{"id":18212,"date":"2016-02-21T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-02-21T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/2-timothy-022-the-de-evolution-of-man-part-2\/"},"modified":"2016-02-21T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-02-21T06:00:00","slug":"2-timothy-022-the-de-evolution-of-man-part-2","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/2-timothy-022-the-de-evolution-of-man-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"2 Timothy 022 – The De-evolution of Man – Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[100],"series_event":[454],"sermon_service_type":[472],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-18212","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-2-timothy","series_event-2-timothy","sermon_service_type-main-service","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"2 Timothy 022 - The De-evolution of Man - Part 2","sermon_date":"20160221","sermon_month":"2","sermon_year":"2016","sermon_notes":3389,"sermon_slides":3391,"sermon_mp3":3395,"sermon_id":"221161013336","series_or_event":454,"service_type":[472],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":100,"chapter_and_verse":"3:2b-3","sermon_transcript":"Andy Woods\nThe De-evolution of Man, Part 2\n2-21-16 2 Timothy 2:2b-3 Lesson 22\n\nGood morning everybody, if we could take our Bibles and open them to the book of 2 Timothy, chapter 3, and verse 2, taking a look at verses 2 and 3 today, if we\u2019re lucky. The title of our message this morning is The De-evolution of Man, Part 2. This Wednesday night we\u2019re going to be dealing some issues in salvation in a series on Wednesday night, this week coming up in particular is going to be very important because we\u2019re going to be dealing with a controversy that has been brewing in the body of Christ since around 1980 entitled Lordship salvation. So we\u2019ll be looking at that, some of you may have heard different things on that. We\u2019ll try to look at the Scripture together and see what the Bible teaches about the Lordship of Christ and how do you reconcile the submission to Christ\u2019s Lordship with teachings that say we\u2019re saved by faith alone.\n\nWe are finding ourselves in our Sunday mornings together studying through the book of 2 Timothy, which is really a calling, if you will, that God placed on Timothy to complete his task as pastor of the church at Ephesus. Paul writes this book to this young struggling pastor, not questioning whether he\u2019s a believer or not but questioning whether he\u2019s going to finish the race that God has called him to. And we throw in the towel so quickly in our challenges in life and so this book seems tailor-made just for our generation.\n\nThis is the final letter that Paul wrote. Chapter 1, you\u2019ll recall, is a generic call to faithfulness and endurance in the ministry. And then we move from there into chapter 2 where Paul basically gave young Timothy ten word pictures or metaphors of what faithfulness actually looks like. And then beginning in chapter 3, verse 1, which is what we started last time, all the way through chapter 4, verse 8, he begins to deal with another subject, which is the apostasy. And we, in a couple of sermons ago, looked at what the apostasy is. The apostasy is basically a time in church history where the church would gradually move away from known truth, things once embraced will be suddenly \u201cno longer accepted\u201d as truth. And that\u2019s what apostasy is, it\u2019s a departure from known truth. Paul says it\u2019s coming Timothy.\n\nAnd to sort of set the table for what\u2019s coming in 2 Timothy we did a study a couple of sermons ago on ten characteristics of the apostasy. And then from there we re-entered 2 Timothy 3 where we have an in-depth description of what Timothy, as a pastor, as someone who wants to be faithful to God, what he is to do in the midst of the apostasy. So the apostasy is described in verses 1-9, these are the verses that we find ourselves in this morning. The evil is described, verses 1-7, and then some examples of evil are described in verses 8-9.\n\nWhat do you do when you find yourself in a situation where you\u2019re trying to be faithful to God in a church and the church reflects more the values of the world than it does the Bible? What do you do exactly? And that\u2019s essentially what God is telling Timothy to do, how he needs to be faithful to God in the midst of a worldly and an apostate church. And sort of in the process of describing this apostasy that\u2019s coming, which by the way God never says you can derail; He simply says it\u2019s coming. He begins to describe what people become like when they become apostate. What do people look like, not only in the world but also in the church when they stray from the truth.\nAnd he gives essentially 19 characteristics of human beings.\n\nAnd the reason I call these sermons The De-evolution of Man is for this simple reason: People become just like animals. Of course, they\u2019re genetically different from the species of the animals but their morality and their conscience is very similar to that of an animal, which is a tragic thing because man was created different than the animals. In fact, I\u2019ll be showing you a little bit later man was designed to rule over the animals. And what a tragic thing when we become just like the animals that we\u2019re different from and are supposed to rule over.\n\nSo 19 characteristics is sort of difficult to outline. Here\u2019s my best attempt at an outline. You have in verse 1, which we covered last time, a warning of difficulty and danger. That\u2019s the warning of apostasy; what\u2019s coming into the church is not just difficulty but danger. And then he begins to describe what the church will be like as it becomes more and more worldly; people will have misplaced love. We saw that last time, they will become lovers, not of God, but rather of self, of money, and of pleasure. And in the process of the apostasy people will become extremely prideful, and we saw that in their boastful words, their arrogant attitudes and they will actually become revilers, meaning essentially abusive speech.\n\nAnd then what follows in verse 2 and into verse 3 are eight alpha privitives. What in the world are you talking about, you\u2019ve been in school to long. In fact, I was going to entitle this sermon \u201cEight Alpha Privitives\u201d but I didn\u2019t really think that would sell to well so I decided on The De-evolution of Man, Part 2.\n\nBut what are alpha privitives? If you\u2019re not familiar with Greek it won\u2019t jump out as obvious to you but if you know a little bit about the Greek language you\u2019ll see that what Paul strings together here are eight alpha privitives. \u201cAlpha\u201d is the first letter in the Greek alphabet, just like \u201ca\u201d is the first letter in the English alphabet. And a lot of time when you put \u201ca\u201d in front of a word in English you\u2019re creating a negation of something, you\u2019re negating something.