By Zachary Teasley
Brethren, because this world is “waxing gross” (becoming more evil), we need to remain alert, vigilant and constantly remind ourselves that we now live for Christ, and ultimately, Heaven is our destination where we can live with our Lord in peace and harmony forever. The Bible warns us about the dangers and destructive influences that exist in our present world and these evil influences are continuously increasing and are worsening. II Tim 3:1-5, 13, “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!” Dropping down to verse 13, God says, “But evil men and imposters will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.” In reference, to deceiving and being deceived this is a very bad situation to be in for it depicts a person who has evil intent and is purposely trying to disguise and deceive another person, but they are actually also being deceived by another person as well. Very often in this scenario this third party who has them duped or fooled is Satan. The Apostle Paul in his letter to the Corinthians, warns us about the devices and cunningness of our chief adversary, II Cor 2:11, says “Lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.” Now move forward to II Cor 11:13-15 in the same letter, God’s word warns us about men and women who are religious and may even be members of the Lord’s Body but are wolves in sheep’s clothing like the chief adversary, it says, “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore, it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.” Brethren it cannot be overstated that we need to be alert and equip ourselves with God’s mighty armor so we will be able to detect and avoid the attractive and deceptive enticements that the “Prince of this World” (Satan) is dangling out before us to try and get us to veer off the path of righteousness and transgress. If we remain in this sinful condition and death overtakes us or the Lord returns to bring His redeemed home to glory, we will unfortunately find ourselves left behind to face eternal punishment. See II Thess 1:7-9. The religious world and mankind as we read in II Tim 3 are attempting to create more convenient and self-preferable ways to serve and obey God which Jehovah God has not commanded or authorized. Please remember that God in Gal 1:8 warns us that “if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.” Whatever we set our focus or attention to while living in this world, this will be the basis of what will influence us and our actions. This is where faith comes into play as a fuel and a motivator to keep our focus on God who has openly demonstrated His love, grace, and mercy towards us, and He wants to be a part of our lives and is longing for us to come join Him in Heaven when our life is finished here on the earth. Faith in God for who He is, what He has already done, and for what He will do for us forever in the future must be pursued or developed meaning we need to act and go obtain it, Heb 11:6, makes this point for it says, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” Christians must be self-motivated through serving, Bible Study, and prayer, and group motivated by attending all scheduled assemblies (not just once on Sunday morning) along with our large and small fellowships which will encourage us and help fortify and solidify our faith. I also direct your attention to our Southeast Web Site where technology allows us to log in and listen to previous sermons and articles. We also have a church library where you can check out books on various religious subjects to facilitate spiritual growth. Our focus must be upward on God at all times and not on the world, as emphasized in Col 3:1-3, “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is sitting on the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” Now, for clarity when scripture uses the word “world” it is used to represent various aspects such as: all the inhabitants on the earth, the earth, mankind, people or the human race, and their behaviors, an age, a period of time, it could also mean nonphysical things like money or the Internet, James 3:6 refers to the tongue as a “world of iniquity.” As Satan is referred to as the “ruler or prince of this world it can mean anything that is contrary to the will of God. For example, 1 Jon 2:15-17 says, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.” Faith is the key ingredient that we need after we have obeyed the gospel to sustain us in Christ, faith is important for all of us especially our young Christians because we can’t rely on the faith level of our parents to keep us obeying God. We must be convicted in our own minds of the importance of serving God through our own individual developed faith. Personally, regarding myself, neither of my parents were Christians until after I obeyed the gospel on my own volition before they did. My parents were attending a Baptist Church, and at 11 years old I realized that this church was not right. I started to seek and search for the truth and God put me in the path of a fine Christian couple who were members of the Lord’s Body who taught me the gospel through a neighborhood home Bible Class that they taught in their home. Therefore, young people at Southeast, you whose parent(s) are Christians and members here, you can follow and copy their examples of how to build and maintain faith and please be aware of the evil attractions of this world which are like a strong wind that is continually blowing which can easily blow us into a dangerous direction if we are not rooted and grounded by our faith, 1 Jon 5:4, says, “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this the victory that overcomes the world—our faith.”