The new rules for the Exclusively Christian forum
Response to comment [from a Christian]: "I do not believe that everyone that comes here is here to debate, and there should be a sanctuary (of sort) to actually be safe from those who have no other agenda but to steal the truth from those who truly have a heart to know what that truth is."
We will get more of
that not less.
This know also, that in the last
days perilous times shall come [2
Tim. 3:1].
""This know also." Paul is telling Timothy something very important that he
wants him to know. He is telling him what to expect and what is to be the future
of the church—it is not a very bright future for the organized church.
"The last days" is a technical term used in several places in the New Testament;
it speaks of the last days of the church, immediately preceding the rapture of
the church. The last days of the church are not the same as the last days of the
nation Israel, which is mentioned repeatedly in the Old Testament. In the Old
Testament the last days are called the "end of the age" or "the time of the
end," which is the Great Tribulation Period. That is quite different from the
last days of the church, which precede the Rapture of the church.
The apostasy that began in the church in Paul’s day will continue. Paul warned
the church at Ephesus that false leaders would enter the church after his
decease. He told them in
Acts 20:29–30:
"For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among
you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking
perverse things, to draw away disciples after them." They won’t give out the
Word of God but will fleece the congregations. Believe me, false teachers shear
the sheep pretty close!
"Perilous times shall come," which means grievous or desperate times are coming.
That doesn’t look like the conversion of the world, does it? It doesn’t appear
that the church is going to bring in the Millennium or is going to convert the
world. The Bible doesn’t teach that it will. That is the pipe dream of a great
many idealists and a great many folk who have lived with their heads
ostrich-like in the sand and have never faced reality.
Instead, notice what will be coming in the last days. We have nineteen different
descriptions given in the next few verses. It is an ugly brood, but we want to
look at them because they present the best scriptural picture of what is
happening today. We are, I believe, moving into the last days of the church. My
reason for saying this is that the things mentioned in these verses have
appeared today. If you look back in the history of the church, you could
certainly find some of these things in evidence, but I don’t think you could
ever find a period in which all of them are so manifested as they are today. I
believe we are now in these "perilous" days which are described in this section.
I don’t know how much longer it will last, but I’m sure it’s going to get worse,
not better." McGee, J. Vernon: Thru the Bible Commentary. electronic ed.
Nashville : Thomas Nelson, 1997, c1981, S. 4:291.
