But know this;  Difficult times will come in the last days.  For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, without love for what is good, traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to the form of godliness but denying its power.  Avoid these people!  2  Timothy 3:1-5  HCSB

Now our scripture passage today tells us how these people who are unsaved live.  I am a people watcher.  I like to observe people and listen to people.  I like to see where they are coming from.  If you sit and watch someone who is unsaved, you will see these characteristics come out.  If you listen to them talk, you will quickly see where their hearts are.  Luke 6:45 tells us that, A good man produces good out of the good storeroom of his heart.  An evil man produces evil out of the evil storeroom, for his mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart.  

You don’t have to spend a great deal of time around someone to know what’s in their heart.  You don’t have to do any extensive medical testing to see what’s in someone’s heart.  It will spill out of their mouth and it will control their actions.  I want you to look carefully at today’s scripture passage.  Do you show any of these traits?  If you do, then it is certainly your choice to do so, but beware.  God is not pleased with this type of behavior and we all know how harshly God will deal with those that displease Him.  Go through the checklist that He has provided.  Now some of you read through that and thought about people who this describes perfectly, right?  But did you check yourself?  Do you put yourself above others looking out for number one?  Do you love money so much that you can’t tithe or that you have to work every Sunday and don’t have time to go into God’s house to worship? If you love yourself, then you probably like to boast about whatever area of your life that you feel is your best attribute.  Be careful, God hates pride (Proverbs 8:13).  Whatever good thing we have comes from Him (James 1:17).  Do you slander others?  There are so many verses dealing with the mouth that I can’t possibly list them all, but the Bible is very clear about the fact that we need to be very careful about what comes out of our mouths. So how is your talk?  Ephesians 4:29 tells us that No foul language is to come from your mouth, but only what is good for building up someone in need, so that it gives grace to those who hear.  Even as I type this, I know that I am in trouble on this one.  I have got to do a better job with this mouth of mine.

Do you love what is good?  Or, are you drawn to what is bad?  Are you reckless?  As Christians, we must discipline ourselves to be careful.  We must think carefully about what we do and say.  We can’t afford to live with reckless abandon.

Do you hold onto to Godliness but deny HIs power?  Do you claim to be a Christian, but lose your religion when you are faced with evil?  Can the devil easily get you riled up and destroy your witness?

So if you are one of these people, it’s not too late to make better choices.  It’s not too late to turn to God and beg His forgiveness.  It’s not too late to have your sins washed clean and be made new again.

But if you are a Christian, if you are striving to please God, then know this.  God will not look the other way while you let the devil have his way with you.  God will not overlook your sin.  This scripture passage tells us that we are to avoid these people.

Now some of you are saying, “But aren’t we supposed to lead others to Christ?”  Yes, we are, but not at the expense of our own salvation.  You can witness to a person that is going down the wrong path, but don’t get pulled into their sin.  The Bible tells us to avoid these type of people because their sin is like quicksand or a current in a raging river.  If you get too close, you will get pulled in.   Don’t dance too close to the fire.

Pray for them.  If God calls you to witness to them, witness and share what God has done in your life.  But if they reject this, move on and keep away.  In Matthew 10:14, Jesus tells His disciples,  “If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that house or town.  

I really want every single person on this planet to come to know Jesus Christ as their savior.  I know that this, and this alone, will make the difference.  This will make not only our nation great, but it will make the world like heaven on earth.  However, we are clearly told in this scripture passage that this will not happen.  As the end times draw near, there will be those who will refuse to trust in God.  There will be those that try to lift themselves up by bringing others down.  Stay away from these people.  They are like an infection that will spread.

Remember we are to try to bring others to Christ, but we are not Christ.  Jesus could dine with sinners and save them.  We can share our testimony, but if they don’t accept what we are telling them, we need to move on.   We are getting closer every day to our Promised Land of eternity with God the Father.  We must walk very carefully.  We must be careful about who we associate with and what comes out of our mouths.  Many times I have seen good, solid people who I never thought would get involved with drugs become addicts in the process of trying to help a loved one conquer an addiction.  1 Thessalonians 5:22 tells us that we are to Stay away from every kind of evil.  

Turn to God today.  Ask him daily to fill you with His Holy Spirit so that in these end times, you can avoid evil.  Remember not to be afraid or discouraged. Evil will rear its ugly head, but God is with us every step of the way.  He will not abandon those of us who seek refuge in Him. He will bring us safely into the inheritance that He has promised us  (Isaiah 57:13)

Have a great day!