DELIVER YOURSELF FROM THIS PRESENT GENERATION
The present generation is wicked, crooked, perilous and faithless. We must not be tempted and defiled by the present generation.
We Must Have A Clear Understanding Of This Generation
1. Wicked Generation
This is an evil generation, a backsliding generation who does evil.
Luke 11:29(UP) And when the people were gathered thick together, he began to say, This is an evil generation……
The last day is drawing near. Worldly people have sinned again and again. There are daily reports of murder and theft in the newspapers.
2Tim. 3:1-5 1This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 5Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
Men’s hearts are inclined to wickedness. They commit murder, cause destruction and misery and have not known the way of peace.
Isa. 2:8-9 8Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made: 9And the mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself: therefore forgive them not.
Many people worship the idols which are made by their own hands. The mean man bows down and the great man humbles himself before the idols, which are man-made objects and are not gods. These are actions that cannot be forgiven.
Matt. 12:39 (UP) But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign;
Evilness also includes adultery and murder, as the Lord Jesus Christ said: “This is an evil and adulterous generation”.
Rom. 3:15-17 15Their feet are swift to shed blood: 16Destruction and misery are in their ways: 17And the way of peace have they not known:
God does not accept this generation, and calamity shall surely come. In the end, the ungodly ones will fall into perdition and be burnt by fire. Nevertheless, God will protect and deliver the godly ones from temptation.
Gal. 1:4 Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:
According to the will of God and the Heavenly Father, the Lord Jesus Christ gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world. Hence, we must not be a part of this wicked generation.
2. Crooked Generation
Acts 2:40 And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation.
Ps. 12:2 They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak.
The present generation is very crooked. They use eloquent speeches to lie to others, incite quarrels and create rumours.
Mic. 7:2-4 2The good man is perished out of the earth: and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net. 3That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince asketh, and the judge asketh for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth his mischievous desire: so they wrap it up. 4The best of them is as a brier: the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge: the day of thy watchmen and thy visitation cometh; now shall be their perplexity.
God will destroy this evil nation. Indeed, we will lose our status as children of God if we become part of this perverse and crooked nation.
Ps. 12:3 The LORD shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things:
Deu. 32:5 They have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of his children: they are a perverse and crooked generation.
As children of God, we must not associate ourselves with worldly people. Instead, we ought to depart from crookedness and be upright people.
3. Perilous Generation
The present generation is a perilous generation. In the last days, there will be great tribulations which are unprecedented and will not recur in the future.
Matt. 24:6-8 6And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. 8All these are the beginning of sorrows.
The Bible records of great tribulations which include natural disasters (such as famines, pestilences, floods, fires and windstorms) and man-made disasters.
Jer. 25:32-33 32Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth. 33And the slain of the LORD shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground.
In the last days, a mighty storm shall arise from the ends of the earth, and God shall slay all the wicked people. They shall not be buried but be like dung on the ground.
Luke 21:23-26 23But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. 24And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. 25And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; 26Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
Men will faint with fear due to these great tribulations, for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
4. Faithless Generation
The people during the time of the Lord Jesus Christ were faithless. The Lord Jesus Christ said:
Mark 9:19 He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me.
Everyone was waiting for the coming of the Messiah before the Lord Jesus Christ came to earth. Nevertheless, most of the people then did not believe that the Lord Jesus Christ Himself was the Messiah who had come to free them from the bondage of sin. Instead, they persecuted the Lord Jesus Christ and caused Him great sufferings.
Luke 17:25 But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation.
The faithless generation had rejected the Lord Jesus Christ. Similarly today, there are people who do not believe in the true church, and yet they cause men to enter into perdition by defaming and destroying God’s salvation plan.
Matt. 12:41-42 41The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here. 42The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.
Rev. 21:8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
God will condemn the faithless generation, and the unbelievers will go through the second death where their souls will be thrown into the lake which burns with fire and brimstone.
(Extracted from: The Holy Spirit Times 1936 – Issue No. 150)