Every word of God is a miracle. The Psalmist prays that God would break open his word for him, and let God's light shine on him. He prays for rescue from the grip of bad people, and finally asks for instruction on the right way to live.
From Calvin: "It is impossible for any man to keep the law of God from the heart, unless he contemplates it with feelings of reverence, for reverence is the beginning of pure and right subjection.
"By affirming that it gives understanding to the simple, David intimates, that it is only when men, divested of all self-confidence, submit themselves with humble and docile minds to God, that they are in a proper state for becoming proficient scholars in the study of the divine law."
Many people mistakenly think that the "last days" refers to the period of time immediately preceding Christ's return to earth. Entire systems of theology have been developed that are based on this mistaken idea.
But when Paul wrote to Timothy, he was warning him about things that would happen during Timothy's own lifetime. He even gives him specific instructions in 2 Timothy 3:5.
"The last days began with the fulfillment of Christ's earthly mission. The only eschatological event left on God's calendar is the second coming of Jesus. Unlike His first appearance, His return will be with an incredible display of power and glory as He culminates the establishment of His kingdom."
Until that day comes, we should expect to see "times of difficulty." During these times, there are characteristics that Paul mentions in 2 Timothy 3:2-4 that will be prominent. "Self-centeredness and lawlessness dominate the cultural landscape."
If you look closely at the list in those verses, you might find that it closes resembles the "perils of modern American society." Yikes.
But then Paul gets a little more detailed. He describes problems the church will face. There will be people within the fellowship of the local church that will have "the appearance of godliness," but who "deny its power." There will be religious hypocrites who never even intend to be what they profess to be.
These people are "church members." They know "Christianese." They know the customs, the right ways to act. But they lack saving faith in Jesus Christ. Some of them might even be pastors. *GASP!* Yeah. I said that, and I mean it.
But we've been warned. We should not be surprised that these conditions exist. How should we respond? Paul says we should avoid these people. The idea is to turn away from them; to separate from them.
Hypocrites within the church should not be tolerated or coddled. We should lovingly try to correct them, but if they will not be corrected, we are to, essentially, shun them. To use a Catholic word, "excommunicate" them.
However, extreme caution is in order. We must be sure of ourselves before any action like this is taken. And just because someone espouses a belief that we don't agree with doesn't make them a hypocrite. We must remember that a hypocrite is, essentially, someone who is pretending to be a Christian. A person should not be excommunicated because they hold a different millennial view than we do.
God, it's hard to understand what we need to do when hypocrites infiltrate your Church. But you have given us instruction, both on what to look for, and how to respond. I pray that we will always respond in a loving manner when such circumstances arise, and that we will never let personal opinion cloud our judgment when it comes to making these difficult decisions. I also pray, thought, that should the need arise, we would not hesitate to remove fellowship in order to preserve the "purity" of the church. If we tolerate hypocrisy, it will hinder the mission and ministry of your Church.
I praise you for your word, and I pray that I will continue to improve on meditating on it every day. Increase my desire for your word, and my love for it.
Grace and peace, friends.