Traitors

258 - Today's Prime Time Devo comes from 2Ti 3:1-4, But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, ( 2 Tim 3:1-4) Next on the list of strength sapping influences and behaviors in the church is that of being a traitor. The word means to give forth to the enemies hand. It is found in one other place in Scripture and that is in Lu 6:16 where it is used to describe Judas Iscariot: “Judas Iscariot who also became a traitor.” Judas surrendered himself to the devil and the devil used him to give Jesus forth into the hands of the enemy. The enemy (the religious rulers) should be considered as anyone who has the power to do you harm because they perceive you as some sort of a threat. Further, by definition a traitor is someone whom you trusted. Speaking prophetically of that traitor Judas the Psalmist writes in Ps 41:9 Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted, Who ate my bread, Has lifted up his heel against me.” Traitors have been with us for a long time. Think of Delilah as she handed Samson over to the Philistines. And Doeg the Edomite who ratted on David as he fled from the murderous Saul, Balaam who gave the secret to defeating the Israelites to Balak, and of course...Judas. Jesus, speaking of the same end times that Paul is speaking of in this portion of 2 Tim said in Mt 24:10 "And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. As the gospel is preached and congregations are formed, traitors will rise up and turn people in to authorities and over to mobs that have the power to cause them harm. Traitors may do this for personal gain, or they simply may do it because they disagree with what is being preached. Judas was guilty of both. The church's history is rife with people being ratted out by traitors and then dealt with harshly by mobs and authorities, and we are seeing some of this ratting out even in the church in America today, where some member of a congregation may not agree with what is being proclaimed from the pulpit concerning the sin of homosexuality for example, and so they turn the pastor or the church over to the authorities in an attempts to silence them. Traitors will always be with the church, seeking to silence the message and weaken the church, our job is to remain strong, preach the word fearlessly and live out our faith with the love of Jesus!