They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!
�2 Timothy 3:5
Not long ago, fake Apple stores were discovered in China. There were five so-called Apple stores that had been built. These stores looked exactly like Apple stores, down to the shirts the salespeople wore. In fact, they were so realistic that people who worked in them thought they were actually working in an Apple store. But they were not real. These were not cheesy knockoffs; they were impressive imitations. Even so, they were not the real thing.
We have people in the church today just like that. They look like Christians. They talk like Christians. We all assume they are Christians. But in reality, they are sophisticated imitations of the real thing. The Bible tells us that one of the signs of the soon return of Christ is that we will see more and more people like that:
In the last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. . . . They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that! (2 Timothy 3:1�2, 5)
How is this possible? How can a person sit in church and hear the same message that a person who believes hears and yet not be a believer? Remember, there were two criminals who were crucified on either side of Jesus. Both were in the presence of God's Son. Yet only one believed.
Here is the thing we need to realize: church can be a dangerous place. If you hear the truth and don't respond, your heart can get hard. The best inoculation against the gospel is the gospel heard--but not heeded.
"Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming."
� Matthew 25:13
Some years ago, I was asked to speak at an event called Promise Keepers. I was flying out of LAX, and that morning, I called ahead to make sure everything was on schedule. Much to my surprise, they had moved up my flight by one hour. (I didn't even know they could do that.)
So I got there, parked my car, and was literally sprinting to the gate. They were shutting the door just as I arrived. So I went up to the airline employee and said, "Ma'am, please. I have to get on that plane. I have a speaking engagement to a bunch of men."
"I am sorry," she said. "The flight boarding is over."
I could see the plane was sitting there, and the Jetway was still attached to the plane. I said, "Ma'am, it is still there. I can get on."
"I'm sorry, sir. Step away from the gate."
"Okay, ma'am. I really�I am going to speak to 50,000 men." But there was nothing I could say to change her mind. The door was shut, and I was too late.
There is coming a day when it will be too late to get ready for eternity, and the door will be shut to heaven. There is coming a day when Christ will come back, and if we are not prepared, we will miss it.
Jesus said, "Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming" (Matthew 25:13). What does it mean to watch? It doesn't mean that we are supposed to quit our jobs or divorce our spouses as some people did when they thought they knew the actual date of the Lord's return. To watch is to be prepared. You make your arrangements ahead of time.
One of the amazing things about little girls is their desire to be princesses. Having raised two boys, I did not spend a lot of time around little girls; that is, until Stella, my first granddaughter, came along. It was like she was genetically predisposed to like the color pink and all things princess-related. So I have entered into those once-mysterious pink aisles in the toy stores that stock all things of that genre. And I have a confession to make . . . it's kind of fun! One time, we were playing with a castle I had bought for her, and she was doing the voices for all of her princesses: Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Ariel, Snow White, Belle, etc; while I was doing the voices of the princes who went with them, including my favorite: The Beast from Beauty and the Beast. Frankly, in these movies, the princesses get all the good lines. The princes, well they just show up and rescue the damsel in distress, either by killing dragons or singing some kind of song.
Now, not every little girl wants to be a princess, but many do. I sometimes wonder if this is not a longing for something or someone greater. No man, no matter how wonderful, will be your prince as you imagine him to be. If anything, he will probably turn out to be more like the reverse of the frog becoming a prince�he will turn out to be a frog. Or at least he will only be a man. Perhaps that longing of the little girl's heart, for a knight in shining armor, is a longing for a "greater prince"�the Prince of Peace and the Lord of Lords Himself. The little girl (and little boy, for that matter) longs for more than any person can bring. They long for God. And one day, our Prince will come. He will establish His kingdom on this earth and that dragon called Satan will be defeated.
And guess what? We will indeed "live happily ever after!"
How can we impact our culture today? Is it already good and getting better, or is it bad and getting worse? The biblical worldview of today's culture is that it is dark�and getting darker. By its very nature, it cannot get anything but worse because it has no inherent goodness to build on. As John MacArthur said, "Man has increased in scientific, medical, historical, educational, psychological, and technological knowledge to an astounding degree. But he has not changed his own basic nature and he has not improved society. His confidence has increased, but his peace of mind has diminished. His accomplishments have increased, but his sense of purpose and meaning have all but disappeared."
Sadly, this world will get worse before it gets better. In the last days, "Evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived" (2 Timothy 3:13). Any person who knows the history of mankind, even the history of the past 100 years, and thinks that man is evolving upward is not only deceiving, but being deceived.
So how do we reach our culture? First, we must use a language they understand. As believers, at times we get frustrated because it does not seem like people are listening to what we have to say. One reason could be that we are speaking in a different language. We say things like, "Are you saved? Have you been washed in the blood? Have you been sanctified and justified?" When it comes to nonbelievers, we have a language barrier to scale. I am not suggesting that we not use biblical verbiage, but rather that we recognize that some people do not necessarily understand what we are saying. To even talk about "receiving Christ in your life" to a nonbeliever may sound mysterious. I am suggesting that we use biblical terms, but we need to translate.
We must also find common ground. Paul put it this way, "Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone so that I might bring them to Christ. I do all this to spread the Good News, and in doing so I enjoy its blessings" (1 Corinthians 9:22�23). The Message puts it this way: "I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: religious, nonreligious, meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralized whoever."
Jesus modeled this with the woman at the well�a loose-living immoralist�appealing to her inner thirst. He did the same thing with Nicodemus, the meticulous moralist. Paul spoke at Mars Hill to the nonreligious and Peter spoke on Pentecost to the religious. In each of these situations, they adapted to their audience without compromising content.
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.
�Revelation 3:20
In the Book of Revelation, Jesus addresses two churches in the last days that are in direct contrast to one another: the church of Philadelphia and the church of Laodicea. The church of Philadelphia is a church coming back to life, a church that is going through the door of opportunity.
On the other hand, the church of Laodicea is a church that is arrogant and full of itself. It has gotten so far away from the teachings of the Bible that Jesus Christ himself is on the outside, trying to get in.
It is to the church of Laodicea that Jesus made his very well-known statement: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me" (Revelation 3:20). These words were given to a church�can you imagine such a thing?
This serves as a reminder that a person may attend church and think he or she is a Christian but actually is not.
Are you ready for the Lord's return? It's closer than it has ever been before. Have you put your faith in Jesus Christ?
As predicted by the prophets, Jesus was born in Bethlehem. He lived a perfect life. And then He went to the cross and died for our sin, meeting the righteous demands of God. He absorbed the full wrath of God in our place. Then He rose again from the dead. Jesus stands at the door of our lives, and He knocks. He says that if we will hear His voice and open the door, He will come in.
So make sure your faith is real. Because you can't live off the faith of someone else.
