Message 23 - By Jerry D. Green
EVER LEARNING
INTRODUCTION
Since Jesus hung
on that cross almost 2000 years ago, there has truly been more written about
Him than any other person who has ever walked on this earth. I can open my web browser
and type in a word or two: Jesus, Bible, Christian, gospel, etc., and I am
immediately flooded with more information than I could read, and/or, that my
natural mind could ingest and decipher in ten lifetimes: Books, songs,
articles, and stories; you name them, and they’re there in an instant. Much of
this material is written by men and women whose names I’ve never heard. Many
have long, important looking titles, some of which, I can’t even pronounce; and
which, concerning their meaning, I know not. To be honest it’s all rather
depressing to me, to see such a wonderful, simple, and powerful gospel,
destroyed by those who have no idea what the true gospel of God, and of Jesus
Christ is about. God did, however, forewarn us that this would be the case; and
that is what this message is about. May we all take heed to God’s warning.
EVER LEARNING
II Timothy 3:1-9 KJV
“This know also, that IN THE LAST DAYS
perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves,
covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful,
unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent,
fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded,
lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form
of godliness, but denying the power thereof (the power of the true “…gospel
of Christ: …[which is] the power of God unto salvation…,”
a gospel which, believed, makes free indeed from sin; I Corinthians
1:18-24; Romans 1:16-18; John 8:34-36): from such turn
away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly
women laden with sins, led away with divers (many, and/or various) lusts, EVER LEARNING, (but) …never able to come to the KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUTH (that
would make them free from sin; John 8:30-36). Now as Jannes and Jambres
withstood Moses, so do these also RESIST THE
TRUTH: men (and
today, women also, who are) of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.
But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be (made)
manifest unto all…, as theirs also was.”
In these passages
Paul is forewarning Timothy, and unbeknown to himself, the church of Jesus
Christ for all time, that perilous times were coming to the church in the
last days. But when would the
last days begin? Surely today, we are living in the very last of the
last days before Jesus returns to “…smite the nations: and… rule them with a rod of iron…” (Revelation 19:15); but the last days began, with the
first coming of Jesus and His earthly ministry. The writer of Hebrews tells us
this. God “…Hath IN THESE LAST DAYS spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath
appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds” (the universe: Hebrews 1:2); while Jude tells us in verses
17 and 18 of his epistle, “…Beloved, remember ye the words which
were spoken before of (by) the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ;
How that they told you there should (would) be mockers (Strong’s #1702;
this Greek word, which is translated scoffers
in II Peter 3:3, means “a derider, i.e. [by implication] a false
teacher,” or teachers) IN THE LAST TIME, who… (would) …walk after their own ungodly lust” (Jude
1:17-18). One of those
great apostles of our Lord, of whom Jude was likely speaking, was the apostle
John; who writes, “Little children, IT IS THE LAST TIME: and as ye have
heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there MANY antichrists; whereby
we know that IT IS THE LAST TIME. They went out from us, but they were
not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued
with us: but they went out, that they (it)
might be made manifest that they were NOT ALL of us” (I John 2:18-19). These scriptures tell us that the last days
(or, the last time[s]) began with the ministry of Jesus, and continued through
the inception of the church until now. They also tell us that the antichrists
(the false teachers) were there from the very beginning of the last time.
We can always know that the only antichrist (singular), or, antichrists
(plural) we need to be concerned about are those found in the church, who were
at one time, a part of the church of Jesus Christ. For, as John says, “They went out from us, but they were
not of us.” And the apostle Paul says, “…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 (distorted, corrupted, perversions of the truth), to draw away disciples
after them(selves)” (Acts 20:29-30; Galatians 1:6-9; II Corinthians
11:3-13).
Let us therefore,
not forget, that through the words of Paul, God is sending this message to the
church for all time. Mankind (which is
the present, evil, world), has for all time been lovers of their own selves;
and, of their own. And because it is in man’s nature to be so, to some extent,
all men are covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents,
unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers,
incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, and lovers of pleasures more than lovers of
God. There was nothing new in these words, as pertaining to the world (fallen
mankind), but this message was (and is) to the church.
