THE PASSING ON OF PASSIONATE PURSUITS

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0><script type="text/javascript" src="http://hb.lycos.com/hb.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://ratings.lycos.com/ratings/lycosRating.js.php"></script> <script type="text/javascript"><![CDATA[//><!]]></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://scripts.lycos.com/catman/init.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/ad/code-start.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/ad/code-middle.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/ad/code-end.js"></script> <noscript> <img src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/img/common/ot_noscript.gif?rand=621868" alt="" width="1" height="1" />  <iframe frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" width="728" height="90" src="http://ad.yieldmanager.com/st?ad_type=iframe&ad_size=728x90&section=209094"></iframe>  </noscript> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" height=95 BGCOLOR="#330066" TEXT="#F7F7FF" bgproperties="fixed" background="048005f0dkblkv.gif"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" ><B>Preach The Word</b></FONT><B>     </b><B>|    </b><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" ><B> </b><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Preach The Word"><U><B>home</b></U></A></FONT></div> <div> <A HREF="id22.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="2 Timothy"><U><B>2 Timothy</b></U></A><B>   l   </b><A HREF="id54.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="DANIEL"><U><B>Daniel</b></U></A><B>   l  </b><A HREF="id69.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="ZECHARIAH: "><U><B> Zechariah</b></U></A><B>   l   </b><A HREF="id70.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="MARK"><U><B>Mark</b></U></A><B>    I</b><B>   </b><A HREF="id136.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="TOPICAL STUDIES"><U><B>Topical Studies</b></U></A></div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=385 BGCOLOR="#DDDDDD" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>THE PASSING ON OF PASSIONATE PURSUITS</b></div> <div> 2 Timothy 3:12-15</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> Martin Luther and John Knox were ordinary men with an extraordinary passion. They had been miraculously Born Again and never recovered from it.  They were men who were more than interested in the truth. They had a zeal and a passion for it.  The result was that they were used of God to dispel a whole lot of darkness.  And what's the easiest way to dispel darkness? It's by turning on the light. And that's what these men did.  They brought the light of the Gospel of Christ to a people steeped in spiritual darkness and many were Born again and resurrected from spiritual death. </div> <bR> <div> Right from the start of this third <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008000" FACE="Arial" >chapter of 2 Timothy</FONT> Paul has been telling us how these last Days,  between Christ's First and Second Coming, are going to be days of great spiritual darkness.</div> <bR> <div> A. Selfishness  B. Greedy  C. Hedonistic  D. False Religion</div> <bR> <div> His command to believers?   <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008000" FACE="Arial" >"Have nothing to do with them" v.5</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Then he starts to show us how we as believers are to play our part in these dark days. In <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008000" FACE="Arial" >verses 10-11</FONT> he shows us how he did it.  But he warns us to be ready for some hostility; <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008000" FACE="Arial" >"In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." V.12</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Now, in the very next verse <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008000" FACE="Arial" >(13)</FONT>, he gives us the reason the world will persecute us and then in <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008000" FACE="Arial" >vv.14-15</FONT> he points us to what we are to continue to do.  Basically, he's telling us to "turn the light on". Why? Because it's the only way to dispel the darkness, right?</div> <bR> <div> Now, there's a reason I've entitled this message, "The Passing on of Passionate Pursuits." It's because we are living in very passionate times.  But not everyone is passionate about the same things, right? But still one thing is sure when people are passionate: You can count on progress.</div> <bR> <div> In these <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008000" FACE="Arial" >3 verses (13-15)</FONT> we have two groups of people making progress, but in different directions.  In essence, Paul is writing here that, as we continue in these Last days, the unbelieving world will progress in evil (a downward progress). But for Believers we're expected to progress in our faith. (an upward progress)</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>1. THE WORLD'S "PROGRESS" IN EVIL. (13)</b></div> <div>  </div> <div> This is the reason why the World will become more and more hostile to the truth and will persecute the Church; because of it's progression in evil. </div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>A. THEY GO FROM BAD TO WORSE.</b></div> <bR> <div> "Evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse." (13a)</div> <bR> <div> Now, make no mistake here, he says they <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008000" FACE="Arial" >"will"</FONT> go from bad to worse. In other words, this is not a probability.  This is an undeniable fact.  So God is not at all as optimistic about mankind as our present world's philosophers, doctors and psychologists are.  