Many believers and their Pastors for that matter, struggle with competing with other churches. I want to take some strain off of you through a meditation on 2 Timothy 3.7. Most of this kind of competing is done in the mind. Worrying about what others do or do not do is simply vanity; but a special breed of vanity. In this text we see the last days syndrome, and how it affects the believer in our day. We are unequivocally living in these last days. 2 Timothy 3.7 says, “Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Always learning…the Truth and obedience for that matter isn’t determined upon intellect. Having Bible knowledge doesn’t constitute spiritual growth. The Pharisees had knowledge, and so do the pharisees in church today. The information may be transferred but people seem to never be able to come to the knowledge of the truth. It is a spiritual problem. The spirit of the last days has a certain intelligence about it; the high priests of this unholy spirit know how to make things work oh so well and how to lead us away by tempting us with various lusts. The ant-christ spirit of today distracts and disappoints every moment of the day!
One of the most grieving duties I have is to counsel people with the truth and then watch as they reject it just as soon as they were told it. It is almost like they just simply don’t get it. It is heart breaking and diabolical. It is a spiritual battle and the struggle is real. Give them some time and they will twist heir life into a total wreck and/or move to another church which seems to have incredible success making them feel great about their wreck.
The spirit of the last days has a problem with the idea of “true truth” altogether, because it believes that we each are the center of our own universe and we each create our own truth. We do not! According to the spirit of the last days there is no truth outside of ourselves, so we can learn and learn and learn, but we will never come to God’s eternal truth. In Clarke’s commentary he mentions this special breed of vanity as: ”There are many professors of Christianity still who answer the above description. They hear, repeatedly hear, it may be, good sermons; but, as they seldom meditate on what they hear, they derive little profit from the ordinances of God. They have no more grace now than they had several years ago, though hearing all the while, and perhaps not wickedly departing from the Lord. They do not meditate, they do not think, they do not reduce what they hear to practice; therefore, even under the preaching of an apostle, they could not become wise to salvation.”
I am seeing this disheartening move being made not only by the pew, but also the pulpit. Are you starting to see the correlation between this text and modern churches around us? For all their skill, for all of their marketing brilliance and knowledge, their people never come to truth. They talk truth, profess truth, speak pieces of truth even, but are vain in their obedience. The fundamentalists focus on the vanity of their rules, guilt-trips and “convictions.” The liberals focus on feelings, tolerance and numbers. Be Focused On Truth! Without true truth you are not only never able to get it, but also leading others into a spiritually vain existence. Who are you following and what kind of disciple are you making? Warning to all spiritual leaders whether pastor or parent: “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.” (Matthew 23.15)
Stop now and meditate on the truth. It will bless you.