\n\nFor example, if someone is an atheist the \u201ca\u201d in front of the word \u201ctheist\u201d means they are negating God or they\u2019re denying God. If someone is atypical, that means they are not typical or in other words they are uncommon. So you automatically understand this idea in English and Greek functions the exact same way; by putting an \u201ca\u201d in front of a word it oftentimes negates that word.\n\nIt\u2019s like calling someone, or people call themselves an agnostic, gnosis means knowledge, and so if you\u2019re an agnostic you\u2019re saying I don\u2019t have knowledge. And by the way, from agnostic we get the word ignoramus. I like to point that out to certain friends of mine who pride themselves on the fact that they\u2019re agnostic, oh, I\u2019m supposed to be impressed with that. Well, what that word literally means is an ignoramus. Just a few tools for your toolbox there.\n\nBut what we have happening here in verses 2 and 3 are eight alpha privitives, and Paul puts these together to describe what people become like when they move away from God. Numbers 1-5 are alpha privitives and I\u2019m going to translate them as such for you today. And then verses 7-9 are three more alpha privitives. Now I want you to notice number 6 there; number 6 in Greek is not an alpha privitive, and people think that number 6 has been misplaced somehow. But number 6 has not been displaced; number 6 is not an alpha privitive, but it is intentionally placed there by Paul because when I show you the meaning of number 6 you\u2019ll see that that is placed there by Paul to sum up everything on this list. Nothing sums it up better than the non-alpha privitive that he uses there in number 6 but more on that coming.\n\nWhat do people look like when they stray away from God\u2014the world always looks like this, the dangers, what do they start to look like in the church. The first alpha privitive is disobedience to parents. Notice verse 2, \u201cFor men will become lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, [3] unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good.\u201d\n\nThe first alpha privitive here is disobedient to parents; we can translate that alpha privitive as follows: Un-obedient to parents, in other words, people will begin, in the last days as they drift away from God to have a lack of respect for the authority structure that God has set up. One of the things that God has set up throughout the world and throughout the church is an authority structure which is there for our own good. One of those pieces of authority is the parent\/child relationship. In fact, you all know the fifth commandment, Exodus 20:12, \u201cHonor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.\u201d\n\nGod is the author of the parent\/child relationship. Why has God given to humanity in general, to the church in particular, the parent\/child relationship? The parent\/child relationship exist to, first of all, bring under control the sinful nature of the child. You all know that kids have a sin nature? Now when our daughter was born we didn\u2019t get her in the corner and say okay, mom and dad want to teach you a few things here, you ready? Here is how you throw a tantrum. Here is how you pout when you don\u2019t get your way. Here is how you\u2019re to be selfish. Our daughter already had those tendencies, she obviously got those from her mom and not me [laughter] of course I\u2019m just kidding, joke, joke, joke. Actually biblically the sin nature is passed down through the father, you understand that; people say I knew that was true anyway.\n\nBut you see, children come into this world, essentially if they had the means to do what they would want to do they would become mass murderers. And children, and all of us are this way, we think that the sun rises and sets with us. We think, by nature, because of the sin nature we\u2019ve inherited that the world revolves around us. And the function of the parent\/child relationship is to lovingly bring that sin nature under control.\n\nAnd there are different tools by which God has given to do that. Discipline obviously is something that comes to mind but it\u2019s also through role modeling godliness in the home. In fact, the very first knowledge a child has about God comes through their own parents. And this is how God set it up. Deuteronomy 6:4-7 says, \u201cHear, O Israel! The LORD is one! [5] Love the LORD your God with all of your heart and with all of your soul and with all of your strength. [6] These commandments I give to you today are to be on your hearts. [7] Impress them on your children, talk about them when you sit at home, when you walk along the road, when you lie down, when you get up.\u201d\n\nSo you\u2019ll notice these different verbs here, sitting, walking, lying down, rising; this communicates the idea that all throughout the day the parent is to role model to the child godly behavior and then to didactically teach it over and over again as different situations arise. And this is one of the great problems with western culture where we farm out our children to institutions. And I\u2019m not knocking people because a lot of people are under a lot of economic distress but the fact of the matter is in many situations a child spends far more time in a day center or a public school than they do with their own parents. And that is outside of the bounds of why got created the parent\/child relationship to begin with.\n\nOne of my favorite verses on this is Joshua 4:19-24, it talks about stones that are to be set up in the Jordan. God specifically told Joshua, as he traversed the Jordan miraculously; at Gilgal Joshua set up twelve stones that he had taken from the Jordan, saying to the Israelites in the future when your children ask their parents what do these stones mean, you shall inform them that Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground. For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan in front of you until you crossed over, just as the LORD your God has done with the Red Sea, drying it up in front of you until we crossed over, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the LORD is mighty.\u201d\n\n[NASB, Joshua 4:19-24, \u201cNow the people came up from the Jordan on the tenth of the first month and camped at Gilgal on the eastern edge of Jericho. [20] Those twelve stones which they had taken from the Jordan, Joshua set up at Gilgal. [21] He said to the sons of Israel, \u2018When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, \u2018What are these stones?\u2019 [22] Then you shall inform your children, saying, \u2018Israel crossed this Jordan on dry ground.\u2019 [23] For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed, just as the LORD your God had done to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed; that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, so that you may fear the LORD your God forever.