From His Heart

Speaker 1

The times, they are a changing. Here's Pastor Jeff Shreve.

Speaker 2

The sons of Issachar, they were able to understand the times and what Israel should do. You and I need to understand the times in which we live. We're not going to be popular. They're going to want to silence those who stand up for the truth.

But it's required that we be faithful to the Lord, faithful to His Word, faithful to live it out. Not just to read it and to preach it, but obey it. Not to be a forgetful hearer, but an effectual doer. Faithful to the Word, faithful to the Lord, faithful to pray, faithful to stand in the gap.

There is true, there is truth. There is hope that you always dream love. He can heal every scar of his heart.

Speaker 1

God wants each of his children to be discerning. And that involves spending time in Scripture learning how to rightly divide the word of truth. In doing that, you'll be able to see good and evil, truth and error, right from wrong, and ultimately be able to look at the times in which we live, understand the times, and know what we need to do.

This is from his heart with Pastor Jeff Shreve. Thank you for joining us today. The message is entitled "Understanding the Times," and we're in part two today. It's from Pastor Jeff's five-lesson series that we've been in so far this month called "Discernment in the Days of Deception." The series is also our gift of thanks for your support, and you can get your copy when you go to fromisheart.org.

Though the main text is taken from 1 Chronicles, Chapter 12, Pastor Jeff is going to begin today in 2 Timothy Chapter 3 to help us in understanding the times.

Speaker 2

We're going to finish the series on discernment today, and we want to understand the times. We want to share and look at four discoveries concerning the times in which we live.

**Discovery Number One:** You and I are living in difficult times. Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy Chapter 3, the last book that he ever wrote by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, "But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come." That word "difficult" means hard to take, troublesome, dangerous, harsh, fierce, savage. We're seeing that right before our eyes. We're witnessing it in the riots, the looting, and in people getting shot, killed, and run over. Harsh. It's fierce. It's savage days. The scripture goes on to say about these times in 2 Timothy Chapter 3: "For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power. Avoid such men as these." Difficult times.

**Second Discovery:** We're living in God-rejecting times now. The Bible makes this clear in the book of Romans. Romans Chapter 1 tells us about a society that rejects God. What happens to a society that rejects God? Romans 1, beginning in verse 18, states, "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness." Because that which is known about God is evident within them, for God made it evident to them. It's evident within them—that's the voice of conscience that God gives to every single person. "For since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes, his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse." You have the voice of conscience, the inner voice; you have the voice of creation, the outer voice. Both those voices tell you that God is real, and you're without excuse.

Then it says this: "For even though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks. But they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools." They became morons—that's what that word for fools is, "moros," from which we get our English word "moron." They exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and of four-footed animals and crawling creatures. Therefore, you reject God as a society. Therefore, God gave them over. God says, "Okay, you don't want me. Well, not my will, but yours be done. I'm going to give you over to your own devices, your own will, your own desires."

First of all, God gives us over to sexual immorality. He gives us over to homosexuality. And then thirdly, he gives us over to utter depravity. Just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over the third time to a depraved mind to do those things which are not proper. It then lists 21 fruits of a life that is depraved—a depraved mind, a reprobate mind. What is that? That's a mind that's corrupt, a mind that doesn't work right.

You might ask, "What does that mean, their minds don't work right?" They argue that there are scores and scores of genders. Yes, they would have to say there is one sex, male, and one sex, female. But there are lots of genders, and gender and sex are separate. Your gender doesn't have to coincide with your sex. And there's a great Hebrew word for that: baloney. Your gender and your sex are the same thing. God made them male and female.

Now, Bill Nye, the science guy from the 90s, did a program explaining to kids how to know if you're a boy or a girl. It has to do with your chromosomes—either XX for female or XY for male. If you're XX, you're female; if you're XY, you're male. It's very simple and very scientific. Did you know that your chromosomal makeup is in every cell of your body? People who say, "Well, I'm really a woman trapped in a man's body, so I'm going to become a woman," are essentially saying God got it wrong.

Take Bruce Jenner, for example. He was the biggest case. Every cell in his body is XY—it's male. I don't care what you do to the outward appearance; you're going to have to get a cell transplant. You know anybody that does cell transplants? No, because they don't exist. Every cell in his body is male. A male can never become a female, and a female can never become a male. You are who God made you to be. If you fight against that, you're going to be one miserable person.

It's so much better to say, "God, I'm struggling, but I believe that this is the person you made me to be. It's obvious that you made me to be that way, so I'm not going to keep fighting because that's a losing battle." As the Lord said to Paul, "Hey, it's hard to kick against the goads, isn't it, Paul? You're never going to win that one." You're never going to tell God, "No, you messed up, God. I'm going to tell you who I am." That's the formula for disaster.

But that's the world in which we live. We have people fighting to say that men ought to be allowed in women's locker rooms and bathrooms. Go back 50 years, and if a politician argued for that, he'd be laughed out of the room. People would say, "That's ridiculous. What planet are you from?" That's how far we have fallen.

