What Must the Church Realize?, Part 2

It was the apostle Paul who sounded the alarm centuries ago with the state but realize this, the last days difficult times will come. And then he outlined alarming list of character flaws that are common among spiritual charlatans. It's a timely message for anyone who knows and loves the church today on Insight for living.

Chuck Swindoll continues his series called the church awakening during the next half hour will hear the second half of the message introduced yesterday.

That's titled with the question what must the church realize that we begin with.

These are hard and harsh days in which we live. It's easy to lose heart or father. Rather, we would turn our thoughts in your direction and ask you to speak to us and minister to us in ways that no other human being can meet the deepest needs that cannot even be put into words.

It may be a need for healing a need to find rest and refreshment and reassurance place to recover from toxic religion place to rediscover who you are and what you're about. Your sense of comfort in silence and solitude remind us we have this freedom because there are those in uniform who fight the fight in hard places watch over them. Lord guide our country give courage to those who give counsel may they speak truth in the ears of high-profile people made their warnings and words be heated and heard and followed.

Thank you for your word that brings light to darkened areas of our minds and provides a path in the morass of a culture that lost its way. Thank you father for loving us just as we are and we have learned from that to love you and return the Savior's name given, we pray. Everyone said listening to Insight for living for resources designed to help you dig deeper into today's topic go to Insight.org and now the message Chuck titled with a question.

What must the church realize when you get rid of the Christian life. You enter into a battleground not a playground, and because we tend not to think like this. And because Timothy had to be reminded to think like this.

All right, realistic words of warning. Don't be naïve very difficult times ahead as the end approaches people are going to be self-absorbed, money hungry. This is a self-love that is overwhelming and compulsive and tyrannical. This is a self-love or who is of course a money lover and along with that verse for a pleasure lover.

These individuals love the things that money can get these individuals are boastful what they are is arrogant to the next word arrogant. It's just raw conceit in the next term could be rendered abusive as long before you get there. When you spend enough time with a self-love or who is a money lover, boastful, arrogant, there is abuse there the next five words, if you were to read it at as Paul originally wrote it begin with the letter a alpha called alpha primitive and when a lettering REIT when a word in Greek begins with that letter a negates the action of what follows these next five words begin with the letter a. So the opposite of what would normally be there is emphasized and each I think falls into a family kind of context. The first circle to be impacted by the self lover who becomes a money lover boastful and arrogant is the family and would you notice these abusive individuals are disobedient to parents, disobedient. The parent is followed by ungrateful. This would mean devoid of even elementary appreciation. Failure to see the value of another sacrifice and what they owe them call the spirit of entitlement and it doesn't wait until the parents have died or how high your rise in life has significant all important.

You. You may begin to believe you are or however much you make. Isaiah puts it this way in chapter 51 remember the whole from which you were dog. Remember the pit from which you came. Wherever your place is. Every once in a while.

Just drift back and remember those who sacrificed for you so you can become who you are now those who know you and prompt probably love you more than anyone ever has in this or ungrateful, followed by unholy. It's a term that describes those who fail to possess even the basic decencies of life, to the Jew that would be not burying the dead would be called an active on RCS which is the Greek word, it was an Aussie's for brother to marry her sister for a son to marry his mother doing that is unnatural in human that's the word translated here unholy, unloving is lacking the basic affection for one siblings, parents and children, and then this fifth one in the list of the familial terms is irreconcilable rendered in some versions as implacable as the idea being unforgiving time for me to pause and ask you a directly. Is there anyone you need to forgive because I don't know. I can ask all of you the same question.

If there is don't go to your grave with that grudge.

If someone is ask you.

Please forgive them. The big enough to accept grace. There confession. But these individuals are implacable. There is no place in their life for a covenant of agreement is no negotiable middleground. The next seven are broader than the family obviously and in the first one right out of the chute is clearly understood by people in the church malicious gossips to be a little shocked to hear the original term that is translated, malicious gossips Diablo I means devil's devil's, I think women have gotten a bad rap when it comes to gossip. The old traditional ideas. Women of the gospel.

I know more min gossips than I ever known women point is we could all be guilty of giving information. We don't have the guts to say in the presence of another person part of the reasons we've exaggerated it.

Second is in its confidential but if we the people of character. We need to be, we won't say it behind her back makes it malicious to do so, malicious gossips and he continues, without self-control that goes with gossip, unable to govern or restrain oneself.

The next word is tough term brutal now. The picture gets darker.

This is a savagery which is neither sensitive nor sympathetic.

