Folly
“But they will not make further progress; for their folly will be obvious to all…” 2 Timothy 3:9
“But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.” 2 Timothy 3:13
The above verses couldn’t seem any more contradictory! And yet they both appear in 2 Timothy 3 in the Apostle Paul’s description of the last days. Both verses are about the same type of people, evil men and impostors, men who oppose the truth, have depraved minds, and who are rejected in regard to the faith (see 2 Timothy 3:8).
Verse 9 tells us that these truth-haters will make no further progress. Verse 13 says that they will proceed from bad to worse.
Could both verses be true and about the same godless folks?
Let’s muddy the waters a bit more before we clear them up. Did you know that the word for “progress” in verse 9 and the word for “proceed” in verse 13 are one and the same word?
Both words are prokoptō in Greek. It means to promote, to further, to advance, to go forward, and to make progress (see <www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G4298&t=KJV>).
According to the Word, evil men and impostors will prokoptō (proceed and advance) from bad to worse. And, also according to the Bible, these evil men will not make further prokoptō (progress or advancement)!
If the evil operatives of the last days:
- will make no further progress, while at the same time they
- are proceeding from bad to worse
then something very interesting is being revealed here.
I believe that the Holy Spirit is letting the generation alive in the last days in on important truth.
1.) We can put our faith in what God has said about those who oppose the truth, have depraved minds, and who are rejected in regard to the faith. And that is this: They will make no further progress. Why not? For their folly will be obvious to all.
How will their progress be halted? By having their folly openly displayed before all—the rest of the population.
How will it be exposed and made obvious before the eyes of the full population? That’s where we believers come in: We are to pray for truth to prevail and evil to be exposed in God’s way and God’s time.
But then, you may ask, if evil men are supposed to make no further progress, why are things clearly getting worse? My response? This show’s not over! God’s not done. Don’t tell me you’re done!
2.) We also can bet our bottom dollar on the fact that evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse. God said they would.
Here’s the difference. These evil men and women will make no further progress in their agendas, in great part, because of their folly. Folly has neither the ability nor power to cause the one who embraces it to flourish forever. Many godly souls see right through the impostors and their lies, and many more will start to wake up to the folly of what is being foisted upon them. Our part, as believers in all of this, is to pray for truth to prevail, for folly to be openly and explicitly exposed for what it is, and to cry out to God to intervene on behalf of our nation.
However, the poor souls clinging to their agendas of folly will themselves proceed from bad to worse as they deceive and become even more deceived themselves. Unfortunately, they will be successful in deceiving some; but again, our job as believers is to pray for truth to prevail, for folly to be seen openly for the evil that it is, and for the advancement of the agenda of those who hate the God of the Bible to be set back and restrained on our watch.
May God strengthen, direct, and gird you for your part in this prayer battle as you cling to Him and His Word.
God bless and empower you,
Dorothy
Read MorePray for Syrian Christians
I just received a post about the beheading of a Syrian Catholic priest by the rebels in Syria. Pray for these precious Catholics and other believers as they face the unthinkable. http://cnsnews.com/news/article/reported-beheading-syrian-priest-boosts-fear-christians-safety
“God is to us a God of deliverances. To God the Lord belong escapes from death” (Psalm 68:20). Father, we pray for protection for the Christians of Syria. Grant them signs and wonders and miraculous escapes from death. May their enemies see Your hand on the behalf of Your people and be thwarted. As it is written, Lord, “…By their own devices let them fall!”* Watch over those called by Your name, Father, throughout the earth and not only defend them, but also thoroughly route and terrify those who would seek to assault them. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
*See Psalm 5:10
Read MoreImpostors
2 Timothy 3 describes in list format the types of godless people who will be alive in the last days. Each generation since Christ likely saw some characteristics of its own unique time in that chapter’s description, to be sure, but now, unfortunately, in our time the list in 2 Timothy 3 appears to be a perfect fit.
Verse 13 says, “But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.”
I would like for you to look more closely at the word “impostors” in this verse. First, consider the definition of impostor—one who “assumes [a] false identity or title for the purpose of deception” (MerriamWebster.com). To assume an identity or title that is not your own is lying.
Next, impostors are grouped in verse 13 with evil men. Since lying violates the Word of God, it’s not hard to understand why impostors are placed alongside evil men in Scripture as those to watch out for in the last days.
The verse continues to reveal that impostors will proceed from bad to worse. A lying individual who supposes he or she will not get caught in their falsehood will, more than likely, continue in the lie. In fact, their lying gets more and more far-fetched as they increase in the assumption that they will not face consequences. And since lying violates the Word of God, obviously telling a lie is bad. However, as the person continues and their lies snowball, they get worse. Impostors—unless they repent—will proceed from bad to worse, just like the Bible says.
Last of all, verse 13 tells us how impostors spend time. They are busy deceiving and being deceived on an ongoing basis. If a person spends his time deceiving, he will eventually end up believing his own lies. Deceivers become very deceived. In other words, impostors don’t live in reality. And if those in leadership posts throughout the nation are involved in any part of the deception cycle, their grasp of reality is, at best, faulty.
This scenario spelled out in 2 Timothy 3 has caused many in the Body of Christ great concern. If the evil men and impostors among us are going to proceed from bad to worse, then what hope is there for us to even dream that our prayers will be answered?
In Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s blogs, I want to show you some “inside facts” I discovered while studying this chapter which gave me great encouragement and resolve. It is my desire that you also will find comfort and be fueled to continue in effective prayer for our nation despite what you see with your eyes.
Stay tuned!
Dorothy
Read MoreWeekend: Like lambs to the slaughter
I returned to Grenada the summer of ’88, thrilled to be back on the exotic Isle of Spice. This time I stayed in the in-town house with several of the young missionaries I had worked with the summer before. The house was on a major thoroughfare, and early every morning when I awoke to roosters crowing, I rolled over in bed and watched out the window as folks walked on the road below me, carrying huge bundles on their heads and leading goats and cows through the town.
The kids were all still there and ready to greet me for another summer of smiles, adventure, and stories about Jesus.
My favorite Rastafari, Michael, was there, too, with dreadlocks grown one year longer. He spent some of his time in the jungles behind his home, cutting down coconuts, almonds, and other free foodstuffs, but the rest of the time he was eager to discuss anything that crossed his mind. Of course, our conversation always turned to Jesus and Michael’s own spiritual quest. But not too long after I arrived in Grenada, he grew increasingly concerned.
You see, I landed in Grenada during the fever heat of preparation for the biggest event of the year, Carnival. It happens all over Latin America and the Caribbean and is somewhat similar to Mardi Gras. In Grenada, it is held in August and when I arrived, the big day was almost here.
Michael told the YWAMers that he’d heard scuttlebutt that some of the men in the village resented the Christians’ involvement in the Carnival parade. They didn’t appreciate the large cross and banners about Jesus that the team would be bearing through the streets of Sauteurs on their special day. And there was talk of trouble.
After discussion and prayer back at the house, the team decided to participate nonetheless, but the visitors would remain back at the base. I breathed a sigh of relief, not wanting to deal with potential danger. However, my relief was short-lived; Kim, one of the young leaders there, pulled me aside and told me that she wanted me to join them because I knew how to pray. Here we go, I thought.
Carnival morning arrived; our banners were ready, the cross was waiting, and its bearer was poised for action. We gathered for prayer before we joined the parade.
Filtering up from my spirit were words from Isaiah 53:7. “Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth.”
I froze. I’m not saying that, I told myself. That can’t be God! I couldn’t shake the words, though, and quietly prayed against them, hoping they weren’t from God. And then one of the YWAMers spoke. He said, “Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth.”
Great, I thought. Now I’m going to go home to my dad in a casket! I’d better start praying. NOW!
We joined the parade and our banners rippled in the breeze while the cross-bearer took up the rear. We were singing from Psalm 149. The lyrics were:
“With the high praises of God in our mouths and a two-edged sword in our hands,
We shall launch an assault on the portals of hell and against us they shall not stand.”
To my left, a man covered from head to toe in tar and black grease (a jab-jab costume—one of the main get-ups for Grenadian men during Carnival—representing to them the devils from hell), grabbed up a boulder from the ground and with a roar, ran straight for the team with the boulder hoisted high. I started praying fast and furiously in tongues, bypassing the courtesy of asking if such praying might offend anyone who believed the gift had ceased to exist with the Apostles. (Something about getting attacked by a man in grease and tar makes one forget her manners.)
Next thing I knew, the man threw himself into the banner right in front of me, boulder gone from his hands, as the Grenadian women carrying the sign lowered it and then lifted it back up, greasy but intact. We continued with our song:
“Singing praise, praise, praise to the Lord; praise, praise, praise to the Lord.
Praise, praise, praise to the Lord, for the battle is in God’s hands.”
The next day, we walked to the spot where the jab-jab went berserk. There was the boulder, smudged with his tar and grease, and so heavy I couldn’t lift it. That stone would have caused a heap of hurt to one of us! But why had our muscular jab-jab dropped it?
We didn’t have to wait long for the answer. Later that afternoon one of the village women stopped by, and in her beautiful Caribbean accent told us quite a tale. She had just returned from the beach where she encountered the jab-jab lying on the shore at the edge of the waves, letting the surf break over his shoulders. She laughed at him, reminding him of his outrage the day before.
He said to her, “Those Christians made me so mad! They were ruining Carnival! So I took a big rock to hit them, but when I picked it up and ran, my shoulders, back, and neck went into cramps. I could not hold the rock! I had to drop it, and here I am, still in pain, hoping the salt water will help me.”
Like lambs we were led to slaughter, but the Lamb of God, that great Shepherd of the sheep, protected us from all harm.
“Now the God of peace, who brought back from the dead that great shepherd of the sheep, our Lord Jesus, by the blood of the everlasting agreement, equip you thoroughly for the doing of his will! May he effect in you everything that pleases him through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever.” (Hebrews 13:20-21, Phillips).
Read MoreThere Your hand will lead me
With many believers taking time off this summer to travel to other lands for the purpose of sharing their faith through word, song, medicine, hammer and nail, or fresh water and food, I felt impressed to share some tales of God’s grace and deliverance in my life during two different summer mission trips to the tiny island of Grenada.
It was 1987. I had just experienced another heart-rending breakup with a young man I thought might be “the one”. Devastated, but refusing to abandon my convictions to pursue rebound possibilities coming my way, I decided I needed to flee the hemisphere to clear my head. I searched out mission possibilities and chose a short-term trip to Sauteurs, Grenada, to live and minister with YWAM missionaries there. Although this island was still in the northern hemisphere, it was merely an island or two away from South America, and I felt that was far enough.
The YWAM team in Sauteurs owned two homes. I stayed in the remote, former plantation house my first summer and walked daily through the jungle to the road into the village to join the other missionaries for outreach to the village children.
My first morning there I awoke early and explored the land. I sat on a rock under a sprawling Caribbean tree to view the mountains and valleys before me. I read Psalm 139:9-10 as I sat there in the morning breeze coming from the sea. “If I take the wings of the dawn, if I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, even there Your hand will lead me, and Your right hand will lay hold of me.” I was nearly out of the hemisphere, but here I was, still safe in the hand of God. Healing was already flowing into my broken heart.
Most of the time I spent there was in outreach to the children of the village, laughing, eating mangoes ripe off the trees, and joining the American and Canadian missionaries on countless jaunts to the beach, followed by our ever-present, teeming entourage of smiling, friendly village children.
Etched in my memory forever are the cheerful cries of those precious black young ones as they screeched in the beautiful Caribbean waves, “Dear Jesus, Please send a BIG wave!” and then, as they dove into the big wave He invariably sent, “Miss Dor-tee! Watch this!”
One morning on a walk into the village and before I was out of the jungle, an old, wizened man, wearing little but a cloth around his waist, confronted me.
“What is your mission here?” he demanded.
“I’m here to learn about the mission in Sauteurs,” I replied.
He cradled the machete he was holding. “I hate Christians,” he told me. “I have a license to kill all Christians.”
“Oh, that’s interesting,” I said, and then I heard the roar of a motorbike coming down the trail from the road. It was one of the YWAMers. He saw the two of us, eyed the machete, and asked if I needed a ride.
I hopped on the back of the bike and we motored out of there and into town.
That morning was the only time I saw the little old man with the machete. Interestingly, it was also the only time I was ever met on my jungle walk by one of the YWAMers on a motorcycle.
Although I was in what seemed to be the remotest part of the sea, even there God’s hand led me and His right hand laid hold of me. And as I left Grenada that summer, I knew I would return at least once more.
Tomorrow: The hand of God during Carnival-Sauteurs, 1988.
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