Drain the Swamp

 Drain the Swamp

November 8, 2024

2 Timothy 3:1-9 (ESV) 

1But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. 6 For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, 7 always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. 8 Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith. 9 But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men.

In his second letter to TImothy, the Apostle Paul gives us a pretty accurate description of of the swamp that we see trying to take control of the world in this present age. It pretty much confirms that we are living in the last days as we see all of these horrible attributes in society all around us. The question is, how do we fix it, or even is it possible to fix it. The newly elected administration has promised to “drain the swamp”, but is that a realistic goal?

In the following verses, Paul gives Timothy a strategy to live in such a time:

2 Timothy 3:10-17 (ESV) 

10 You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, 11 my persecutionsand sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra--which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. 12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it 15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Basically, Paul is saying that the answer to to live by the Word of God. We have the example of Jesus, and the example of Paul, and we should live like they did. But you say, “That is just a personal way to live. How does that change society?”. Well, lets look at history. Paul was writing in one of the most evil periods of the Roman Empire. He himself was in prison and Christians were being persecuted throughout the realm. The future for Timothy’s generation didn’t look very promising, but what actually happened? Within a generation or two, the Roman Empire fell and was eventually replaced by the Holy Roman Empire. The emperor, at least in word, converted to Christianity and proclaimed Christianity the religion of the realm. Was this all good? No, there was still evil in the world and bad people were still around, but the entire culture began to change. The same thing can be said now. Is Trump our savior and is MAGA all good? No. Jesus Christ is our savior and only God is good, but the arrow of cultural progress has changed. The majority of Americans have repudiated the idea that it is a good idea to kill babies and to impose perverse sexual (and transsexual) ideas on our youth. We have endorsed the idea that freedom of religion is a good thing and that all of us should be free to express our opinions without being “cancelled”. These are all biblical ideas. The more that we live but the principles of the Word of God and encourage our fellow citizens to do the same, the better our overall society will be. Will be able to make society perfect? Of course not. The Kingdom of God will never be fully reached until Jesus comes again, but we have an obligation to preach the gospel of the kingdom and to live as salt and light until He comes. Enough salt will preserve a society and enough light will drive darkness out of a nation. Therefore, I thank God for the results of this election and look forward to the possibility of “draining the swamp”. Continue to pray for our leaders and pray for revival. According to second Chronicles, if enough of us humble ourselves and pray, God will heal our land.