Procter and Gamble makes a product called Always, a feminine hygiene product. They were challenged to take the Venus symbol, which represents a woman, off the product. The reason? "Not every person who menstruates is female." Well, yes, they are. It's just ridiculous. But that's the world in which we're living.

Let me give you another example of the depravity of man: "Defund the police. Make our streets safer. Get rid of all the police." Did you know Ben Shapiro posted this on his Facebook feed? He said in Minneapolis and other areas where they have voted to defund the police, crime has risen. Wow. It doesn't seem like that would be right. You know who's really into the defund the police camp? Criminals. It's wonderful to defund the police if I'm going to rob you; I sure don't want to see any police there. It's like getting rid of all the sheepdogs that protect the sheep. Who's for that? All the wolves say, "I'm for that."

Hey, that's the world in which we live today—utter depravity. God gives you over to that. Why? Because you don't want God. And God says, "Well, if you don't want me, then I'll just step back and let you have it. See how you like life without me and without my hedge of protection."

Hey, we're living in difficult times, we're living in God-rejecting times.

**Thirdly, we are living in truth-rejecting times.** Back to Timothy, 2 Timothy Chapter 4. Paul commands young Timothy, "Hey, I adjure you by the living God. You're going to give an account one day to God. You're going to stand before the Lord one day. Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come—and I think the time is here—when they will not endure sound doctrine, but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths."

"I don't want to hear the truth anymore. I just want you to tell me what I want to hear." So, they go to a church that will tell them what they want to hear. Just like Romans Chapter 1, you talk about Romans 1, you make it clear: "Hey, sexual immorality is a sin. Homosexuality is a sin." When God gives you over to depravity, that's a serious situation.

Well, I don't want to hear that. I just want you to tell me that God loves me and has a wonderful plan for me, and my next promotion is coming just around the bend, and everything's going to be great and hunky-dory. Well, that's a lie. You need to hear the truth. But we've come to the place and in the times in which we live where people don't want to hear the truth; they want to hear the lie. They say, "Well, that's your truth."

Hey, there's not my truth, your truth, his truth, her truth. There's just truth, and it comes from God. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. The days in which we live are difficult times, God-rejecting times, truth-rejecting times.

**But Discovery Number Four:** They're God-ordained times. Some of you may be thinking, because of all that's been going on, especially with the coronavirus, "Man, this is a crummy time to live." My heart breaks for graduating seniors because they missed out on a lot of things. Those who had planned their wedding but it got canceled because people couldn't gather together to celebrate—man, heartbreaking.

I talked to a friend of mine who's a nurse. She said it's inhumane to see these people on their deathbeds, and their families can't be with them because the hospital says, "No, you can't come in because of the coronavirus." My mom's in a nursing home or assisted living. I talked to her this morning; she's 91 years old. She said, "I'm going to leave here." I said, "Mom, is that the right thing to do? You broke your hip, and I like you there because you have people who can take care of you." She said, "No one can come visit me here. I'd rather be in my house and pay somebody to come and stay with me for a few hours a day so my loved ones can come and see me."

I said, "I can't deny that. I would do the same if I were you." So, I realize that some of us are saying, "This just stinks. I don't like this. I wish that maybe I had lived in a different generation, maybe back in the 50s or the 60s or some other time period where it just seemed better, you know, the good old days."

Now, listen, you are where you are by God's design. God doesn't make any mistakes. He created you for such a time as this. And so here's the question: the men, the sons of Issachar, they understood the times and what Israel should do. They knew what to do.

So you might be tracking with me and say, "Hey, Jeff, I understand the times in which we live, but I don't know what to do." Let me give you some encouragement. When you start to feel like you're losing so much and it's so hard and so difficult, you need to remember and recognize these four things.

**Number One:** Recognize that you are a citizen of heaven. You're a citizen of heaven. Paul said, "Our citizenship is in heaven, from which we eagerly wait for a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ." We might live here in the Architects, and we say, "Well, you know, I'm a citizen of Miller County. I'm a citizen of Bowie County." You're really not. As a believer, you're a citizen of heaven. This world is not my home; I'm just passing through. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue.

When I start to feel the pinch of it, like, "Oh, everything is falling apart, everything is slipping away, what's going to happen to America?" I have to remember this: my citizenship is in heaven. I belong to that kingdom, and that kingdom will never end. King Jesus will be king 100 million years from now because he's king of kings and Lord of lords.

When I get worried, when I get overwhelmed, I have to remember my kingdom. As Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world." Our kingdom and our citizenship is in heaven. Adrian Rogers used to say this: as a believer, you don't need to go around with headline hysteria saying, "Oh, look what's coming to the world." You can say, "Praise the Lord, it's getting gloriously dark. Look who's coming to the world." I'm eagerly waiting for the Savior to come to save us out of this place.

**Secondly, remember and recognize that you are a soldier of the King.** A soldier of the King. Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy Chapter 2, "Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus and suffer hardship with me as a good soldier of Christ Jesus."

