It’s strange to think that a pleasure-obsessed society could point to something as big as the second return of Christ, but Jesus mentioned something in Matthew 24:37–39. He said, “But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.”
Eating, drinking, marrying, and giving into marriage are some forms of pleasure, and not that they are bad in themselves, but when people get lost in them and lose sight of their Christian walk and focus on the second return of our Savior, then when the day comes, they’ll be caught unaware and utterly destroyed as the people during the flood.
Paul also, in his letter to Timothy, speaks of the last days. He wrote, “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people, turn away!” (2 Timothy 3:1–5 NKJV)
The word last, eschatos, means extreme; last in time or in place; last in a temporal succession; the last; last, referring to time. Paul is talking about the times we are now living in, the “Last Days.”. And so Paul is talking about the things that will happen in the times we are living in now. And we know for sure and have experienced that the time we live in right now is indeed perilous. It is hard, dangerous, troublesome, harsh, and savage. Paul is saying that when the “last days” are here, “perilous times” will be “present,” standing right upon us, threatening us. And what will the perilous times look like?
People are lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, blasphemous, disobedient to parents, unthankful, and unholy, and we can add to this list what we currently observe around us. People are also obsessed with sex. Many people are driven by selfish ambitions and hedonism. Many people strive to increase pleasure to reduce pain linked to their egoistic pursuit of short-term gratification by indulging in sensory pleasures without regard for the consequences. It is important to note that not all forms of pleasure are bad, and not all forms of pleasure are good. These three indicators can help us indulge in the right kind of pleasure.
1: Anything that refreshes you without distracting you from your final goal is a legitimate pleasure.
You have to set your final life goal, without which you cannot know what will distract you from that goal. In the book of Judges 7, Gideon is set to face the Midianites. He needs to have the right men for them to find victory in that war. God tells him that he could only go with the 300 men who were able to lap water from the river as dogs would. These men were able to be refreshed with the water from the river and were still fit for the war. Have you ever written the mission statement of your life?
As Christians, our main duty is to fear God and keep His commandments. (Ecclesiastes 12:13) All we do should be in line with that. The end goal is eternal life, reigning with Christ forever. Anything that distracts you from achieving that goal is an illegitimate pleasure.
Whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, takes off your relish for spiritual things, whatever increases the authority of the body over the mind, that thing is sin to you, however innocent it may seem in itself.
Susanna Wesley
2: Anything that jeopardizes the sacred rights of another is an illicit kind of pleasure.
In the book of 2 Samuel 11, David takes Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba, and ends up killing him. This displeased the LORD. David chose to indulge in sexual pleasure at the expense of the life of his trusted soldier, Uriah. We should be mindful of the needs of others—the need for peace, security, and love. We ought to love others as we love ourselves (Mark 12:31). If we applied this, crime would be reduced, and corruption would be unheard of. Paul teaches us in Philippians 2:3–4 that “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his interests but also for the interests of others.”
3: Any pleasure, however good, if not kept in balance, will distort reality and destroy appetite.
Too much of something is dangerous. If you find honey, eat just enough, too much of it, and you will vomit. (Proverbs 25:16). No one is so fed up with life as someone who has exhausted pleasure. Approach the right kinds of pleasure with moderation. Remember that you pay the price of pain for all pleasure. With the right kind of pleasure, you pay the price before enjoying it, whereas with the wrong kind, you pay the price afterward.
Friends, we can also attest that people are lovers of money. People are willing to sacrifice everything just to get money. I saw a man chase a hat that had blown off someone’s head into the street. A car hit him and killed him dead. It’s amazing that a person could lose everything, chasing nothing. We could lose eternal life chasing money. Jesus said, “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.
You cannot serve God and mammon.” Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they derided Him.” (Luke 16:13–14 NKJV) Paul also warned Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:10 “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” However, much important money is, it should never be the driving force that makes us do things. In this manner, it corrupts us and leaves us unprepared for Christ’s return.
Paul also warned of people who look religious on the outside but don’t have a true relationship with Jesus. People who have a form of godliness but deny its power in their lives. Let’s be real, God desires that we don’t just “look godly”, but that we are godly.
Illustration
“Not long ago I stood for a while in a cheese shop. Being in a fidgety mood, and having a stick in my hand, I was not content with seeing but felt a need to touch as well. My stick came gently upon a fine cheese in the window. To my surprise a most metallic sound emanated from it. The sound was rather hollow, and there was a sort of crockery jingle in the sound, like the ring of a huge bread or milk pan. I came to the very correct conclusion that I had found a very well-disguised hypocrite in the shop window. And ever since that time, when I pass by, I mentally whisper, “Pottery.” Even if the fakes have been exchanged for real cheeses, it will take a long time to convince me. In my mind, the stock has become potsherds, and the fine show in the window only suggests the potter’s vessel.
Charles Spurgeon
This illustration is simply introduced because we find people of this sort in our churches, looking extremely like what they should be, yet having no substance in them, so that if, accidentally, one happens to tap them somewhere or other with sudden temptation or stern duty, the baked earth gives forth its own ring, and the pretender is esteemed no longer.”
Conclusion
Friends, we all sin. It’s likely that you and I are hooked on one of the sins Paul mentioned. But we should be willing to come to Christ, admit our sins, repent of them, and live for Him all the days of our life. Christ is soon returning, let’s get ready lest He finds us wanting. Until next time my friend, live every day giving glory to God. As Paul says, “Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.” (Philippians 2:14-16)
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