Alright, so we are continuing on in 2 Timothy, and if you have your Bible, please open it up to 2 Timothy chapter 3.
2 Timothy chapter 3, and we'll be looking at the first nine verses this morning.
And as we come to this part of the letter, up till this point we've been hearing the Apostle Paul giving encouragement and instruction to the younger Timothy about how he should live and about how he should lead in the church there in Ephesus.
And last Sunday we heard Paul calling Timothy to live a holy life, to be set apart for honorable purposes, for the approval and the pleasure of Jesus Christ.
And we saw the contrast that Paul drew there between Timothy and Hymenaeus and Philetus, these false teachers who were causing trouble.
And the last thing that we heard Paul say in chapter 2, just in the last couple verses there, was that Timothy is to instruct these opponents gently in the hope that God will grant them repentance and a knowledge of the truth.
And in the hope that they would come to their senses and realize how the devil's been using them.
That's pretty sobering stuff.
But then as we come into chapter 3, it gets even a little bit more sobering.
Let me read what Paul wrote here in chapter 3.
Paul writes,
But mark this, there will be terrible times in the last days.
People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving.
Slanderous, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited.
Lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.
Having a form of godliness but denying its power.
Have nothing to do with such people.
They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over gullible women who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires.
Always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth.
Just as Janus and Jambres oppose Moses, so also these teachers oppose the truth.
They are men of depraved minds who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected.
But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone.
Let's start at the top here.
Paul says,
Mark this, quite literally,
Know this.
That in the last days there will be terrible times.
That word terrible, the word used there means troublesome or hard or difficult.
So in the last days there will be difficult times.
And then what follows is this lengthy description of the behaviors of people.
All of what makes these times difficult has to do with the behaviors of people, or at least some of it.
And before we get to looking at all of these different behaviors that are listed, let's just ask the question,
What does Paul mean when he says,
In the last days?
When are the last days?
And there's really two main views among Christians about this.
View number one is that the last days refers to the period of time between Jesus' first coming and Jesus' second coming.
View number one would say that we are in the last days right now,
and have been since Jesus first came 2,000 years ago.
Now, before you dismiss this view altogether, consider the following scriptures which refer to the last days.
Think of Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost.
There he stood in Jerusalem, and the Spirit was poured out on the apostles,
and some of the people thought that the apostles were drunk,
because they were speaking in other languages.
And Paul stands up in the midst of this gathering, and he says this,
Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you.
Listen carefully to what I say.
These people are not drunk, as you suppose.
It's only nine in the morning.
No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel.
And then he quotes the prophet Joel.
In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy.
Your young men will see visions.
Your old men will dream dreams.
Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.
So what's Peter saying to the crowd that day of Pentecost, almost 2,000 years ago?
He's saying that the prophecy that was made by Joel hundreds of years earlier
was being fulfilled right now, that day.
In other words, in some sense, they were in the last days now.
And there are a few other scriptures we might look to here.
Hebrews chapter 1.
The writer there says,
In the past, God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets,
at many times and in various ways.
But in these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son.
And then another one in James chapter 5, verse 3.
James, the brother of Jesus, writing, addressing the rich people, says,
You rich people, your wealth has rotted and moths have eaten your clothes.
Your gold and silver are corroded.
Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire.
You have hoarded wealth in the last days.
And if you just look at the verb tense there in the context,
it's James' writing as if the last days have already begun.
We're in it.
And so when we come to 2 Timothy chapter 3,
it could be that Paul's not so specifically referring only to those things
that happen at the very, very end when Jesus returns
or near to when Jesus returns,
but that these are the kinds of things that will happen even in Timothy's lifetime,
that this whole period is the last days that we're in,
the last part of the great story of God.
View number two, of course, is that the last days refers only to the very distant future,
to those very few days leading right up to the return of Jesus.
And I'm not going to get into all the different views of the tribulation and the rapture here,
but the gist of this view is that the last days is just that period right before Jesus comes.
And most of those, most people who hold to this view would also say
that we're right now living in the last days,
that that time is very near,
and probably would point to this passage in 2 Timothy as the evidence.
And before we dismiss that view altogether,
depending on how you read this,
we could read the rest of the prophecy of Joel
that Peter cited in Acts chapter 2 on the day of Pentecost.
And we notice there that there's actually more to what Joel said.
Not only will I pour out my spirit in the last days,
but I will show wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below,
blood and fire and billows of smoke.