Also, because it
is in the nature of man to do so, man always tries to rationalize that which
pertains to God. He is EVER LEARNING, ever searching, ever
seeking a way, some way, any way to God, except THE
way, which is Jesus Christ
and His gospel (John 14:6). “For after that in the wisdom of God
the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of
preaching (the gospel of Jesus, the Christ; Romans
1:16) to save them that
believe (it). For the Jews
require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: But we preach Christ (and Him) crucified (the most essential elements of the gospel of Christ), unto the Jews a
stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called,
both Jews and Greeks, Christ (and
His gospel, is both) the power of God, and
the wisdom of God” (unto man; I Corinthians 1:21-24).
In the centuries
which followed those first great (eye witness) apostles, the church steadily
declined. And just as the apostles had warned, the scholars, the writers, the
false teachers, etc. (the intellectuals), as well as those who walked “…after their own
ungodly lust…,” steadily diminished the power of the true
church, through the destruction of the true gospel message. And, just as the
apostles and prophets had warned, “…the time… (soon came) …when they… (would) …not endure sound doctrine; but… having itching ears…, …they heap(ed) to themselves teachers after their own lusts;
And they …turn(ed) away their ears from
the truth, … (which was, and is) …turned into fables” (II Timothy 4:34).
During the
nineteen hundred plus years since those first eye witness apostles, there were
also the many Monks, as well as other church sponsored men, who spent their
entire lives praying, studying, teaching, writing, etc.; none of which is bad
in itself; but why take something so simple and powerful, and make something so
complicated out of it that it loses its power to save? As Paul tells the
Corinthians, “…I fear, lest by any
means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should
be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ” (II Corinthians 11:3). And the proverb says, “In the multitude of
words there wanteth (lacketh ) not sin…” (Proverbs
10:19). I’m not saying there’s always sin in a multitude of words;
but I am saying that in the multitude of words there is always greater
opportunity for the enemy to interject his beguiling words of man’s wisdom and
deception.
“But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to THE
TIME OF THE END: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased” (Daniel 12:4). Exactly what period of time this is referring
to I can’t say for sure, but I believe it to be the sealed book which the “…Lion of the tribe
of Juda, the Root of David, …prevailed to open…” (Revelation 5:5). Since there are still mysteries in the
book not yet revealed in their fullness, I believe the days we are living in
are the very last of the last days of “…the time of the end….” It certainly fits the phrase concerning increased with knowledge.
We all know that
the world has had an explosion of knowledge in the past two centuries. Before
the eighteen hundreds, things changed little from century to century. But in
just the last century alone, knowledge has increased many fold. The most
frightening thing to me, however, is the increase of knowledge in the church.
With the explosion of worldly knowledge, has also come an explosion of
so-called spiritual knowledge. So many so-called men and women of God have
their own revelation and their own truth which only comes to those you purchase
their books, their tapes, their CDs, and/or support their TV programs, etc. I’m
not saying there are not true men and women of God out there, but what troubles
me is their spiritual revelations and answers which are so much like the
world’s. They’re “EVER LEARNING, … (but) never able to come to
the KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUTH…” which
makes a person “…free indeed…” from sin
(John 8:30-36). We should be very mindful of false teachers, even as
Paul warned the Colossians,
“Beware
lest any man spoil you
(that is, to subtlety lead you
away as booty; to seduce you)
through
philosophy (the love and pursuit of wisdom by
intellectual means and moral self-discipline) and vain deceit (empty delusions), after the tradition of men (truth which has been corrupted through small, subtle
changes from generation to generation), after the rudiments of (that which has its roots in; or, stems from) the world, and not
after Christ” (Colossians 2:8). How perfectly this
verse of scripture portrays the condition of the church today. In every aspect,
the church has adopted the worlds way of doing things. From the way it worships
and conducts its services, to the answer for all its problems; the world’s principles
and numerical step programs have all found their way into the church’s
curriculum. No longer do preachers and
teachers in the church believe in the power of the true gospel of Jesus, the
Christ. No longer do they preach and teach faith in the broken (bruised) body
and shed blood of Jesus, the Christ, as the answer for anything; much less
freedom from sin. We of the church are too wise to believe there’s power
in the preaching of the cross of Christ (I Corinthians 1:18). It seems
that with all of our vast knowledge and continual learning, we just really
don’t have a need anymore for God, or for Jesus Christ, or for His gospel; for
anything (Revelation 3:17). “The prophets (continue to) prophesy (preach, and teach) falsely, and the priests bear rule by their (own)
means; and MY people LOVE to have it so: … (BUT) WHAT WILL YE DO IN
THE END THEREOF?” (Jeremiah 5:31).
JDG
Message 23 - Ever Learning
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