Revelation 2:8-10;12-15; 3:1-5
The perilous times the scriptures mention are here with us; they are being played before our very eyes. Faithfulness to God is fast becoming an endangered species and faces threats of extinction.
Age-old Christian convictions are not only being shaken but are increasingly being abandoned. Many a Christian is playing the chameleon to ‘survive’ and ‘outsmart’ the perilous times.
God still remains eternally faithful: If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself (2 Timothy 2:13).
Is your anchor still holding in these storms of the Christian life?
“We must be careful with our lives, for Christ’s sake, because it would seem that they are the only lives we are going to have in this puzzling and perilous world….” – Buechner.
P1. Chilling Facts about the Perilous Times
Matthew 24:9-14; 2 Timothy 3:1-9; 4:3,4;1 Timothy 4:1-3
The facts about the perilous times are sobering:
- Perilous (Greek chalepos) means grievous, hard to bear, distressing, and difficult
- Many will abandon the faith and their convictions because of persecution and hardship
- False doctrine will be popular while sound doctrine will be unpopular
- Selfishness, self-love and self-will will be rampant
- Faithfulness to God will be a very expensive commodity – only a select few would want to buy and own it
“Faithful people have always been in a marked minority”– Pink.
P2. Carnality and Fickleness in Perilous Times
Genesis 49:1-4; 1 Chronicles 5:1,2; Ruth 1:8-14; John 6:60-69; 1 Tim. 6:3-5,9,10; 2 Tim. 4:9-11
Carnality and fickleness will abound in these perilous times:
- The fickle are shaky and inconsistent in their Christian convictions
- The carnal are only preoccupied with earthly things and still show a semblance of Christianity
- The carnal and fickle are chameleon-like Christians
- They easily ‘kiss’ the Lord goodbye in tough times
- The carnal take decisions based on their senses instead of the Spirit’s direction and the will of God
“The man who is elated by success and is cast down by failure is still a carnal man. At best his fruit will have a worm in it” – Tozer.
P3. The Call to Faithfulness in Perilous Times
Ruth 1:14-18; 1 Timothy 6:6-8,11-16; 2 Timothy 2:1-5, 8-13; 4:1-8
God wants us to maintain our faithfulness in perilous times:
- Man has proven to be the ficklest of all creation
- God is eternally faithful and calls on us to emulate His divine attribute (Job 27:1-8)
- The church triumphant was faithful and they expect us in the militant church, to emulate them and join the happy throng at last in Heaven!
“Often times God demonstrates His faithfulness in adversity by providing for us what we need to survive. [If] He does not change our painful circumstances, He sustains us through them” – Stanley.