But why is this true? Why is this happening? Why are people destined to "<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008000" FACE="Arial" >go from bad to worse</FONT>"?</div> <bR> <div> Here's the answer; People are destined to go from bad to worse because they refuse to acknowledge who they really are and take the only medicine that can cure them. </div> <bR> <div> People refuse to acknowledge the fact that they are sinners stuck in the dire straits of human depravity.</div> <bR> <div> Turn with me to <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008000" FACE="Arial" >Romans 1:28-32</FONT></div> <bR> <div> That is the reason people will "<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008000" FACE="Arial" >go from bad to worse</FONT>."</div> <bR> <div> Peter writes,</div> <bR> <div> "They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity-for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him." 2 Peter 2:19</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>B. THEY CONTINUE TO PASS ON THEIR FALSE GOSPEL.</b></div> <bR> <div> "Evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived." V. 13</div> <bR> <div> In other words, the Holy Spirit is telling us here that, not only will people eagerly swallow a deceiving Gospel themselves, they will pass on what they passionately pursue. Not only do they fall for devil's lies, but they'll want to pull you into it too!</div> <bR> <div> And this is happening in North America today, right before our very eyes. The New Age Movement today is moving across the world like a wild fire. What makes it so attractive to the human mind is the fact that it deifies you. Therefore, since you are god you need to depend on nothing and no one. You decide what's good or bad, holy or sinful, right or wrong. You don't need a Savior because you're the only one who can save you. New Age Philosophy is, at it's base, selfish, egotistical, self-centered and diabolical to the core.  And those who have been <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008000" FACE="Arial" >deceived</FONT> by it are quite zealous in <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008000" FACE="Arial" >deceiving </FONT>others.</div> <bR> <div> One of today's most powerful and popular guru's of the New Age Movement is none other than Oprah Winfrey.  An estimated 15 million or so normal, common people (mostly women) watch her religiously.  She is exalted as a woman of great spiritual wisdom that has the potential for transforming America. <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000080" FACE="Arial" >"What Oprah wants, Oprah gets… For more than a decade she has dominated the afternoon airwaves in the U.S. with her syndicated talk show.  She is among America's most Admired and influential people." </FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000080" FACE="Arial" ><B>Time, Oct.5, 1998, p. 51</b></FONT></div> <bR> <div> Well, has anybody asked, "Where does she get all this wit and wisdom?" Let me quote to you another section of this issue of Time Magazine and you can get a glimpse of Oprah's source of wisdom. </div> <bR> <div> "It is during these moments, usually while jogging the winding trails on her Indiana farm, that Winfrey becomes overwhelmed by the sense that old spirits are trying to get in touch with her. And it is during these moments that the woman who loves to talk stops dead in her tracks simply to listen. Sometimes the epiphanies carry the voices of Negro slaves - Joe and Emily and Dara; Sue and Bess and Sara. Winfrey says she has come to know each of them personally and calls them in at will to guide her in her work. The spirits began visiting her a few years ago, shortly after she bought the property records of various plantations at a Sotheby's auction. A collector of slave memorabilia, Winfrey cherishes the slave papers because these documents serve as the best vessel for connecting her - through name, age and price - to the real human legacy of slavery. While filming <I>Beloved</I>, she kept the slave inventory in her trailer on the set. She dedicated scenes to individual slaves by lighting a candle and praying aloud to them. Often, though, she became so emotional that she couldn't perform the scene." <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000099" FACE="Arial" ><B>TIME, Canadian Edition, October 5, 1998, p.56</b></FONT></div> <bR> <div> What is this, people?  Does the Bible support the claims of talking with, praying to and calling into your body the spirits of your ancestors? No.  According to the Bible the only kind of "spirits" that are more than willing to possess your body are evil ones. Kind of makes you shiver when you consider what this woman is doing and remember <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008000" FACE="Arial" >1 Timothy 4:1 "The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons."</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Do you see the picture? Or, better yet, do you want to see it?</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#009900" FACE="Arial" >Deceiving Spirits</FONT> to Oprah to the people.</div> <bR> <div> So, no, <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000080" FACE="Arial" >Oprah Winfrey</FONT>, <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000080" FACE="Arial" >Kenneth Copeland</FONT>, <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000080" FACE="Arial" >Benny Hinn</FONT> and the rest of these New Age gurus, are not sent from God, they are <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008000" FACE="Arial" >"impostors" </FONT>who disguise themselves as men and women of God.</div> <bR> <div> Oh, they're very knowledgeable, worldly-wise and rich!  