\u2019\u201d]\n\nHow in the world is the next generation supposed to learn of the miracles of God? Well, God said here\u2019s how it\u2019s going to work Joshua, I want you to set up these stones and one of these days these kids of yours are going to say hey mom, dad, not Sunday School teacher, not Christian school educator. Am I against Christian education? I\u2019m for Christian education. Am I against Sunday School teachers? No, I\u2019m for Sunday School teachers. But this text specifically says the children are going to ask their parents and the fathers, it\u2019s interesting, it says \u201ctheir fathers\u201d here, are going to communicate to their sons what God did at the Jordan and then what God did in the prior generation with the drying up of the Red Sea. And so what you\u2019ll discover in the Bible is the knowledge of God is to be transferred from parent to child. The Sunday School and the Christian school, the only thing they can really do is reinforce what\u2019s happening at home. If it isn\u2019t happening at home there\u2019s no Sunday School teacher on planet earth that can compensate for a paradigm that God set up.\n\nProverbs 22:6, Proverbs are maxims of life, they\u2019re not ironclad promises; they are principles, there\u2019s always exceptions to principles but all things being equal this is how it normally works. Proverbs 22:6 says, \u201cTrain up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it.\u201d [NASB] See, one of these days these kids are going to leave your nest and they\u2019re going to go off to college most likely, or the secular work force, and they\u2019re going to be challenged in terms of whether they\u2019re going to follow God or not.\n\nThis is exactly what happened with the book of Daniel. Daniel had three friends; we know them as Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, but those are their Babylonian names. Their Hebrew names, before Nebuchadnezzar changed them, are Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. And as you get into the etymology of each of those Hebrew names you\u2019ll discover that each name reflects God\u2019s character. In other words, these three Hebrew youths, along with Daniel, whose name eventually was changed to Belshazzar, came from godly homes. And there wasn\u2019t anybody more challenged, particularly in their teen years than these three Hebrew youths, four total.\n\nAnd as you study the book of Daniel you\u2019ll discover that they remained faithful to God despite temptations to compromise over and over again. And why is it that these youths did not compromise? Because of the influence of godly parenting. That is the logic of the parent-child relationship. Timothy was, in point of fact, a recipient of that relationship. You might remember what Paul said to Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:5; he said, \u201cFor I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well.\u201d\n\nIn other words, Timothy became what he became\u2026 and by the way, Timothy also had a godly name, his name actually means God honoring, meaning that he came from godly spiritual heritage. He became what he became because of truth that came to him, first through grandmother and secondly through his mother.\n\nAnd part of the problem that we have is we don\u2019t really paint the whole picture for what parents are supposed to do. I believe Ephesians 6:1-4 paints the whole picture. It says, \u201cChildren, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. [2] HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER (which is the first commandment with a promise), [3] SO THAT IT MAY BE WELL WITH YOU, AND THAT YOU MAY LIVE LONG ON THE EARTH.\u201d And most people stop reading right there, but if you look at verse 4 it says, \u201cFathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.\u201d\n\nYou see, there are two extremes that we always gravitate towards for some reason; either we don\u2019t prepare our children at all, and just leave them to their own devices or we come at them through anger and legalism. We drive them to the point of rage. It is not difficult to drive a child to the point of anger and rage to their own parents. I can\u2019t say how many people I know that even to this day as adults suffer from anger issues and unforgiveness issues related to their own parents because their parents provoked their children to anger.\n\nHow do you provoke a child to anger? You put unrealistic expectations upon them. You say things like I wish you were more like your brother. Or I wish you were more like the kid down the street. Or you tell them they\u2019ll never amount to anything. I mean, this type of verbiage goes on in so-called Christian homes constantly and it\u2019s an out of balance concept. It\u2019s not following the Bible.\nYes, you bring that sin nature under control as God allows you, but you also don\u2019t do it in such a way that you pile on top of the child so much legalism and unrealistic expectations that they are literally provoked to rage and anger. It\u2019s a tremendous balancing act that God has called us to and we really need to be on our knees every single day of our lives in this precious task that we have in child rearing. God is the one who gave the parent-child relationship for a specific reason and what will happen in the last days is even that relationship will fall on hard times. It will start to be non-respected. Now why would it be non-respected? It would be non-respected because people don\u2019t respect God. If you push God out of your mind and out of your consciousness you don\u2019t have any basis for understanding the parent-child relationship.\n\nWhy is that? Because God is the giver of that relationship. You know, we\u2019re living in this society today where all of these issues are now being debated: same-sex marriage, why is that even being debated? Prior generations didn\u2019t debate; we\u2019re debating it now. Why is that? Because we\u2019ve removed God and if you remove God you remove the basis for understanding marriage since who gave the institution of marriage? God. So Paul predicts this and in Romans 1:28 he says, \u201cAnd just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, [God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper.]\u201d\n\nAnd then he begins to give the relationships that will suffer as a result of removing God from the equation, Romans 1:30, a parallel passage to this one here, says, people will become \u201cdisobedient to parents.\u201d [Romans 1:30, \u201cslanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,\u201d] Lack of respect for parental authority is rooted in a lack of respect for God Himself because God is the one that gave parents authority over children. It\u2019s a tragic thing to see happen but that\u2019s our first alpha privitive.