Monday, June 13, 2011

Lawlessness

Proverbs 28:4
They that forsake the law praise the wicked; but such as keep the law contend with them.

2 Thessalonians 2:3
Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for (that day will not come) until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction.

2 Thessalonians 2:6-8
And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming.

2 Peter 2:7-9
...and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment.

Jeremiah 12:1-3
Righteous art thou, O LORD, when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously? Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root: they grow, yea, they bring forth fruit: thou art near in their mouth, and far from their reins. But thou, O LORD, knowest me: thou hast seen me, and tried mine heart toward thee:

In a day where seemingly wickedness and lawlessness prosper, we ask the age old question, why does God allow it ("yet let me talk with thee of thy judgements").  Remember that your walk with Him is personal, ("But thou, O LORD, knowest me").  He knows how to rescue us from the trials.  Rest in this knowledge and trust Him in all the things we do and do not understand.  Let us walk uprightly, obeying the laws of God and man. If we don't, we will surely find ourselves embracing and praising the wicked rather than contending with them.
~Chris