Paul tells Timothy, in II Timothy 2:1-5, what the world will be like in the last days. We can look around us and see that Paul painted a pretty accurate picture of Western civilization today. This is nothing new. Man has always been in rebellion against God and the rise and fall of civilizations attest to this.

The modern Christian trying to be faithful in these times and our current culture can become very discouraged. He or she may throw up his arms in disgust and exclaim that all is useless. “How can I be faithful and moral? How can I raise my children to be faithful and morally upright in a climate like this?” The answer is revealed to us in II Peter 2:1-9.

The above passage tells us of two men who were faithful in times that were much worse than our own, yet they were faithful. The men were Noah and Lot. How did they do it? Notice at least three things from this text.

First, they were preachers of righteousness, v.5. One cannot fold his or her hands and say “let the world go headlong into hell, they deserve it.” Those of Noah's and Lot's day were doomed to destruction, but this did not stop them from wanting the lost to be saved and saying so. The apostle Paul knew that all men were to stand before God in judgment. This motivated him to declare the gospel vigorously (II Cor. 5:10-11).

Secondly, we see that we must not become complacent or accustomed to evil. In vv. 7-8 of our text we see that Lot vexed his soul with evil around him. I fear that we have lost the ability to blush. That which would burn the ears and hurt the eyes of our forebears, we now watch on television or in theaters with little vexation of our consciences.

The modernists and liberals cry “you can't shelter your children”. My response is, “says who?” I can teach my children the dangers of traffic without setting them into the middle of the street. I can also teach them the dangers of the immorality without plunging them into the cesspool and slime pit of modern entertainment and its associate evils.

Finally, they trusted in God to deliver their souls (v.9). Whatever may come of our society we can trust that in the end God will vanquish the foe and his children will be victorious. No matter what happens, we know that in the end, God's people overcome and are victorious.

Let us, like Noah and Lot, stand strong in hard places. Here are two who were in very difficult times and situations yet, they overcame. They overcame and stood strong through being preachers of righteousness. They never became complacent or lazy and they ultimately trusted in God to deliver their souls.