\n\nWhat else is going to happen in the last days? Number 2, you also see this in verse 2, people will essentially become ungrateful. This literally translates \u201cwithout grace,\u201d without thankfulness. 1 Timothy 4:4-5 says this: \u201cFor everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude; [5] for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer.\u201d God gives us this world to enjoy to a very large extent. And when we receive things from God we ought to be people of a grateful heart.\n\nIn fact, the most thankful and gracious people on planet earth should be Christians because God has given us so much in His Son. He\u2019s given us unfathomable riches. I think of all the people on planet earth the people that ought to be the most grateful are not just Christians but American Christians. Look at this country that we live in; look at the freedoms that we have. Look at the fact that we can meet in a room like this without fear of storm troopers kicking the door down. I understand that America is not what we would like it to be but you know what? There\u2019s nowhere I would rather live than in this country. It has been bountifully blessed by God. And yet what I\u2019m seeing today in people is an attitude of un-thankfulness. What I\u2019m seeing today, particularly if you monitor these elections, what I\u2019m seeing today is anger, anger that\u2019s fueled. I see resentment, I see hostility, and Paul says we ought not to be that way. We ought to be people of grace and gratefulness.\n\nThere is a third alpha privitive that he gives and this is \u201cunholiness,\u201d you see it there in verse 2, people will become \u201cungrateful,\u201d and then also \u201cunholy.\u201d How could we translate \u201cunholy\u201d? Without holiness. What is the calling of God on the Christian? It\u2019s holiness, it\u2019s to have a lifestyle and a world view that is separated unto God; this principle is as old as the book of Leviticus, chapter 11, verse 44, for God says, \u201c For I am the LORD your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. And you shall not make yourselves unclean with any of the swarming things that swarm on the earth.\u201d\n\nNow this is repeated by the Apostle Peter in the New Testament, 1 Peter 1:16 says, \u201cbecause it is written, \u201c\u2018YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.\u2019\u201d As I look out on the evangelical landscape I am not seeing a lot of sermons produced and books produced about holiness. Prior generations focused on holiness. What does the current generation focus on? Not holiness but happiness, self-fulfillment. I see a lot of talk on that kind of issues. Self-realization, reaching your own potential, being your own man or woman. And yet the New Testament is calling us to holiness. We\u2019re living amongst a generation where there is a lack of moral purity, where people do things that prior generations would never do. Shacking up, sex before marriage, that used to be something that was taboo in prior generations; today it\u2019s quite common.\n\nAnd Paul predicts that this would happen; as the church became like the world in the last days there would be a very low level of progressive sanctification; in fact, we would become just like the Corinthians. The book of 1 Corinthians, Ray Stedman used to call 1 Californians. What were the Corinthians like? Well, they were saved; did you know that? 1 Corinthians 1:2 says they\u2019ve \u201cbeen sanctified,\u201d past tense. [1 Corinthians 1:2, \u201cTo the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:\u201d]\n\nVerse 7 says, \u201cso that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift, awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.\u201d They\u2019re saved people, they\u2019re saints, positionally. Yet you march through that book and there\u2019s not a lot of saintly conduct. In chapters 1-4 they\u2019re fighting with each other over who their favorite speaker is. I follow Paul, I follow Cephas, I follow Apollos, I follow Christ. I follow John MacArthur, I follow Tony Evans, I follow Chuck Swindoll. God help us! God help us understand that that\u2019s unholiness when we act that way.\n\nChapter 5, there is actually incest going on. Paul says the type of sin that is happening at Corinth is the type of sin which you don\u2019t even find amongst the pagans, a man has his father\u2019s wife. Even the pagans understand that incest is wrong and yet that\u2019s what the Corinthians were involved in. [1 Corinthians 5:1, \u201cIt is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father's wife.\u201d]\n\nChapter 6 they were involved in lawsuits, taking each other to court before a pagan judge.\n[1 Corinthians 6:5, \u201csay this to your shame. Is it so, that there is not among you one wise man who will be able to decide between his brethren, [6] but brother goes to law with brother, and that before unbelievers?\u201d]\n\nAnd Paul says have you lost your minds? What\u2019s the pagan judge supposed to think about you, when they see two Christians fighting with each other of such a severity that it actually takes the form of a lawsuit. As I speak I can\u2019t tell you how many circumstances I know where one Christian is embroiled in a lawsuit against another. And Paul says because this is happening you are defeated already. The world takes notice of these things because Jesus said by your love all men will know you are my disciples. [John 13:35 \u2018By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.\u201d]\n\nChapter 6, also they are going out and visiting the temple prostitutes, having their sexual needs not met within marriage but in a pagan temple with a prostitute. Paul, interestingly never second guesses whether these people are saved. He says specifically in chapter 6, verse 19, do you not understand that when you go and do that the Spirit of God that\u2019s in you is taken into that sexual immorality. [1 Corinthians 6:19, \u201cOr do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?\u201d] You\u2019re dragging Jesus into that. Chapter 7 there is rampant divorce and remarriage. Chapters 8-10 the stronger brothers who understand their freedom in Christ are flaunting those freedoms in the presence of the weaker brother and destroying that weaker brother. Chapter 11 they are drunk and disorderly at the Lord\u2019s table. Could you imagine coming to the Lord\u2019s table wasted? That\u2019s what they\u2019re doing. Chapters 12-14 there is rampant misuse of spiritual gifts, not understanding that the gifts are to be used in love for purposes of edification. They were putting certain people with certain gifts on a pedestal. Chapter 15 they are even denying resurrection. And yet Paul never second guesses whether these people are saved. He says you\u2019re at a very low level of progressive sanctification. This is what the church has the capacity to descend into. As people begin to pursue happiness rather than holiness.