NORTH YORK CHURCH OF CHRIST

Pastor Roger C. Marcos
February 2, 2020

For In Him We Live and Move and Have Our Being! I just want to thank the Lord, for His amazing presence in our worship. Worship is not a Task WORSHIP Is A Joy. AMEN!

When I was in high school at SIA there was an emphasis week- pastors from the ABS will stayed for a week for evangelistic Crusade. The year 1978 the month of October I’ve heard about how we are living IN THE LAST DAYS. I don’t really understand so the belief is that we are living in the “last days” just prior to the return of Jesus Christ.

When the New Testament writers used the terms “last days” and “last times” were they referring to the end of the world. WHAT DO YOU THINK?

God’s message for A Perilous time- In order to fully understand the point of the message today trying to go back the Centuries as Follows:

The 17^th Century has been referred to as “The Age of Enlightenment.”

The Age of Enlightenment was an intellectual and philosophical movement that dominated the world of ideas in Europe during the 17th

These rulers are called "enlightened despots" by historians. ... for religious controversy to spill over into politics and warfare while still maintaining a true faith in God.

The 18^th Century has been called “The Age of Reason.”

That emphasized reason over superstition and science over blind faith. The 18th century is commonly called the Age of Reason because the philosophical trends at that time stressed the superiority of reason over...

The 19^th Century, “The Age of Progress.”

European politics, philosophy, science and communications were radically reoriented during the course of the “long 18th century” (1685-1815) as part of a movement referred to by its participants as the Age of Reason, or simply the Enlightenment.

The 20^th Century has been referred to as “The Age of Anxiety and Fear.”

Should ENLIGHTMENT plus REASON plus PROGRESS equal ANXIETY and FEAR?

Let’s look in the book of the apostle Paul- Can you stand up please.

2 Timothy 3:1-7 - “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: ² For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, ³ unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, ⁴ traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵ having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! ⁶ For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, ⁷ always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

PRAY:

Background: So are we living in perilous times today? Of course, we are! And so were those who were alive during the days of WWI and WWII! But that’s not the question here. The problem is this: Does 2 Timothy chapter 3 refer to our day or Timothy’s day? Keep in mind that 2nd Timothy is believed to have been written approximately 67 A.D. before the destruction of the Temple. The “perilous times” that Timothy was referring to came to an end in 70 A.D. with the destruction of the Temple and city of Jerusalem.

While the words in 2nd Timothy were future to a first-century audience, it’s NOT future to us. Their future but our past! And what about all of the other “signs” of the last days mentioned in 2nd Timothy? Where men would be ” lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy”?

Well, men were guilty of those sins in the first century just as they are today. All the conditions listed in 2 Timothy chapter 3 were fulfilled in the first century. Perilous times would occur during the lifetimes of these first century Christians. The “last days” had arrived for them. God was getting ready to shut the door on the Old Covenant - a new day had arrived!

Some conditions that now exist.

1. Over 6 million sleeping tablets are consumed daily in the United States.
2. Over 7 billion sleeping pills are consumed each year.
3. It is estimated that there are some 7- billion headaches suffered by Americans annually. An average of some fifty per person.
4. Over 11 million pounds of aspirin are sold annually.

GOD’S MESSAGE FOR A PERILOUS TIME.

January 8 Iran plane crash -

Ukrainian Boeing plane crashes in Iran, 176 people dead ... 10:02 p.m. ET, January 8, 2020

God’s Wrath on Unrighteousness

¹⁸ For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who [a]suppress the truth in unrighteousness.

When the Lord, give a message to the people in the time of Noah, that flood comes they ridiculed the man of God.

GENESIS 6:9 Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God.

¹¹ Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. 12 God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. ¹³ So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. - 22 Noah did everything just as God commanded him.

Gen. 7:1 The Lord then said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation.

^{4 S}even days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made.”

Gen. 6:5 The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. ⁶ The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. ⁷ So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created-and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground-for I regret that I have made them.” ⁸ But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

A. A MESSAGE OF LOVE . . . FOR AN AGE OF HATE.

² For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, ³ unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, ⁴ traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.---

When He came to the World they hostile him, Herod, the high priest- Jesus Rejected at Nazareth.

Love is action. No one showed the depths of true love more than our Lord Jesus Christ. He set the example for believers to show love to each other and to the world by what He did.

1. Jesus Healed The Sick in Love. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick” -Matthew 14:14

Jesus is still healing today except He isn’t limited by being in one place at one particular time. Through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, Jesus shows His compassion to all those who are not only sick physically-but emotionally and spiritually as well.

2. Jesus Fed The Hungry in Love

“Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.” (Matthew 15:32).

In one of the greatest miracles ever, Jesus took five loaves of bread and two fish to feed five thousand people. These people weren’t mildly hungry-they’ve gone 3 days without food listening and taking in the precious words of Christ.

He still feeding the world in love-through the teachings of the Word of God. Many of us were emaciated spiritually and anemic in our thinking until the truth of the Bible penetrated our hearts to fill our souls.

In an age filled with so much hate, isn’t it comforting to know that God, Christ, and Christians love you . . . are concerned about you . . . and desire to see saved eternally? Let us deliver this “Wonderful Story of Love” to the ends of the earth.

Conclusion:

Romans 5:8 - “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Let’s Remove this MESSY Last Age, and let’s do it together with the Message of Christ.

REMEMBER: Begin With Yourself -TODAY! A Better World Begins With You.