Title: Spirit of the Last Days
In the last part after Jesus prophesied about the last days,
Matthew 24:44-46 “Therefore also be ready, for the Son of Man comes at an unexpected time. 45 Who is the faithful and wise servant, who will be a faithful and wise servant, who will give his master his household food in due season, 46 when the master comes? Blessed is the servant who sees him doing this.” So I would like to deliver the inspirational revelation of the Lord that we should be vigilant in in today's age of the last days so that I, the preacher, may also be blessed.
Among the many signs that will appear in the last days, today we are going to consider some of the ways in which people's mental structures will appear in the last days.
1. selfishness
2 Timothy 3:1-2 “Know this, that in the last days afflictions will come, 2 people love themselves…”
Verse 3 says, “The time is coming when people will not receive sound teaching, but have itching ears, and will accumulate many teachers to suit their own desires.”
Sound doctrine here refers to sound doctrine (uJgiainouvsh" didaskaliv), sound doctrine, sound doctrine. Instead, it is said that he has many teachers according to his own self-interest. It means that he lives according to his own desires.
This is the so-called individualistic era, and it refers to an extremely individualistic way of thinking that seeks to handle the world according to one's own judgment. This means that we do not accept the absolute value theory.
That's why I hate the voice of God's absolute truth. I value my thoughts and my judgment more. I hate the foundations of the old, traditional, right beliefs. I give priority to my judgment according to my time and environment.
When individualism deepens, it becomes egoism. Western individualism has in fact ruined relationships with families.
That's why Western societies are very popular in TV shows and movies that depict beautiful family relationships. It is because of the longing to find love and happiness in the lost family in the age of the nuclear family and due to the expansion of individualism.
You don't know how barren human society has become today.
On the 2/6th TV broadcast, I watched the news about Gonggak wine, which has been transformed into wine by mixing water with chemicals that give it a red color, and there are no grapes among the wines that are selling well in China recently.
I saw the terrible sin of being the only one who could be rich. Such things are happening countless times in Korea as well.
It is time to strengthen the sense of society and community living together. The consciousness that it is enough for me to live, whether others die or not, is a terrifying nature of the devil that leads to self-destruction. Humans are originally endowed with the social nature of living together in a communal way of life, and living that way is the way to happiness.
2 Timothy 3:2 “People love themselves, they love money, they are proud, proud, slanderers, disobedient to their parents, unthankful, unholy.”
To say that you are not grateful is to say that you do not know grace. When we do not know the grace of our parents and the grace of God, we become extremely selfish and proud when we do not know the grace of our neighbors, our country, our peace, and everything in our environment.
2. Pluralism
4“And they will turn their ears away from the truth, and listen to myths.”
Pluralism is one of the spirits of the last days. It is a mindset that encourages everyone to recognize the different methodologies of a culture's adaptive capacity as a way of coping with different knowledge and environmental factors.
However, the important thing is that God is a god, the earth is a god, and man is a god, and since they insist on acknowledging everything and all claims, ultimately, reconciliation is an uncertain society.
Religious pluralists believe that there is not only one path to the summit, but many. Depending on which way you climb the mountain, you will have different experiences, but the same goes for climbing to the top.
Indeed, there is no excuse for saying that.
The God we met has made certain through Jesus Christ the uncertainty of our complex and thus pluralistic acknowledgment.
1 Timothy 2:5 “There is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”
Acts 4:12 “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
John 14:6 "Jesus said to them, I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me."
Religious pluralism is humanism. The flow of theology is also the theology that is created according to the so-called life situation that is tailored to the human environment. Ultimately, the theology goes to the way of human life that does not depend on God and does not depend on revelation.
Liberal theology is sweet, but eventually God dies and man takes its place. It is not theology, but anthropology and sociology.
Today's era is moving towards unity and ecumenism towards the pluralism of religion. The Bible foretells that religions will be unified in the last days and that the Antichrist will eventually appear and dominate the unified religion (Revelation 13:).
3. The complacency of the flesh
Jesus wished us peace.
2 Thessalonians 3:16 “May the Lord of peace Himself grant you peace at all times and in every way. May the Lord be with you all.”
The words that the Lord spoke to His disciples after His resurrection,
John 20:21 "Jesus said again, Peace be with you..."
Even when sending his disciples, the words of every family they come in contact with are,
Matthew 10:12 “Pray for peace as you enter the house”
What is important is that physical safety and spiritual peace are two completely different things. People expect spiritual peace from environmental factors. But you cannot be physically at peace. However, the smart people of the last days are pitiful in their spirits and physically struggle to find peace and rest in their souls. But the Bible teaches that material things and worldly culture cannot bring peace of mind.
James 5:3 “Your gold and silver have rusted, and this rust will be a witness to you and will eat your flesh like fire, for you have amassed wealth in the last days.”
In particular, the crisis faced by the church today while living in the materialistic age is the fact that it is unable to get out of the materialistic values. Even though we know the wrong values of life and the essence of the church, we cannot get out of the world where we look at and breathe based on material things.
Christians today cannot endure hardships according to the Bible as they did in the past. I try to deal with what's convenient for me and live my life the way it's convenient for me. So we find the way to live by believing in Jesus easily.
5 “But be sober in all things, endure hardships, do the work of an evangelist, and fulfill your duties.”
When we believe in Jesus, suffering comes first, and people try to avoid holy suffering. So I keep getting weaker spiritually.
2 Timothy 3:12 “Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.”
2 Timothy 3:4 “Betrayed, selling, hasty, sleeping, loving pleasures more than loving God.”
In today's Korean society, families are breaking up due to the expansion of individualism. 50% of them are divorced. No excuses will be tolerated. The result of this fact is that we do not have patience with each other and try to live our lives thinking mainly for ourselves.
A world where plastic surgeons make a lot of money. Appearanceism prevails. If you change your face, first of all, you have a chance to make money. However, the question is how much can be guaranteed.
The fan lady who appeared on TV one day was a woman with a beautiful face. She said that she continued to undergo plastic surgery because of her desire to become more beautiful.
The same goes for jobs. A Christian lives under the illusion that having a lot of money is happiness and blessings by making money by singing secular popular songs and making money by filming secular movies. It's funny. That person is not a true believer of the biblical God.
Is it a blessing to pray that popular songs are sold, worldly movies are sold, and being rich is a blessing?
2 Peter 3:3 “Knowing this first, that in the last days scoffers will come, walking after their own lusts, and mocking them.”
Jude 1:18 “They said to you, There will be scoffers in the last days, walking after their ungodly lusts.”
It is very difficult to live a holy life in a world where there is no absolute God due to egoism and pluralism, and this world of carnalism.
But the Bible exhorts.
1 Peter 4:7 “The end of all things is at hand; therefore, be sober and sober, and pray.”
It is a time when true faith is lost. Tragedy. The Lord foretold. Luke 18:8 "I tell you... will you find faith on earth when the Son of Man comes?"
I heard three types of spirit of the last days.
Even if the world claims that everything is right, if you say something that is not in the Bible, it is a different gospel and you must know that the end is destruction.
That is why Proverbs 14:12 says, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it is the way of death.”
Based on the unchanging Word of God yesterday, today, and forever, we understand life and judge the value of our lives, even if the road is hard, we know the way our Lord has gone and the way of the cross as the truth and believe in the Lord's covenant that will surely give us victory today. I pray that you and I will be victorious with the truth in the chaotic state of this global village.