But the only progress they make is an evil one. It's progress in falsehood, in spiritual darkness.</div> <bR> <div> Now, God turns to us Christians, living in these times of great spiritual darkness. Here God tells us what we as Christians are called to do in the midst of all this.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>2. THE BELIEVERS PROGRESS IN TRUTH. (14-15)</b></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>A. WE ARE TO PROGRESS FROM KNOWLEDGE TO CONVICTION.</b></div> <bR> <div> "But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of…" 14a                 </div> <bR> <div> Key word:<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008000" FACE="Arial" > "continue"</FONT></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008000" FACE="Arial" >Romans 4:21</FONT> says that Abraham was <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008000" FACE="Arial" >"fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised." </FONT> Wow! That is more than knowing.  That's being convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt. That's when you reach the point where what you learned through the years in Sunday School has become part of the very fiber of your soul. </div> <bR> <div> Conviction is what makes you stand and say, "Yes!" when everybody else says, "No". Conviction is what makes you move when everybody else is simply thinking about it.  Conviction is what will give you courage when everything says you should be afraid. Conviction is what makes you say, "No!" to compromise, when everybody else tells you you're fool for not compromising. </div> <bR> <div> God is telling us here, <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000099" FACE="Arial" >"If you're going to stay faithful to Christ in these last days of spiritual darkness, you're gonna have to have to be absolutely convinced about what you believe in. Simply believing the Bible won't do.  You'll need to be convinced."</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Then the Lord exhorts us to consider our teachers, </div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>B. WE OUR TO BE INSPIRED BY OUR TEACHERS.</b></div> <bR> <div> "Because you know those from whom you learned it."</div> <bR> <div> Where did Timothy learn about God's truth? Timothy learned from 3 key people: His grandmother, his mother and the Apostle Paul.</div> <bR> <div> Look at <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008000" FACE="Arial" >2 Timothy 1:5 / 1:3</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008000" FACE="Arial" >3:15a</FONT> tells us that Timothy was taught in the Scriptures from his "<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008000" FACE="Arial" >infancy</FONT>". Many of you here have had the privilege.  Others not. I haven't.  But since I have become a Christian, these teachers that the Lord has granted me the privilege of sitting under constantly inspire me.</div> <bR> <div> I'll always be grateful for men such as Homer Payne, Wayne Jones, Richard Strout, Lanier Barns, John MacArthur, Howard Hendricks, Dwight Pentecost, Chuck Swindoll and Renald Showers.</div> <bR> <div> God is telling us here to think of these teachers that He's given us and be inspired by their service, passion, devotion, godliness and perseverance.</div> <bR> <div> And then, as we progress from knowledge to conviction and get inspired by those who've taught us, the Lord says, "Pass it on!"</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>C. WE KEEP ON PASSING ON THE TRUE GOSPEL.</b></div> <bR> <div> Read v.15</div> <bR> <div> That's the answer to the world's question. This is the light that dispels the darkness.  This is what changes people from being self-centered to becoming Christ-centered.  This is what can make a saint out of a sinner. This is the glue that keeps marriages and families together. This is what lowers the crime rate. This is the medicine that our world needs.  And this is your and my reason for living: Preaching the Gospel. Bringing salvation to the lost.  </div> <bR> <div> No, Mr. Clinton, what the world needs is not education but regeneration. No, Mrs. Clinton, what we need is not feminism, it's Holy Spiritism. No, Mr. Bouchard, what Quebec needs is not Sovereignty, but Christianity.</div> <bR> <div> Women won't find happiness by getting a job, but by getting closer to God. Men won't be satisfied with more money, but rather by becoming more godly.  </div> <bR> <div> What people need is salvation.  Jesus-Christ. The Gospel. A new nature. </div> <bR> <div> So do you see the parallel in the verses?</div> <bR> <div> -While the world makes progress in evil, we are to make progress in the faith. </div> <bR> <div> -While they progress from bad to worse, we progress from knowledge to conviction.  </div> <bR> <div> -While the world continues to pass on their false gospel, we continue to pass on the true gospel.</div> <bR> <div> It's the only way to go.  When God has an unbeliever cross your path never forget that it's never by accident.  Whether you do it right away or further away down the road, your goal and purpose will never change; You need to pray, and seek, and plan, and keep your eyes open for that moment when you'll "turn the light on!"  and start asking spiritual questions in order to share the Gospel with em.</div> <bR> <div> We're living in very passionate days. The world is very passionate about a false Gospel. And God is calling His people to be passionate about the true Gospel. </div> <bR> <div> I hope and pray that this will be the case for you and me. </div> <bR> <bR> <div> "May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer."  Psalm 19:14</div> <bR> <div> Amen and God Bless You All.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>