660 Why We Should Read The Born Again Parallel 

Key Scripture: 2 Timothy 3:1-5

This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

Relevance

Scripture says, In the last days, perilous times will come. Perilous for whom?

When we look at the characters and personalities mentioned here, we see that everybody is a risk, not just Christians. As we look at those characteristics individually, it's not hard to see that nobody in this lot can be trusted by anyone.

But as we get to the bottom of our scripture, one issue stands out among them all. Every person with those distinctive habits possesses the common issue of having a form of godliness, or so they think. Every one of those issues is a mini-god of evil, with a demon behind it. They had manufactured their own gods to suit themselves.

This is a time for Christians to know who they are following, as each one of these has a trap door set for us. Even in the 1800s, Anglican preacher J.C. Ryle warned his people about

“Beware of manufacturing a God of your own: a God who is all mercy, but not just; a God who is all love, but not holy; a God who has a heaven for every body, but a hell for none; a God who can allow good and bad to be side by side in time, but will make no distinction between good and broad in eternity. Such a God is an idol of your own, as truly an idol as any snake or crocodile in an Egyptian temple. The hands of your own fancy and sentimentality have made him. He is not the God of the Bible, and beside the God of the Bible there is no God at all.”― J.C. Ryle Prayer