Hey, listen, think of yourself like that when it gets tough and you want to turn tail and run. You just want to say, "Oh, God, I don't want this. Maybe I can go live in a different country or escape to this place or that place and pretend like it doesn't exist." Remember that the Lord has called you to be a good soldier. A good soldier goes into battle knowing it's going to be hard, it's going to be hot, there's an enemy there, and there's someone trying to kill me.

When the going gets tough, I can't turn tail and run. I have to stand firm. When it's getting rough for you, be a good soldier for Christ Jesus. If it costs you friends to stand up for the truth, be a good soldier for Christ Jesus. If it costs you your job to take a stand for righteousness, be a good soldier for Christ Jesus. If it costs you your freedom to be a Christian, then be a good soldier for Christ Jesus. It may cost you your life; be a good soldier for Christ Jesus.

**Thirdly, remember and recognize that you have one primary job on this earth.** One primary job. Don't hold on to the things of this world too closely and too tightly. Hold all things loosely because it all belongs to him. Know that you have one primary job.

That one primary job is to be, as Jesus told the disciples, "It's not for you to know times or epochs on my return that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you shall be my witnesses." Be his witness. That's what we're here for—to tell the world that Jesus saves, Savior of sinners, soon and coming King. That's our job—to be a witness, to shine for Christ, to share his story.

We are born men living in a world of once-born men. We are different from the world. We don't go the way of the world. We have been saved out of this world and sent back to this world to be a witness in this world. That's the only business we have in this world until the Lord comes to get us. So remind yourself, "Hey, I have one primary job to shine and share."

**Lastly, recognize that you will be judged by your faithfulness.** That's how God judges—by your faithfulness. It's required, as stated in 1 Corinthians 4:2: "Moreover, it is required of stewards that a man be found faithful."

Jesus said in Revelation 2:10, "Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life." Faithful means you're full of faith. You're looking to the Lord. You're not walking by fear; you're walking by faith. You're dependable. "Hey Jesus, I'm going to walk with you no matter what, no matter how hard it gets. I am not going to quit. I'm not going to say, 'Forget it; it's too hard. I'm going to go back.'" No, I am going to keep walking with you no matter what, even if it costs me my life.

Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. What does Jesus say in the parable of the talents? To the man that had five talents and made five more, and the man who had two talents and made two more, he said to both those guys, "Well done, my good and faithful servant. You were faithful in a few things; I'm going to put you in charge of many things."

To quote from Luke Chapter 19: Faithfulness. Be faithful to the Lord no matter what it costs you. Be faithful. The sons of Issachar were able to understand the times and what Israel should do. You and I need to understand the times in which we live. We're not going to be popular. They're going to want to silence those who stand up for the truth. But it's required that we be faithful to the Lord, faithful to his word, faithful to live it out—not just to read it and preach it, but to obey it. Not to be a forgetful hearer, but an effectual doer.

Be faithful to the word, faithful to the Lord, faithful to pray, and faithful to stand in the gap. The song says, "Stand up, stand up for Jesus, ye soldiers of the cross; lift high his royal banner; it must not suffer loss. From victory unto victory, his armies shall he lead till every foe is vanquished and Christ is Lord indeed."

Speaker 1

And if we'll appropriate all that we've heard from scripture today, it'll allow us the ability to understand the times. That's the title of today's lesson from Pastor Jeff's series, *Discernment in the Days of Deception*. You heard part two of this last message in the series today.

Now, there's no question we are living in harsh, fierce, and savage times. And that's not a secret. We all know that. And we shouldn't be surprised because the Lord told us that it would be just like that in the last days. In 1 Peter 3, we read that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. And scoffing is a national pastime.

On the Internet, Matthew 24:14 tells us, "And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations. And then the end will come." Well, the Internet is the world wide web, and hey, the time is approaching soon. Are you able to properly understand the times and what you need to do in these difficult days?

You can get Pastor Jeff's timely series *Discernment in the Days of Deception* to better prepare yourself and guard your family. The series is our gift of thanks to you for your support from *His Heart* this month of any amount. Your support allows us to be on this and on hundreds of stations across America and around the world.

The series is available on a USB flash drive, MP3 download, CDs, or DVDs. You pick. When you make your gift today, call 866-40-BIBLE (866-40-BIBLE) or go to fromhisheart.org to request the series *Discernment in the Days of Deception*. God bless you, and thank you so much.

Well, that's all for today. Thank you so very much for joining us. I'm Larry Nobles inviting you to join Pastor Jeff tomorrow as he begins a brand new, short but powerful series called *We Are Soldiers*. That's next time here on *From His Heart*.

Speaker 2

There is tremendous truth. There is hope that you always dream love he can heal.

Speaker 1

From his heart is the listener supported Broadcast Ministry of Dr. Jeff Shreve speaking the truth in love to a lost and a hurting world.

Remember, no matter what, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.

Find out more. Go to promisheart.org.