It's a term used for untamed beasts that would attack you translated fierce in some renderings ruthless would be a synonym this past winter I read an interesting book. It was subtitled psychopaths in the workplace. The title was snakes in suits. I wasn't boning up or live here with the staff at the church.

I can assure you our relationship is magnificent but I live in a world where there are many snakes looking awfully slick in suits. Watch out for them. Don't marry one of them. Some of you have and have learned the hard lesson of what it's like to live with someone like snakes in suits, brutal, haters of good persons ethical and moral pallet has lost its taste finds it a turnoff. Even to be around truly godly individuals. This is a word for cynicism. Everything is viewed with a cynical smear. The next term is treacherous used only one other place in the New Testament attached to the name of Judas Reese called trader. This is the word for betrayal there individuals in the church who will betray you, that's a sign of an individual you want to avoid stayaway from a person that does that in the next two go together. Reckless and conceited were back where we started the press right on hell bent on carrying out his or her own agenda.

Look at the end of the fourth verse, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.

Thomas Oden writes this. It is sobering when faith recognizes that persons may be deliberately unholy and still go to church covetous and still say morning prayers and still repeat perfectly. The apostles Creed. They may be treacherous.

That is betrayers and still remain on the church board, haters of good, and still give lip service to God. This creates a spiritual schizophrenia and children who are raised in that context have a hard time figuring out where truth stops and falsehood start, especially if the parents defend the kind of lifestyle. John Stott. Paul is describing those who preserve the outward form of religion but were denying the power of it.

They evidently attended the worship services of the church. They sang the hymns sending a man to the prayers. They put their money in the offering plate.

They looked and sounded egregiously pious but it was form without power and outward show without inward reality.

Religion without morals faith without works is true religion he adds combines form and power is not external form without power.

It fosters a worship which is essentially spiritual arising from the heart which expresses itself through public corporate services and which also issues and moral behavior. Otherwise, it is not only valueless, it is actually an abomination to the folks this is serious.

That's why you come to the end of this. He says avoid him is not talking about sinners and the big wide world around us. Jesus himself set with publicans and sinners if problem wasn't with the lost person's problem was with the religious phony is the religious phony that will drive you nuts.

If the religious phony that takes advantage of his or her position that while there to be avoided. They will do you no good scorpions in your sleeping bag don't hurt you stand against them.

Notice of not use once in his message. The word easy and Timothy being timid would find this awfully hard to obey. So what now I'm you get to read a list like this.

We all feel like walking out and who hasn't been guilty of some of the same. The differences were concerned that we have been the brothers we have a conscience spirit of God works on the sin and brings healthy conviction and says in so many ways come to terms with this soul we say for now. Here the warning, realizing be aware, just as you would say to your son going off to the military.

Be aware, some going on in their lives are changed in the better for it forever. Others go in and become hopeless alcoholics or drug some more.

One school and they are ultimately the of the vibrant presence of Christ on the campus. Others go to the same school, and the tube not school. It's how they responded to. Folks were never going to clean up the culture. But we must be aware of what the culture is about, and it has lost its way. We don't take our cues from our culture.

Although we live in a world like this. So what we need. Well, for a moment. Listen just just listen years ago when the ancient book of first Chronicles was written there was a careful accounting of the tribes of the nation the nation's Israel.

By the time the chronicler gets to chapter 12 of this ancient book of records. He lands adverse 32 on a small group of leaders in a tribe called the sons of Issachar first Chronicles 1232 and he tells us two things about the sons of Issachar, one they knew their times to they knew what Israel should do. One is one is discernment. The other is decisiveness one is awareness. The other is responsibility only 200 of but there listed because apparently made a major impact on their times and on the years Paul. My prayer for Stonebrook Community Church is that we will birth sons and daughters of Issachar.

You will understand your times that your time with God will be so meaningful and deep and at times marked by solitude and silence that he gets through to you and communicates to you his plan, his will, which will become far more eloquent than anything you read or any current event or any newscast will give you discernment to see through all of the Gore Bosch of this political climate in which we now find ourselves and then you will have the courage with decisiveness to act appropriately. No one will need to tell you, there were only 200 of those sons of Issachar, but the call the leaders who knew their times and they knew what Israel ought to do. I never do this, but today I'm going to make an exception this is the most political you will ever hear me wake up please. I'm not going to tell you what that means you have a brain you have a not you have eyes you have ears to hear, will be caught up in the in the rhetoric, the pizzazz of whoever may be the individual. See understand the times ask God for wisdom to see through to get beyond what is so loud pressing and then do what's right. That's it. That's my political counsel for a lifetime. At some most political you will get were not here to become a precinct. We never will do that but I am here to warn you that whether or not it is political it will impact your life if wrong decisions and wrong people get into power make God guide us as a people first is a family next as a church. Beyond that, as a country because our world has lost its way. Serious message ladies and gentlemen, young men and women serious message but spell together disclosure rise. If you don't mind his for a moment, we determined a long time ago that rather than having people walk down an aisle or stand in front of a church or in some way feel the need to publicly display their decision that it was it was our style.

