“For the time will come when they will no longer endure sound doctrine;..” 2 Timothy 4:3,

We will be going back to to that verse in a little bit and above it, under it, and all the way around it, because the time that we were warned would come, has came. 

“I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick (living) and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word, be instant in season, out of season (ready at any time); reprove (reprimand, admonish), rebuke (express disapproval of action), exhort (encourage) with all longsuffering and doctrine.

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine (will not listen to the truth); but after their own lusts (worldly desires) shall heap unto themselves teachers, having itching ears (“ministers who will tell them what they want to hear); 

And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables (refuse to hear the truth but will hear lies),

But WATCH thou in all things, ENDURE afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.” 2 Timothy 4:1-5

If you are a messenger, that passage, my friend is for you!

We are given these words as comfort and encouragement to continue our work for Christ, no matter how hated, mistreated, rejected, or ostracized you may feel, God is the one that tallies up this score in the end and if you keep at it, keep enduring, seizing every single opportunity that you are given, and you will be rewarded, you may not ever feel it here on this earth, but thank God, this earth isn’t what it’s all about, now is it?

We know that humankind has had an uphill battle separating the truth of God from the poisonous doctrines of ungodly men masquerading as representatives of the Gospel since the serpent seduced Eve with his twisted “interpretation” of the warning God had given Adam and Eve to the consequences for disobedience.

For profit, prestige, and popularity they, as the Bible tells us with their great speeches and articulate reasonings, they will take one scripture and twist that scripture to justify actions and attitudes that God clearly states is in violation of everything He commanded.

Of course as you all know, the most common argument used to condone sinful lifestyles, is “Jesus is love”, and of course, HE IS but do not mistake love for desperation, the “Jesus” these people “teach” is nothing more than a fantasy being that they have dreamed up to fit the image of what the want their “god” to look like, a “god” that they have created in their image and it none of it bears any resembles to the attributes of the quite real, very much alive Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

They have even made it so hip and fun with the memes created from the of the ‘Sacred Heart” image which now have a variety of human add-on’s, and no matter where you go, what you read, you can always find something that is chipping away at the holiness of God and trying to bring him down to nothing more than a “person” with everyone comfortable making likenesses, jokes, and greeting cards and cartoons, you name it, it’s been done.

And this is all very intentional, because people have a very bad habit of following suit and once one person crosses a line everyone else is more than willing to follow and we will go back and take a look at that original sin, again.

“NOW the serpent was more subtil (cunning) than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 

And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst (middle) of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, LEST YE DIE (or you will die).

And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die. For God doth know that in the day that ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods (as God), knowing good and evil.

And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes (a DESIRABLE thing), and a tree desired to MAKE ONE WISE, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also to her husband with her; and he did eat.” Genesis 3:1-6 And the rest, as they say, is history, our history as humans.

Satan twisted it all on her, first reaffirming what God had told them, pulling her in and then adding his take on it, that this wouldn’t really happen, imply that God was just keeping them from something “good” and Eve fell for it, looking at it, wanting it because it looked good and it would make her smart and give her some sort of “secretive” wisdom, something new, something mysterious, something she had never even heard of or thought of but now was something she was talked into wanting and felt she must have.

Oh, my doesn’t that sound so much like the culture we live in today? IF you wanna be smart, IF you wanna be accepted by society, IF you wanna fit in you do what everyone else tells you to do and think like everyone else thinks or you are a relic and completely missing out.

Same song, same dance, same satan, just a new generation of dancers, being beguiled out of their very souls and enticed to speak against God and make jokes and have attitudes that border very dangerously to blasphemy.

And you can still “hear” satan whispering today, whispering his distortions into the ears of all who will not resist him or those who are influenced by him in this world, whispering things such as, “Oh that is funny…”Laughter is merry medicine” surely God wouldn’t really be offended  by that as long as it makes you laugh and you should share it to social media, your friends will get a kick out of it too.”  And “Oh that person seems nice… and you and “what’s his face” aren’t really seein’ eye to eye lately anyway, You know “God is love”, so it’s okay if you have that affair with your friend,, God wants you to be happy.” and “Oh, I know He said, “Thou shalt not kill”… but you know that you’re not ready to be a Mom, it’s not really murder, sure, it has a heartbeat but it’s not really been born yet so its not really alive, Go ahead and do yourself a favor, have the abortion.”

