. When have you seen a time the family is more upside down? Parents are not respected. The children are allowed to disobey, which sets them up to sin in other areas, such as ingratitude.
When people live their lives without God as the center of it, they become their own god. In verse 3, the writer begins his list with “not having natural affections.” This breaks the laws of nature because it is referring to the affection a parent should have for their child. This is the strongest bond in nature, yet sin always turns what is good and right into something evil. Millions of babies are aborted every year in America, babies that mothers should feel a bond with as soon as they know they are expecting. It is not uncommon to hear of parents killing their own children. It also happened in biblical times. In Psalm 106:37-38, parents were sacrificing their children. The Israelites had become intermingled with the heathen, and instead of them influencing the heathen for God, the opposite happened. They adopted their ways in every area of their life, even the unnatural sacrifice of their children.
Psalm 106:37-38 “Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils, And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood.”
We see the next group of sins dealing with our character. Those who are not committed to Christ become liars, false accusers of others, slandering anyone that gets in their way. They cannot be trusted to keep their word. They are harsh and severe with others. There is no mercy in their soul. They are incontinent, which means they have no self-control to resist their own passions. They hate those who are good and those who expose their sins to them. They despise those who do not agree with their lifestyles.
Many say they love God, but they love the pleasure of this world more than they love God. Instead of attending worship service on Sunday, they spend their time on the lake, or they sleep in because they were out late the night before. There are others that say they love God, but they only have the form of godliness. They go to church on Sunday and do good to their fellow man, but inwardly they are empty. They reject the power of the regeneration of the Spirit but accept the ethical teachings of being a good person. Yet, they miss the key ingredient to getting to Heaven. They do not possess the power of God from within.
II Timothy 3:1-5 “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.”
We see these actions all around us, yet it does not move us to change. We shake our heads and can’t believe what we see. We act as if we are shocked at the actions of others, but we shouldn’t be. Mankind has continued to sin throughout the ages. We are born with a sinful nature, and unless we are transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit, we will continue to feed the desires of the flesh. We need to be people that are sold out to pleasing Jesus Christ if we are going to make a difference in this world. Things are going to get worse as we have been told in scripture. We should not marvel and be alarmed at the sinful nature of men.
Are you ready to take a stand? After Paul’s description of perilous times, he reminds us that we will suffer persecution. If you haven’t already, now is the time to get armed to stand for Christ, instead of standing around marveling at the depravity of man. Perilous times will be a time of persecution. Don’t be one of those that wake up too late to make a difference.
II Timothy 3:12 “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.”