\n\nYou know, we get calls here at the church constantly and they want to know about our youth program. And sadly we don\u2019t get calls like this: What version of the Bible do you use? What are you using to disciple the youth? Are the youth involved in service projects? What they want to know is are there activities? Are there games? Is there a carnival festival atmosphere where we can use you as our babysitting service. And we have people constantly coming to this church and we have other people constantly leaving and many times they tell us why they\u2019re leaving. Why are you leaving? The youth program is not big enough. I have made a mental study of people that have left this church because of the need for a bigger better youth program and you know what you discover over the years is the children in those bigger and better youth programs many times today aren\u2019t even walking with the Lord. Why is that? Because they were never discipled, first of all in the home and secondly by a good pastor, a youth pastor, to bring them into a knowledge of the truth.\n\nWe don\u2019t need more emphasis on happiness, we need more emphasis on holiness. And yet people in the last days would become unholy. What else would they become? They would become \u201cunloving,\u201d I\u2019m now moving into verse 3, this would be our forth alpha privitive. You see at the beginning of verse 3 the word \u201cunloving.\u201d It\u2019s better translated \u201cwithout love.\u201d As the last days unfolded people would become generally unloving towards God and towards each other, while the love of self would increase.\n\nAnd Jesus predicted this in a parallel passage in Matthew 24:12, He says, \u201cBecause lawlessness is increased, most people's love will grow cold.\u201d Now this word \u201clove\u201d here is very interesting; it\u2019s the verb or word storg\u0113, with the alpha placed in front of it, without love. Most people don\u2019t know this, but there are four kinds of love described in the Bible. First of all is ag\u00e1p\u0113 love, self-less love, the type of love that God has for us. Then there\u2019s something called phileo which simply means brotherly kindness. In fact, the city of Philadelphia is called the City of Brotherly Love after this Greek noun, phileo and also the noun adelphos, put those together, Philadelphia, city of brotherly love, never mind the fact that they have one of the biggest murder rates in the world.\n\nThen you have a third kind of love called eros which would be a romantic sort of love, and it\u2019s interesting that Paul never uses any of these words; he uses this fourth word called storgos, astorgos, and it\u2019s speaking of family relationships. What he\u2019s saying is as the last days unfolded and as the church became just like the world there would be a lack of love or affection for close associates or family members. It\u2019s not hard to find evidence of this is it? Jesus chided the Pharisees and the Sadducees because in Mark 7:9-13 they were not taking care of their parents in their old age.\n\n[Mark 7:9-13, \u201cHe was also saying to them, \u2018You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition. [10] \u2018For Moses said, \u2018HONOR YOUR FATHER AND YOUR MOTHER\u2019; and, \u2018HE WHO SPEAKS EVIL OF FATHER OR MOTHER, IS TO BE PUT TO DEATH\u2019; [11] but you say, \u2018If a man says to his father or his mother, whatever I have that would help you is Corban (that is to say, given to God),\u2019 [12] you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or his mother; [13] thus invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that.\u201d\n\nThey had something called corban where they gave the money that should have gone to their parents to God\u2019s temple and Jesus says you have set aside the Word of God for your traditions. You have forgotten your most basic responsibility which is family love.\n\nI just talked to our people that go from our church, I think on a monthly basis, just across the lawn to that convalescent hospital, just a few feet away, and you hear stories of children who have literally abandoned their parents to die in such a facility, children that don\u2019t even visit their parents any longer. We hear stories of child abandonment, we hear stories of children being left in dumpsters. We have an epidemic, even within the church, of rampant divorce where people don\u2019t even exhibit proper love to their own spouse. And of course the worst case scenario is abortion itself, which is the ultimate act of child abuse.\n\nI can\u2019t tell you how frustrated I am with the political process. I believe there ought to be laws protecting innocent unborn children and almost everywhere I look the candidates are trying to out-abortion the other. I don\u2019t really care what the party platform says; what I care about is what have they done throughout their life in terms of their attitude towards abortion? I look at the frontrunners of the two political parties and on this issue of abortion, whether it\u2019s funding planned parenthood, partial birth abortion, I see very little differences. I fully recognize the party platforms are different, I\u2019m talking about what they believe as candidates and what they do. And people wonder why more and more Christians are being pushed out of the political process. It\u2019s a very frustrating thing to watch but it is an outworking of what Paul says, in the last days there would be this lack of familial affection within the family.\n\nAnd then he goes on with his fifth alpha privitive and he uses this word called \u201cirreconcilable.\u201d Notice verse 3, \u201cunloving, irreconcilable,\u201d irreconcilable is probably better translated without forgiveness, unforgiving. You do something bad to me, I\u2019ll never forget it and I\u2019ll get you back. That is the spirit of the day. We even have in the field of law a statement that\u2019s common in divorce proceedings called irreconcilable differences. There is such a level of unforgiveness between people that the marriage under the law dissolves.\n\nYou know, if you\u2019re a person of unforgiveness and you are in conflict with everybody you come in contact with\u2026 I\u2019ll just go ahead and say it, you might want to figure out whether you\u2019re a Christian at all. And if you are a Christian you might also want to figure out this: are you really growing in Christ, because the more you come into the light of the unconditional forgiveness of God and experience His grace, how can we not turn around and dispense that grace to other people? How can I turn around with an attitude of I\u2019m going to get mad and I\u2019m going to get even when I\u2019ve been touched by the grace of God. Such a person, I wonder if they even understand the grace of God. Are they growing in the grace of God? If you are in conflict with everyone you come in contact with, Dr. Toussaint, my professor, put it this way, he said: Look, if someone is in conflict with everyone they\u2019re around they\u2019re probably in conflict with the Lord Himself. We need to look at ourselves and ask ourselves if our relationships are, to use modern vernacular, dysfunctional, maybe our relationship to God is dysfunctional. And this should not be the case for the Christian.