The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
So there's, excuse me,
there's this great sign in the heavens
which marks the beginning of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
And that sign in the heavens didn't happen on the day of Pentecost.
It was also spoken of by Jesus,
this sign in the heavens in his sermon
or his discourse in Matthew chapter 24.
It's also referred to in Revelation chapter 6,
this great sign in the heavens
in connection with the final events of our world.
So there's this element to Joel's prophecy.
He spoke of something happening in the last days.
There's a sense in which it began then,
the outpouring of the Spirit,
but it also speaks to the very end
when Jesus comes in that great day of the Lord.
I think both of these views can kind of live together.
They both have good biblical support
and both seem to have some truth to them.
The last days seem to have begun
with the coming of the last king,
Jesus,
who will be king of the last kingdom.
And then the last days
certainly seem to climax or culminate
with his return
and the troublesome times that lead up to that.
And even as we look at this passage in 2 Timothy,
there's another one in Peter.
We'll skip over that one.
We see that there's both future and present.
But mark this,
there will be terrible times
or difficult times in the last days.
So that's future language.
People will be lovers of themselves,
lovers of money,
and so on and so forth.
Down to verse 9.
But they will not get very far.
Their folly will be clear to everyone.
So this is kind of the language of future.
But then we also see,
very clearly here,
the language of the present.
After listing out all the things
that they will be,
Paul says to Timothy,
have nothing to do with such people.
Which sort of implies
that some of these people
may begin to arise and appear
even right now in Timothy's day.
Now why make such a big deal over this?
The last days.
There are many eager to teach and preach
on end times
and future Bible prophecies
who come to these words
and they see only one main point.
And the main point is usually
that we are in the last days right now.
The end is quite imminent,
like any moment now.
And how do we know?
Because this is what Paul said
things would be like in the last days.
And look at the world that we live in today.
People are like this today, are they not?
Therefore we're here.
We're at the brink of the very end right now.
But I wonder if there isn't reason to pause here.
Look at this list.
These descriptions
of how people will be in the last days.
Is this how people have been only
in the last few hundred years?
Or are these things describing
how people have been since Timothy's day?
Let's look through this list just a little bit.
Skim through it.
It says people will be lovers of themselves.
Hasn't that been true for the past 2,000 years?
Selfishness and self-centeredness.
People will be lovers of money.
Is greed only a sin mainly of the 21st century?
People will be boastful and proud.
Is that something that we haven't really seen
that much before the last couple hundred years?
Has there been treachery on earth
in the past 2,000 years all the way through?
Yes.
How about brutality?
Absolutely.
Has there been all these things on earth
as the norm, as par for the course
for the past 2,000 years?
I mean, I think it just takes a quick skim through
a one-volume history of the world
from the time Jesus came till now
to see that the answer is yes.
What about verse 5?
Have there been people having a form of godliness
but denying its power?
Having an outward appearance of religion and piety
yet no real devotion to God?
Well, the past 2,000 years have been full of that.
We could point to the corruption
of the Roman Catholic Church
or the Inquisitions or the Crusades
or the great schisms and kings
declaring themselves head of the church
so they could authorize their own immoral marriages
and all kinds of things.
And so actually this passage,
at least in my opinion,
isn't all that helpful in telling us
precisely where we are on God's timeline
or just how last are the days
that we're in right now.
Now, this warning probably rung
just as true to Timothy in his day
as it does to us in ours.
Paul and other Christians
were treated brutally.
Paul was executed not long after this
even though he was innocent
along with most of the rest of the apostles.
Nero, the emperor, rose to power
right around this time
and he persecuted the followers of Jesus brutally.
We heard about Hymenaeus and Alexander
and Philetus
and we're going to hear about Demas,
men who claim the name of Jesus
and yet are proving to be
like the description
in these verses as well.
My point here is that
I'm not convinced that these are behaviors
that specially mark
only those days immediately
before Christ returns.
I think from this description of behaviors
that we've been living in the last days
since Christ came.
And the purpose of this, I think then,
is not to help us see and know
that Christ's coming is just
right about to happen,
but rather to help Timothy know
that these kinds of behaviors,
even by self-professing believers,
are to be expected
in the days ahead
right up till that final day.
Just to say it a little more clearly,
I do think that teachers and preachers
should stop using this passage to say,
Jesus is almost here
because the world has never been
as full of this stuff
as it is today.
Now some might say,
well, isn't it reasonable to expect
that the closer we get to the end,
the more like this people will be?
And I think that is reasonable.
That's what some of the other passages
that talk about the end
seem to indicate.