THAT is how he works, THAT is how he has ALWAYS worked!

Once upon a time people had enough wisdom about them and enough reverential fear of the Lord, whether they worshipped him or not, they were still smart enough to not speak against Him and would never be so foolish as to take His word and twist it to justify themselves so they could sin and still have their names on a church membership register,  and without true repentance and salvation it will mean nothing for them in the end, still not saved, still eternally lost.

BUT they do not want you to enlighten them to that fact or enlighten them as to how to truly be saved or warn them by mentioning things that God allows you to notice that will do them more harm than good.

“Hear another parable: There was a certain householder (landowner), which  planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out (leased) to husbandmen (TENANT farmers), and went into a far country (far away).

And when time came near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen (tenant farmers), that they might receive the fruits of it.

And the husbandmen took his servants, and BEAT one, and KILLED another, and STONED another. 

AGAIN, he sent OTHER servants more than the first; and they did likewise unto them also.

But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence (respect) my son.

But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.

And they caught him, and cast (threw) him out of the vineyard, and slew (killed) him.

When the lord therefore of the vineyard COMETH, what will he do do unto those husbandmen?” Matthew 21:33-40 

With the fall of Adam, God left his word with man and  allowed “tenants” to care for his “vineyard”, this earth that he created, sending prophets and messengers to teach people his way.

But, they desiring their own way, sought only to kill those messengers because they did not want to hear the messages, finally God sent his own son to collect what was rightly his, goodness mercy, and those who would serve him in truth and in spirit, and keep his word, and as we know they killed him too, rejecting him, the Father, and trying to hold onto an inheritance that does not belong to them, wishing to live it up, trashing that inheritance by destroying  everything that is holy and good, kind and gentle, as they see fit.

Messengers today are being met with more hatred, contempt, and disgust than ever before, while trying to share the truth of the Gospel or warn of the falsehood of candy Christianity, or warn others of pitfalls that they are about to step into.

Those who reject and insult the servants of God never once realizing that it actually takes love to want to see people delivered, saved, and the desire to see them filled with joy, peace, and having a very real fellowship with a very real God.

If you are a messenger, keep at it, one day they will believe one way or another.

And if you happen to be reading this and have a tendency to feel that little kick of self righteous anger when someone is trying their best to witness to you, or your Pastor is just preaching things, that although you KNOW that the word being preached is true, but that you’d rather not hear it,  don’t be so quick to kill the messengers, they answer to God, they look out for you, when they see the wolves coming they warn you because they love you and they are held accountable for you and the messages or warnings that they are to deliver, but what you do once that message is delivered is ON YOU.

It takes a lot of courage to tell people something that you know is going to make them angry and dislike you, Who would want to do that? They do it out of love and the calling that God has given them, they do it for the souls of those who God is sending them to.

“Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, speak to the children of the people (descendants), and say unto them, When I bring the sword (judgment) upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him as a watchman;

IF when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and WARN the people;

Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh NOT warning, IF the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his OWN head. 

He HEARD the sound of the trumpet, and took NOT warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that TAKETH warning shall deliver his soul (save his life).

But IF the watchman see the sword come. and blow NOT the trumpet, and the people be NOT warned; IF the sword come, and take any person from among them, HE IS TAKEN IN HIS INQUITY; BUT HIS BLOOD WILL I REQUIRE AT THINE HAND.” Ezekiel 33:1-6

Now that is some serious responsibly. Here is some more…

Hebrews 13:17: ” Obey (listen to) them that have the rule over you ( spiritually lead you, like your Pastor) , and submit yourselves: for they WATCH for your souls, as they MUST give ACCOUNT, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you..”

God expects that of all us, no one knows everything and all of us need exhortation and encouragement and no one is immune to the enemies schemes, so today please don’t kill the messengers, be gracious and just thank them for the delivery!

Φλογιζω NBJ 2021/ Reverend Nina Brown Johnson