“Promises for Perilous Times”
2/23/25
2 Timothy 3:1-5 “But know this, that in the last days
perilous (terrible, stressful, difficult, dangerous, hard, grievous) times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, 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!”
The laundry list Paul gives of ungodly character traits characterizing the last days sounds like its ripped straight out of today’s headlines—We’re there!
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Now, the days of the early church were also perilous, dangerous, perverse, and stressful!
The historian Tacitus—not a Christian—said that Nero had Christians torn by dogs, nailed to crosses, even used as human torches to light up his gardens at night.
In the days of the Apostles, Christians were painted as:
-subversive,
-antisocial,
-enemies of the family,
-aloof, elitist,
-and enemies of the state due to their refusal to worship Rome’s false gods and Caesar himself.
To become a Christian was to literally put a target on your chest!
And yet the early church shook Rome to its core with their bold declaration of Jesus, and came to be known as:
“These who have turned the world upside down!”—Acts 17:6
Now, our perilous times (at least in America) are a bit different from theirs.
Their perilous times were filled with the blood of martyrs, torture, and imprisonment.
But our perilous times are more about watching the Biblical foundations of our nation come under constant assault, with open hostility to believers on the rise.
For instance, we have witnessed a full-on attack on:
—the sanctity and meaning of marriage,
—the male/female gender,
—the belief in absolute truth,
—the value of life coupled with the wholesale slaughter of our unborn children,
These are some of the things that make our times perilous!
—But perilous times should never shut down the preaching of the gospel.
—Perilous times cannot undo the promises of God.
We are called to “endure afflictions like a good soldier of Jesus Christ,” and “shun the spirit of fear” that would seek to intimidate us into silence.
So no matter the difficulty of the times, we will continue preaching, teaching, and reaching this generation with the message of Jesus!
So today I want to bring an encouraging word regarding standing tall for Jesus by pointing out 5 promises for perilous times.
First, In perilous times:
I. Jesus will still be FAITHFUL
1 Thes 5:24 “Faithful is He who calls you…”
1 Cor. 10:13 “God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able to endure,”
He’s trustworthy, dependable, reliable—and His faithfulness will never fail!
—I can go through anything, climb any mountain, walk through any valley if I KNOW the Lord is standing with me!
Our promise for perilous times is:
2 Thes 3:3 “But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one.”
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Not only will the Lord be FAITHFUL, but:
II. The seed will still be FRUITFUL
In Matt 13 in the parable of the sower we find a man sowing kingdom seed (the incorruptible seed of the gospel) on four different kinds of soil.
We note immediately that his sowing is done during perilous times of constant adversity.
—The sower watches Satan steal the seed from those on the wayside. “…the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart.” (Matt. 13:19)
—Then he sees others on stony places fall away over lack of roots during persecution. “…when tribulation or persecution arises…immediately he stumbles.” (Vs. 21)
—Then he watches still others on thorny ground dry up to become unfruitful over worries and greed for riches.
“…the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word and he becomes unfruitful.” (Vs. 22)
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All three of these discouraging things the sower resolves to persevere through.
But then we finally see the seed that succeeds on the good ground!—“and it brings forth fruit, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.” (Vs.23)
So a second promise in perilous times is that the “incorruptible seed of the word of God” will still be FRUITFUL!
INCORRUPTIBLE means it cannot decay, spoil, rot, dissolve, or disintegrate!
So rather than pull back on sowing in perilous times, we should sow all the more!
Ecc. 11:6 “Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let your hands not be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well.
—In perilous times the Savior is still FAITHFUL, the seed is still FRUITFUL, and:
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A third promise for perilous times is:
III. The sinner can still be FORGIVEN!
Most people when talking about the book of Revelation talk about…
-the terrible judgments of God,
-the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse
-the cataclysmic events poured out on earth,
-the emergence of the Antichrist
-the mark of the beast, and so on…
But one thing you DON’T hear much about is the huge number of salvations that take place during those perilous times!
Rev. 7:9-10; 13-14 “After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
So even in the worst of perilous times, the sinner can still be FORGIVEN!
I believe we can expect multitudes to be saved in these perilous times!
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So—In perilous times:
the Savior is still FAITHFUL,
the Seed is still FRUITFUL,
and the Sinner can still be FORGIVEN.
And a fourth promise for perilous times:
IV. The scriptures can still FEED
Scriptures reveals that, not only did the early, baby church prevail in perilous times, but the great OT prophets also prevailed in extremely perilous times.
For instance, the prophet Jeremiah ministered in a time when his nation was racing toward judgment.
Jeremiah describes in sad detail the perilous times he lived in:
6:13 “Because from the least of them even to the greatest of them, everyone is given to covetousness; And from the prophet even to the priest and the people, everyone deals falsely.”
And they hated God’s word, “Behold, the word of the Lord is a reproach to them; They have no delight in it.”—6:10
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And Yet!!
He succeeded in his mission, and one of the keys to his victory was the Promises found in God’s word feeding and strengthening his soul!
Jeremiah 15:16 “Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart;”
Our sustenance and strength in these perilous times will come from the place of prayer and faithfully feeding on God’s word!
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So let’s say it together!
In perilous times:
The Savior is still FAITHFUL,
the Seed is still FRUITFUL,
the Sinner can still be FORGIVEN,
the Scriptures can still FEED!
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And finally, a fifth promise for perilous times is…
V. The Spirit can still be FRESH
John writes the following words on the day he began receiving the Book of Revelation:
Rev 1:10 “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet,”
We talked about the backdrop to this passage last time:
Patmos was a remote and isolated place where Roman prisoners were sent to live in caves or cells, and placed into forced labor.
Life on Patmos meant separation from society and loss of your freedom.
And yet John testifies that the Spirit of the Lord mightily visited him there, and turned his prison into a place of fresh revelation!
Every believer in Jesus Christ here today can testify to the strength—comfort—peace—fellowship—and presence of the Holy Spirit in times of trial!
In tough times the Spirit of God can be counted on to visit with a FRESH TOUCH of strength, comfort, and peace!
In perilous times the Promises of God are:
The Savior is still FAITHFUL,
the Seed is still FRUITFUL,
the Sinner can still be FORGIVEN,
the Scriptures can still FEED, and,
the Spirit can still be FRESH!
Let’s go forward this year resting in and believing on what Peter called the “exceedingly great and precious promises of God!”