You Fools! You Hypocrites! You Snakes 4
WHO IS IT THAT WILL GET "WORSE & WORSE?"
"Yes, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But EVIL MEN AND SEDUCERS (Gk: ‘imposters’) SHALL WAX (grow) WORSE AND WORSE, deceiving, and being deceived" (II Tim. 3:13).
And just who is it that grows "worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived?" The men and women of the world? The pagans and heathens? Is this what Paul means? Of course not. These are the leaders of the Church.
"Preach the word; (the WHOLE Word of God); be instant in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine (Who? The world? The pagans? The atheist? Why they have never had sound doctrine in the first place) but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables" (II Tim. 4:2-4).
The heathen nations of the 21st century are not "turning away from the truth unto fables." They have never as nations had the truth.
Notice also Peter’s stern warning regarding what was happening in the past in his time, and what was prophesied to continue until our time and beyond:
"But there were false prophets (a ‘prophet’ can mean one who speaks in behalf of God) also among the people, even as there shall be (future) false teachers among you (and among US), who privily shall bring in (Gk: smuggle in) DAMNABLE HERESIES, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And MANY shall follow their pernicious (destructive) ways; by reason of whom the way of the truth shall be evil spoken of (Gk: ‘blasphemed’)" (II Pet. 2:1-2).
At the conclusion of this paper we will take a look at some of these: "FABLES AND DAMNABLE HERESIES" that the Church Fathers and Theologians have substituted over the centuries and down to our day in place of God’s sound doctrines.
Listen: Either conditions in the prophesied Church of today are MUCH WORSE than they were at the time of Jesus and the Apostles, or the prophecies LIE. So which do you believe is true?