“We need to look at the present with clear eyes, to see the underpinnings of our culture, not everything today is bad… Only in order to rightly minister to our culture we need to know the spirit of our age in order to minister to our world that is deceived by it…
The Spirit of our age is Sensuality (Hedonism) – one given to the free indulgence of their senses… or an excessive devotion to sensual pleasures… preoccupation with sensual appetites… fleshly pleasure seeking…
Even Christianity becomes corrupted… being a Christian becomes all about what we can receive from Him, and not our service and life given to Him… Lordship is out, we give God a little worship and tithe, and He gives us what we want…
“a form of godliness” – this religion is opposed to the real power of God, not allowing Him to exert any influence in our lives (to deny God’s Lordship) … So that there is no control or restraint on the worlds passions, outside of self-imposed restraints… a religious expression without receiving the Spirit’s power to transform…
“God made us in His image, and we returned the favor, and made God into our image.”
When people make Jesus and who they want him to be He looks remarkably like themselves, or the spirit of the age…
Jesus will always offend us… The choice we have is to allow that offense to refine us into His image… or… to take that offense, reject it, and allow our hearts to harden…
“We are like God, created in His image, but He is not like us…”
“When Jesus has been universally liked, He has been misunderstood. The Muslim Jesus, the secular Jesus, the liberal Jesus, (the conservative Jesus), look little like the historical Jesus… … unity is a noble goal, but not at the expense of truth.”
God looks at the evil within all of us, and He judges us, and then intercedes for us… all we have to do is repent and turn to Him in faith…
“When God judges us, he divides out our sin… a malignant tumor… God’s judgment is priceless; it burns away the evil parts of our hearts without harming the good… when he judges us, our ugliness is burned away and we start to look beautiful. Judgment, when accepted, purifies and makes holy.”
Those controlled by their sensual desires will try to deceive others, even people within the church…
In a culture filled with sensuality, what does God call Timothy, through Paul, to do? To keep ministering as Paul himself ministered…
Don’t be surprised by hardship, endure it… the reward is greater than the price…
God tells us to cling to the truth of His word in perilous times… in sensual times… because His Word is strong and powerful and active… The Word both equips us and delivers the bound…
Be the contrast…
- Preach the word…
- People may reject you for teachers that tell them what they want… but don’t abandon the truth… “But as for you”
- Be self-controlled, endure, reach out, fulfill the callings God’s placed within your life…
You were not born into these times by chance… you were born into this culture for a reason…
Paul’s words mirror the great fish theologian Dori… “keep on swimming”
- keep on pursuing God Himself and His truth…
- keep on speaking truth… when the world and fear would try to silence us…
- keep on loving… when the world would tell us we have to hate each other if we don’t agree… when our flesh would tell us, “I’m not gonna love that person, they’ve gone too far…”
- keep on reaching out… keep on pushing back the gates of hell…”