But now that still doesn't help us
know exactly how close we are.
Is the world very much more like this today
than it was 500 years ago?
Or are we just more aware
of the evil going on
in many different places
because of the information
that's available to us
through online news
and social media?
Or another question
that we might ask,
as bad as things seem today,
we don't like this thought,
but is it possible
that things may get
even 10 times worse
or 10 times more like this
in the decades
or even centuries ahead?
And so I will not preach
from this passage
that we're right on the brink
of the end.
I think sometimes
in our eagerness
to know the future
and in our anticipation
for the Lord's return,
which we should be anticipating,
we get caught up
in imagining
what the future will be like
and whether we're almost there
and we can easily miss
what this passage is saying.
What was Timothy
meant to understand
from this?
What benefit do these words
have to him in his day?
Is there more here
than just a dark picture
of the world at the end?
And I think to see that,
we maybe have to take
our end times glasses
off a little bit
and really seek to see,
what were you trying to say,
Paul, to Timothy?
What is there for him?
And as we do that,
I think that there's
at least one key
to really understanding
this passage well.
we could start
with this question.
Is this a general description
of how the world will be,
the people of the world will be?
Or does Paul have
a specific group of people
in mind here?
We're going to look
at some of these qualities
in a moment,
but let's not miss,
I think,
the key qualities
which identify these people
more precisely,
which narrow it down for us.
These people will be
all of these things,
and you can see the list
on the screen there.
And it probably doesn't mean
that every individual
will have every single
one of these things,
but that people will have
some or multiple
of these behaviors.
But then there's verse 5,
which seems to stand apart
as a truth
that's representative
for the whole lot of them.
Whoever these people are,
they seem to have this in common.
Having a form of godliness,
but denying its power.
They have a form of godliness,
but it's just a form.
It's an outward appearance,
a facade.
And this, I think,
really brings into focus
who these people are
that Paul is warning
Timothy about.
This is not about
the world in general
or about unbelievers
in general.
This is not about how,
you know,
so many people
in our day-to-day
are greedy
or loveless.
This is very specifically
people who have
a form of godliness,
who claim to be religious
or even confess
the name of Jesus,
yet who deep down inside
do not love God
and lack the characteristics
of holiness
that God's people
are continually striving for.
Now, is there any confirmation
that this is
what Paul has in mind?
Well, we could look at
what his instruction
is to do with these people.
He says,
have nothing to do
with such people.
So are we to ignore
everybody in the world
because this characterizes
our world,
does it not?
I don't think so.
I think that's a little bit
of the pointer
that this is specifically
those who claim
to know Jesus,
claim to know God,
have a form of godliness,
but it's not genuine.
We could look to the second half
of this passage as well.
Paul says,
have nothing to do
with such people.
And then he goes on.
He says,
they're the kind
who worm their way
into homes
and gain control
over gullible women
who are loaded down
with sins
and are swayed
by all kinds
of evil desires.
They're the kind
who are always learning
but never able
to come to a knowledge
of the truth.
Just as Janus
and Jambres
oppose Moses,
so also these teachers
oppose the truth.
They are men
of depraved minds
who as far as
the faith is concerned
are rejected.
So the people
whom Timothy
is to avoid
are these kind
of men,
the kind
who weasel
their way
into the homes
of women
who are weak
to their wiles.
These men
are infiltrators.
They're pretenders.
Perhaps in a manner
of speaking,
sneaking into the church
through the back door
by charming
some of the women.
But are they really
believing brothers?
It seems like
they might be.
They're always learning.
You can imagine
them sitting there
in Sunday school
enjoying the conversation,
the discussion,
eager to hear,
eager to discuss,
but at the end
of the day
never fully arriving
at a knowledge
of the truth.
Just like
Jonas and Jambres
oppose Moses,
so they are men
who oppose
or resist
or set against
the truth.
There is a resistance
to just fully
embracing it.
God's people
and this description
I think
seems to confirm
what we saw earlier.
They are people
who have a form
of godliness
but it's only a form.
It's an outward appearance.
It's a performance
that they're putting on.
Now who were
Jonas and Jambres?
What's the story
with them?
Well,
Jonas and Jambres
were never mentioned
in the Old Testament
by name.
It's possible
that they were
among some
of the leaders
of the Israelites
and that they were
some of the men
who opposed Moses
but again,
they're not mentioned
by name
so we don't know.
There was that little
dispute with Moses.
Does God only speak
through you
or does he not
speak through us also?