\n\nThe book of Ephesians, chapter 4 and verse 32 says, \u201cBe kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other,\u201d why, \u201cjust as God in Christ also has forgiven you.\u201d We don\u2019t have time to look at it but you might want to read this week Matthew 18:21-35, it\u2019s a story that Jesus told of a man that was alleviated from a financial debt that was very, very expensive. And then he found someone that owed him a few bucks and he demanded that every penny be paid. And the story ends with what hypocrisy is this.\n\n[Matthew 18:21-35, \u201cThen Peter came and said to Him, \u2018Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?\u2019 [22] Jesus said to him, \u2018I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. [23] \u2018For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. [24] \u2018When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. [25] \u2018But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made. [26] \u2018So the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him, saying, 'Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.\u2019 [27] \u2018And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt. [28] \u2018But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, 'Pay back what you owe.\u2019 [29] \u2018So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, 'Have patience with me and I will repay you.\u2019 [30] \u2018But he was unwilling and went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed. [31] \u2018So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened. [32] \u2018Then summoning him, his lord said to him, 'You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. [33] \u2018Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?' [34] \u2018And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. [35] \u2018My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.\u2019\u201d]\n\nThat\u2019s what we\u2019re like when we hold grudges. That\u2019s what we\u2019re like when we\u2019re unforgiving towards each other. God has forgiven us infinitely and how could I turn around and treat someone else with justice when God has never treated me with justice. He\u2019s treated me with mercy and with grace. Listen, let me let you in on a little secret. Everybody gets hurt; you\u2019re going to be hurt, if you haven\u2019t been by somebody. And is it not time to just let it go? Give it over to God. Do you know who that\u2019s going to help? It\u2019s going to help you more than anybody else. Unforgiveness is like drinking poison thinking my swallowing that poison is going to hurt the person that hurt me. The fact of the matter is the person that hurt you probably doesn\u2019t remember they hurt you and they\u2019ve long gone on with their life. And there you are, there we are, still in a state of bondage because we\u2019ve become unforgiving, having lost sight of the grace of God.\n\nBut what do people say? Don\u2019t get mad, get even. Get \u2018em back! In fact, even one of the political candidates says if you hit me I\u2019m going to hit you back ten times worse; that\u2019s almost a direct quote. I found this quote from Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson, I believe, was a great man. And this is a letter from Thomas Jefferson to Uriah McGregory, August 13, 1800. And you have to understand what Jefferson went through. Every vile statement that a person could make was hurled at Thomas Jefferson. In fact, it was published in the newspapers that Thomas Jefferson had a sexual relationship with one of his slaves, Sally Hemmings, and these illegitimate children that he has come from Sally Hemmings. Now this was before the days of DNA evidence; by the way, that myth has been disproven, but there was no DNA evidence to disprove this in Thomas Jefferson\u2019s day. In fact the only evidence they could come up was well, these kids kind of look like you and Sally, they must be illegitimate. What would you do if something like that was said about you? Would you sue them for defamation, slander, liable? Would you take them for every nickel.\n\nThis is what Thomas Jefferson writes: \u201cI know that I might have filled the courts of the United States with actions for these slanders, and have ruined perhaps many persons who are not innocent. but this would be no equivalent in the loss of my own character by retaliating against them. I leave them therefore to the reproof of their own consciences. If these do not condemn them, there will yet come a day when the false witness will meet a judge who has not slept over these slanders.\u201d\n\nHow we need people like this today in our world. How we need Thomas Jefferson\u2019s. How we need people who are forgiving towards each other, to give people the benefit of the doubt. And if we have been wronged in some sense we say to ourselves, well, if I get in the mud the only difference between me and a pig is the pig likes being in the mud. And I\u2019ll just hand people over to their own consciences and if their own consciences don\u2019t reprove them, God will reprove them one day as they come before Him. Look how different our court system would be. Think how different our churches would be. Think how different our political system would be if we simply got over this mindset of irreconcilability. (That\u2019s a word.)\n\nNow number 6 sort of breaks up the action; it\u2019s not an alpha privitive, people think it\u2019s misplaced but I believe it has not been misplaced. I believe it\u2019s there inserted by Paul intentionally because it describes everything else in the list. It captures the whole idea. Verse 3, \u201cunloving, irreconcilable,\u201d here comes number 6, \u201cmalicious gossips,\u201d translated from the Greek word diabolos, you say diabolos, I know something about that, that is the English word translated devil.\n\nMatthew 4:11 says, \u201cThen the devil left him,\u201d the noun \u201cdevil\u201d is translated from the Greek noun diabolos, and this is where, I think and why I think Paul inserted this here. When we begin to emulate these alpha privitives we are imitating none other than the devil himself. We begin to take on the very character of Satan when we\u2019re \u201cdisobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, without self-control, brutal, and haters of good.\u201d\n\nIs that not Satan? It\u2019s sort of like what Jesus said to the Pharisees in John 8:44, \u201cYou are of your father the devil\u2026.