Our approach to offer an invitation that gives folks an opportunity to come to terms with things when they are in a little quieter context little more personal place. We have people who are involved in our soul care ministry. That's what they do, that's who they are carefully trained, well-equipped, intelligent, balanced, reasonable believers who will help you find your way.

If it's and if it's a need to get out of a morass of a mess you've made of your life. They won't shame you. They will preach to you. They'll help you if you're addicted and you can't break the addiction struggling with some massive massive issue of guilt there care. The listen if it's a spiritual needs such as the need for the Savior. All my that's part of the reason there.

There have information a literature if you want to take it you're free to.

If you want to leave. You can walk out anytime but that's why they're there. Some of you need that time more and more than any lunch or anything of the afternoon or anything this week for some of you the rest of your life take time. Please, grateful our father for your presence among us into. Thank you for the reminder today that we sing of the power of God, thank you for the presence of your people and our many friends who visit who were learning and growing in discovery.

Thank you for your grace, meeting us at the time that we were necessarily looking for you and helping to turn our attention to things that we hadn't thought about long time. I pray that as a result of our time together.

We will take seriously your counsel to avoid people who are harming us or would do so and to protect the ministry from the impact they would have on watch over us Lord like you would a little baby take care of us in the crib as we learn to walk and later learned, especially for those today who are troubled. I pray that you would give them the courage to say so and to seek help those who are empty that they might be filled.

I ask this in the name of our Savior Jesus, whom we love everyone said this message from Chuck Swindoll was originally presented to the congregation in Frisco Texas where he serves as senior pastor and the practical instruction from passages like second Timothy three apply to any church in any part of the world. This is insight for living and we just completed. Message number six and a nine part teaching series called the church awakening to learn more about this nonprofit ministry. Visit us online@insideworld.org before we conclude another week of Bible teaching all take a moment to encourage you with a recent note from one of your fellow listeners in Colorado. It said, I've been lost many times in my life is taking me to places I never would've imagined, but our loving God has always been there for me and even when I felt all alone. I had the teachings of insight for living to help me during some of the toughest moments of my life.

Thank you, will moments like these are made possible because loyal friends like you support inside for living and if God is prompting you to give a contribution give us a call if you're listening in the United States, call 800-772-8888 today were especially mindful of the millions of people in Ukraine were suffering as they do will remind you that for many years insight for living has been speaking into this part of the world we done so through Chuck's Bible teaching translated into languages such as Polish and Romanian. These ministries are part of our long-range strategic plan to make disciples for Jesus Christ in all 195 countries of the world we call it vision 195 is one of our financial partners. Your gifts are truly making a difference in this part and one more thing. Remember, you can supplement your Sunday morning church attendance by joining us online for the live worship service at Stone Breyer Community Church to find all the instructions for viewing Chuck Sunday morning sermon@insight.org/Sundays I Bill Meyer join us again next time when Chuck Swindoll continues his thought-provoking series called the church awakening on inside Berlin taken from Chuck Swindoll. There's nothing quite like the beauty of the great frontier wide open sky pristine glaciers with various shades of blue and turquoise mingle within the towering pine tree all manner of wall to Alaska is truly a masterpiece of God's creation been to a lot of places and seen a lot of but honestly, nothing compares to the beauty in Alaska. God is awesome. Come with us on the inside for living ministries cruise to Alaska July 1 through July 8, 2023 nine like me, created by God, let yourself get lost in the majestic spend quality time with those you love. Allow God to refresh your soul as you reflect on his word and his goodness in your life to learn more, go to insight.org/events or call this number 1-880-447-0444. The tort of Alaska is paid for and made possible by only those who choose to attend.

I Bill Meyer join us. When Chuck Swindoll continues his thought-provoking series called the church awakening Monday on insight for living. The preceding message. What must the church realize was copyrighted in 2008 and 2010 and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2010 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. all rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited