concerned only in living for his own success and happiness? Yes, the times are perilous for men are “lovers of their own selves.” Now, the second word given here in the list of 19 actually follows very closely to the first. The word is covetousness. We looked at this term when dealing with the study of the Tenth Commandment. The word is sometimes translated “mer cenary” for covetousness indicates that a person is a lover of money. John D. Rockefeller was once asked “When, in his judgment, a man had enough mon ey?” He smiled and said, “Why, when he has a little bit more.” In Matthew 4, we find the account of the temptation of our Lord Jesus Christ. Satan’s promise to our Lord was, if He would bow down and wor ship him (Satan) he would give Him all things. There is that word again — “things.” But the Lord rebuffed Satan with the sword of the Word, and here it is: “It is written, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and Him only shalt thou serve.” There in the Lord’s own words we find the First Commandment embodied. Instead of turning Satan back with the Word of God, as did Christ, we bow down before him for he promises to give us “things.” Can’t we somehow come to realize that life is not in the abundance of “things”? All too often tragedy lies in the abundance of things! After that statement we set down the name of Billy Sol Estes. What has the abundance of things meant in his case? Prophetically, I believe there is good reason to see this, for during the last half century we have noted a vast number of sources of new wealth; tre mendous inventions have fixed them selves as useful in various areas of life — electronics, aeronautics, transporta tion, communications, et cetera. Many of our great companies in the United States now have holdings around the world; factories in all parts of the globe — a fact of prophetical fulfill ment. If you are a child of God I trust you will read your newspaper with a renewed interest in the Bible! 25
Jesus Christ. You know, when the early Christian church members gathered to gether or met one another, the first thing they did was to exchange the word “maranatha,” which simply means “The Lord cometh.” Now turning directly to II Timothy the 3rd chapter, we read these words, “This know also that in the last days perilous times shall come,” Paul, in verse 2, begins to give a complete list of these various conditions which are signs of the end times and the nearness of the Lord’s return. There seems to be no special order which the Apostle Paul has here in the listing of these signs. He almost seems to exhaust his vocabulary in selecting words which will typify the events of the end times. In addition, having just studied with you the spiritual applica tions of the Ten Commandments, it is interesting to realize that all of these 19 signs, given in this portion of Scripture, are delineated and clearly spoken again in the Ten Commandments. The first thing said here is, that “Men shall be lovers of their own selves . . .” Reading in one of our na tional magazines, recently, I noted that the average man’s debt is approximate ly 4 to 5 times greater than the amount of money he earns. The reason man seems to continue to assume obligations, many of which he can never pay, is simply because he wants to get the things that he vainly thinks will make him happy. The Lord Jesus reminds us that “A man’s life consisteth not in the abund ance of the things which he possesses.” You see, this word “things” enters into all our materialistic thinking. It en tails “keeping up with the Jones fam ily.” It means getting exactly what we want, when we want it. Our spiritual life becomes dry and shriveled. We may not actually pray the following prayer, but our concern is no wider than the words we now read: “God bless my wife, my son John, his wife, us four — no more. Amen.” Have you of somewhat advanced years, ever known a time when it seemed so very evident that man is
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