\u201d Do you know what the word \u201cdevil\u201d (diabolos) actually means? It means slanderer. If you speak it it\u2019s slander; if you put it in print it\u2019s liable, but it deals with speaking untruths about others. This is why the devil is called the accuser of the brethren. He accused Job to God, you remember. Job 1:11, \u201cBut put forth Your hand now and touch all that he has; he will surely curse You to Your face.\u201d God said to Satan, \u201cConsider My servant Job.\u201d [Job 1:8, \u201cThe LORD said to Satan, \"Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.\u201d] Satan immediately slandered the man. The only reason that guy serves You God is You bless everything in his life and if you took those blessings away he would curse you to your face, it\u2019s a slander.\n\nZechariah 3:1 says this: \u201cThen he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him.\u201d Immediately Satan moves in to accusation mode with Joshua the high priest.\n\nRevelation 12:10 says, \u201c\u2026for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night.\u201d [Revelation 12:10, \u201cThen I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, \u2018Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night.\u2019\u201d]\n\nWhat is Satan\u2019s title? It is \u201cthe accuser of the brethren.\u201d How frequently does he operate according to this character trait? Both \u201cday and night.\u201d This is why Jesus said to Peter, Peter, Satan has requested permission to sift you like wheat.\u201d [Luke 22:31, \u201c\"Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat\u2026\u201d] In other words, he\u2019s brought, just like with Job, the same accusation against your character. If we\u2019re going around and we\u2019re slandering people and we\u2019re lying about people and we\u2019re assuming the worst in people, let me ask you who we are like? We are like Satan, and we\u2019re actually doing the devil\u2019s work without even realizing it.\n\nThis is why, number 6, breaks up the action linguistically because it describes everything else on the list. I\u2019m not even done yet, three more. Three more alpha privitives. This takes us to number 7, without self-control. Going back to verse 3, \u201cunloving, irreconcilable, gossips, without self-control,\u201d it\u2019s better translated \u201cwithout strength,\u201d strength related to what? Strength related to impulse control. The last days would be characterized by people who do not have the ability to control their most vile impulses.\n\nRoad rage, if you\u2019ve seen these You Tube videos of two drivers, one guy cuts the other guy off and I watched this happen on the 59 not too long ago, where these two guys get out of the car and they just start duking it out for the world to see. Is it that serious guys? Why not just take being cut off and call it a bad day? Why do you have to be reduced to a level of violence when you perceive that you\u2019re wrong? Is your appointment that important to get to on time, where you have to resort to physical violence?\n\nOr mass shootings, people walk into schools, they typically target, these cowards, schools or other places where we foolishly place a ban on self-defense and they\u2019re mad about something and they shoot up a whole theater or a whole school full of people because they know they can\u2019t defend themselves. Why? Because they have no control over their impulses. May God help us. Anger, vile speech, gluttony, can you say no to the cupcakes and donuts? That one hurts a little bit, doesn\u2019t it? Sexual impulses, pornography, adultery? I mean, do you understand that God has given the sex drive but it is to be expressed within a particular channel, which is the marital relationship? Or is that desire for sexual contact so powerful that we\u2019re going to just express it no matter where I want to express it?\n\nSee, these are all outworking\u2019s of this without strength, \u201cwithout self-control.\u201d One of the things the Holy Spirit seeks to produce in the child of God is self-control, impulse control. Galatians 5:22-23 says, \u201cBut the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, [23] gentleness,\u201d here it comes, \u201cself-control; against such things there is no law.\u201d If you are a person that lacks self-control in any area I would simply say this: Jesus is not reigning over that area in your life because when somebody comes under the influence of the Holy Spirit they become a person of self-control.\n\nAnd what an advantage it is to gain self-control. If you\u2019re a person of self-control there\u2019s practically no task in life you cannot accomplish. Proverbs 25:28 puts it this way: \u201cLike a city that is broken down and without walls is a man who has no control over his spirit.\u201d Let me tell you something about the Ancient Near East, when this was written. If you had a city but no wall you had no city because you were totally vulnerable. And Solomon writes a person who has no control over his spirit is a completely vulnerable person. You\u2019re open to all sorts of problems that you wouldn\u2019t be open to otherwise: relational problems, work problems, health problems, simply by moving in the direction of impulse control and self-control. And yet people in the last days wouldn\u2019t have self-control.\n\nNumber 8, they would become brutal. Notice if you will verse 3, \u201cunloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control,\u201d notice this next word, \u201cbrutal.\u201d It\u2019s an alpha privitive, it\u2019s better translated \u201cwithout gentleness.\u201d People would become like untamed beasts in the last days. Think of an animal that just devours its prey with no sense of sympathy, no sense of mercy, no sense of consciousness, no sense of anything other than that animal\u2019s appetite and that, in essence, is what people become like without God.\n\nThat\u2019s why I\u2019ve entitled these two sermons The De-Evolution of Man. Man becomes just like the brute beast he was given authority over. You go back to the original design of God and God was to govern Adam and Eve and they were in that marital relationship to govern creation for God. You find that in Genesis 1:26-28 where it says, \u201cThen God said, \u2018Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.\u2019\u201d [Verse 27, \u201cGod created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.\u201d] You\u2019ll find the same thing in Genesis 1:28, [\u201cGod blessed them; and God said to them, \u2018Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.\u2019\u201d]\n\nYou\u2019ll find the exact same statement virtually in Psalm 8:verses 4-8. [Psalm 8:4, \u201cWhat is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him? [5] Yet You have made him a little lower than God, And You crown him with glory and majesty! [6] You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet. [7] All sheep and oxen, And also the beasts of the field, [8] The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, Whatever passes through the paths of the seas.