The Bullies Are Running Amok
In a world of darkness, it’s difficult to keep our bearings. We need to constantly refer to “true north” in order to align our hearts with God’s heart and our will with His will. The word of God is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. Jesus Christ himself is the meaning of the Word. He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father except by me.” He alone is our standard for truth.
There are many words that describe our country and our world. One word is “surreal.” We seem to be living in a surreal world too improbable to believe. Another word is “uncertain.” People are dubious and suspicious of favorable outcomes and of the opinions of others. There is much worldly confusion regarding the source of truth… a source that is worthy of confidence. Another pervasive word in these perilous times is “fearful.” The pandemic, pandemonium and panic all around us propagate a nation of fear. In fear, there is no peace. When fear prevails there is doubt, perplexity, anxiety, and confusion.
After the civil war, carpetbaggers and evil doers stormed through the south. They pillaged, plundered and destroyed the land and the people. Today we live in a day where men call good evil and evil good. The descriptive words in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 used to be called “sinful perversions”… deviations from a righteous standard. Today, they are called legally “protected classes.” Hitler said, if you tell a big lie long enough, the people will accept the lie as truth.
Jesus went out of his way to tell us how to act when facing dire consequences. Paul said in Philippians 2:5-11, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Because of the sacrifice Jesus Christ paid on our behalf, we can “rejoice in the Lord always.” Philippians 2:14 says, “Do all things without murmuring or disputing.” Our exhortation is not to grumble and complain. Our rejoicing is not in the he world, but in Him.
Hebrews 12 says, that which can be shaken will be shaken so that those things that cannot be shaken will remain. …. our God is a consuming fire. What will endure? The things of this world will soon be passed. Only that which is done in Christ shall last.
We’ve beven called to a higher power beyond the power of this world.
The bullies are running amok. Bullies prey on those who are weaker and smaller. They persecute those they perceive as less intelligent. They take advantage of the vulnerable and coerce them by force or “executive order” to do their bidding to humiliate and shame them. Amok means a sudden mass assault on others from a sociopathic heart of malice, vindictiveness, and revenge.
Peace officers have been shamed and humiliated in the press, in the public forum, and on line. Ron Tovar and Dennis Ruvolo were asked to share about 4M (Four Men) Christian groups in a meeting of policemen and first responders. In the law enforcement community, there is a significant rise in depression, drug abuse, overdose and suicide. In this meeting thirty eight police officers signed up for 4M groups to encourage one another in the Word of God, in prayer, and in fellowship.
According to 2 Timothy 3, Paul was passing the torch of apostleship to Timothy, his “son in the faith.” 2 Timothy 3:1-8 says, “THIS know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. 6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly (gullible) women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, 7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
8 Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. 9 But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was.
Those who follow the doctrines of this world follow “the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience.” Like Jannes and Jambres, Pharaoh’s magicians who opposed Moses, those who contest the truth of the Word of God will reap dire consequences.
Paul taught Timothy, God wants to reproduce children “after his kind.” You teach what you know, but you reproduce who you are. We who are born again of God’s Holy Spirit have inherited our Heavenly Father’s nature. For Jesus Christ who was without sin became the perfect sacrifice for sin on our behalf that we may be made the righteousness of God in him.
How does God teach us the meaning of hope and love? Tribulation, hardship, challenges and trials are part of God’s training. According to Romans 5, tribulation produces patience, and patience experience (tested character), and experience hope, and hope maketh not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given to us.
Evil men and imposters will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. According to Psalm 73, they appear to be able to take advantage of innocent men. The psalmist was distressed, discouraged, and depressed when he looked at the so-called advantage of evil men and the injustice of the world around him. However there is a turning point, an inflection point, a point of repentance. This is in verse 16…. when I entered the house of the Lord I understood their end. We have a different spirit than the spirit of this world. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual wickedness from on high.
As Christians having received the spirit of God in Christ in us, we’ve been called to perceive from our Father’s vantage point through Christ’s eyes behind our eyes. That which can be shaken will be shaken. Jesus said, The wise man built his house upon the rock… then when the storms raged and the floods beat upon it, the house stood fast because it was built upon the rock. The rock is Jesus Christ, our sure foundation.
What is it that cannot be shaken? If we abide in Christ and his word abides in us, then we shall bear much fruit. His fruit will last into eternity. For that which is seen (the physical things of this world) are temporal, but that which is unseen, the things of the spirit, are eternal.
The solution to the woes of 2 Timothy 3 is in verse 16-17: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.”
God’s heart is that men would be corrected. The Greek word for correction, “epanorthosis” means “to restore to an upright position.” Instruction in righteousness is our training and our example to restore us to upright vertical relationship with God. This is why we “choke in the dust” of our brothers who follow in the dust of the rabbi Jesus Christ.
The reason is that the man of God may be perfect, fully perfected unto all good works. God’s purpose is that his men would be furnished, equipped, perfectly outfitted for every good work. The phrase “man of God is only used twice in the New Testament. When you call a man “man of God,” most men will look down and look away. When you ask them why, they say, “because I feel unworthy.” Man of God means “God’s man.” This the genitive of possession. He made me worthy and now by his grace, his mercy has made me his own. The essence of Christianity is not who we are but “whose we are.”
God has given us every provision for life in this world of darkness, fully equipped for every good work. Good is the Greek word “agathos.” Good means “fit for the purpose for which we were designed.” The purpose is that we should love Him above all…
… That we should live to the praise of the glory of His grace!
Your brother in Christ,
Michael