\u201d] Man was never designed to be like the animals, he was different than the animals. In fact, he was given authority over the animals but you see, you don\u2019t even understand your place in God\u2019s hierarchy when you move away from Him. And we become, morally speaking, just like the animals we were designed to rule over.\n\nYou know, Nebuchadnezzar, in the book of Daniel, became an animal for seven years. Why is that? He moved away from God. In fact, in Daniel 4:30-31, \u201cThe king reflected and said, \u2018Is this not Babylon the great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?\u2019\u201d I mean, he could have built a sky tower with his name at the top.\n[31] \u201c\u2018While the word was in the king's mouth, a voice came from heaven, saying, \u2018King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared: sovereignty has been removed from you.\u201d\n\nDaniel 4:15-16 says, \u201cYet leave the stump with its roots in the ground but with a band of iron and bronze around it in the new grass of the field; and let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, and let him share with the beasts in the grass of the earth. [16] Let his mind be changed from that of a man and let a beast\u2019s mind be given to him, and let seven periods of time pass over him.\u201d\n\nWhat did Nebuchadnezzar become? He became an animal. Do you know what the antichrist is called, by the way? The beast! The furthest human being from God will become morally exactly like an animal. I remember as a very young child watching a documentary on Adolf Hitler and it documented his insanity towards the end of his life. And I remember my father saying to me, this is what people become like without God. A great sermon! This is what Paul is saying, they will become brutal; there would be a lack of civility, a lack of respect. Isn\u2019t it interesting how the word \u201cSir\u201d and \u201cMa\u2019am\u201d and \u201cplease\u201d and \u201cthank you\u201d are disappearing from the American vernacular? Is it not interesting that the idea of a man opening the door for a woman, his wife, is a rarity in American society.\n\nThe last one is \u201chaters of good,\u201d verse 3, \u201cunloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal,\u201d the last one, the last alpha privitive is \u201chaters of good,\u201d better translated \u201cloathing good.\u201d Not just disagreeing with good but hating good. And is it not interesting how our vocabulary is changing? With deteriorating morals three is a change of vocabulary that goes with it.\n\nThose that have the truth and stand for the truth today are called extremists, narrow minded, right-wing, they might even use the \u201cf\u201d word, fundamentalist, the ultimate insult you can give to someone today. While those that are promoting evil are called broad minded, sophisticated, learned, educated. Abortion we used to call murder, now we call it choice. Extramarital sex we used to call adultery; but now we have a much kinder, gentler name for it, we call it an affair. I mean, having an affair is a lot more easy to say than adultery. Homosexuality, every state in the union had on their books laws against homosexuality. We used to call it sodomy. If you look at Blackstone\u2019s Commentaries on the Law which is where our legal code comes from, you\u2019ll find Blackstone calling it a crime against nature.\n\nWhat\u2019s the vocabulary we used to use, now we call homosexuality a lifestyle choice. I can\u2019t help but think of Isaiah 5:20 which says, \u201cWoe to those who call evil good, and good evil; [Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!]\u201d That\u2019s exactly what we\u2019re doing, as we become haters of good vocabulary changes.\n\nI want to close with this prayer. This is a prayer delivered on January 23, 1996, so a good two decades ago, by Pastor Joe Wright to the Kansas House of Representatives. This prayer caused a national stir. It was controversial. And yet it deals with what I am talking about, the shift in vocabulary as morality disintegrates. I\u2019m going to read this prayer to you; it\u2019s not long but it\u2019s so captures the point I\u2019m trying to make here.\n\nHe says, \u2018Heavenly Father, we come before You today to ask Your forgiveness and seek Your direction and guidance. Lord, we know Your Word says, \u2018Woe to those who call evil good,\u2019 but that's exactly what we've done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and inverted our values.\n\nWe confess that we have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it moral pluralism. We have worshipped other gods and called it multi-culturalism. We have endorsed perversion and called it an alternative lifestyle. We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery. We have neglected the needy and called it self-preservation. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. We have killed our unborn and called it choice. We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable. We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem. We have abused power and called it political savvy. We have coveted our neighbors' possessions and called it ambition. We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our fore-fathers and called it enlightenment. Search us oh God and know our hearts today; try us and see if there be some wicked way in us; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent here by the people of Kansas, and who have been ordained by You, to govern this great state. Grant them Your wisdom to rule and may their decisions direct us to the center of Your will. I ask it in the name of Your Son, the Living Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.\u201d\n\nThat\u2019s a prayer, and the reason of the upheaval it caused is it\u2019s absolutely true. As we have become haters of good we\u2019ve adjusted the vocabulary to accommodate our own wickedness. May God help us to understand this. May God help us to understand that Paul said this would happen, the church even in and of itself would by and large become like this. And yet, Timothy, and by extension us, we are called to stand for God in these troubled times. You say well, how do you do that? Well come back next week and we may be getting into that.\n\nShall we pray: Father, we are grateful for Your warning and Your Word. Father, we need to wake up and understand what\u2019s happening, and after waking us up we pray that You\u2019ll give us the energy, the power, the moral certainty to live for You and be what you have called us to be until You take us home. Make us people like that here at Sugar Land Bible Church, we\u2019ll be careful to give You all the praise and the glory. I ask these things in Jesus name, and God\u2019s people said\u2026.","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t