There were some
different names
mentioned in that account.
perhaps these were
who these men are.
Many scholars suggest
based on the names
themselves
that perhaps
these were the
Egyptian magicians
who opposed Moses
when Moses went
to ask Pharaoh
to set the people free.
They were able
to do some
of the same signs
it says
in Exodus chapter 7
verse 3
and they opposed Moses.
In other words,
is God really
speaking through
this man?
No, look,
we can do
these things too.
In either case,
I think you see
there's that element
of religious devotion
and also that element
of crafty deception
and opposing the one
who God is really
speaking through.
So this I think
is the key
throughout this whole passage.
It's not just
about people in general
or unbelievers
in general.
It seems to be
very specifically
about people
having a form
of religion
having an appearance
of devotion
and yet it's false.
If they claim
the name of God
or Jesus,
they're imposters.
If they advocate
for some other cult
or form of religion,
they're false teachers.
And it really fits
well with what
Paul has been saying
just a minute ago
to Timothy,
doesn't it?
What was the problem
with Hymenaeus
and Philetus
back in chapter 2
verses 17 and 18?
It wasn't that
they were full-blown
atheists.
It was that
they were claiming
Jesus plus this
other special revelation
that we've received.
We know that the
resurrection has
already taken place.
We know that
eternal life
in its final form
is attainable
right now.
And they were
leading people astray.
And so I think
what Paul is saying
here is that
even though Timothy
is to be able
to teach,
even though he's
to gently instruct
his opponents
in the hope
that they will repent
and come to
their senses
and come to
a knowledge of the truth,
I think what he's
saying is,
Timothy,
know this.
You can expect
that many,
like them,
in the days ahead
will not.
They will not
repent.
this will be normal.
This will be par
for the course.
There will be
people out there,
there will be people
even in our midst
who are advocating
religious ideas
and claiming
to be devoted
to God.
They're having
a form of religion
but they're
not people
who love God.
And even though
they're gently instructed
and the truth
is shared with them
and they love
to talk about it
and seem like
they're learning,
they will often
oppose,
they will often
resist it.
They will continue
teaching falsehood.
They will continue
living wickedly.
This is what's
going to make
the days ahead
difficult
and troublesome.
One of the things
I noticed
in this list
is just how often
the word love
appears.
People will be
lovers of themselves,
lovers of money.
They'll be without love,
not lovers of the good.
They'll be lovers
lovers of pleasure
rather than
lovers of God.
There's at least
two problems here
with these
religious pretenders.
Love is misdirected
into all these
various things
and also the problem
that love is just
lacking.
Love is misdirected
and love is
lacking.
That's one of the
markers of these
religious pretenders.
They're caught up
in loving the wrong
things.
Loving themselves.
This word
essentially means
selfish.
They just care
mainly about
themselves and
prioritize themselves
above all others.
And they're lovers
of money.
He says,
they cherish money
and the things
it buys.
This is just a
reference to greed.
In fact,
this is probably
one of the easiest
marks of a false
teacher to identify
is a love of money.
The prosperity
preachers of our
day do their best
to hide their
love of money
but it's just
obvious to those
of us who are
true followers
of Jesus.
Why is it that
the TV prosperity
preacher always
ends their episode
or broadcast
with a plea
to support the
ministry financially
and a promise
that God will
bless you if you
do and on and
on and we'll
throw in a free
gift.
And if you
don't give,
if you don't
tithe,
God won't
prosper you.
Don't expect
him to heal
you if you
don't first
sow your
seed of faith
by writing
that check.
They will be
lovers of
money.
And love
is often
misdirected
towards pleasure.
These religious
imposters
will be
lovers of
pleasure
rather than
lovers of
God.
Notice the
contrast here.
Lovers of
pleasure
rather than
lovers of
God.
So it's
not that
they're,
you know,
it's not that
they're just
trying to enjoy
the many
God-given
pleasures of
life,
the good
ones.
No,
they love
pleasure
rather than
loving God.
They are
hedonists.
They're living
for pleasure.
They're just
living to
scratch the
itch of
the flesh
and its
desires,
whatever it
may be.
It doesn't
matter if
the pleasure
is illicit
or immoral.
They'll go
for that
too because
they love
pleasure and
they do
not love
God.
Many of
us were
shocked to
hear in
the past
few years
the full
evidence and
report of
Ravi Zacharias.
Even though
he was a
very prominent
pastor and
ministry leader,
it came out,
came to
light that
he'd been
concealing a
long-term
life of
sexually immoral
behavior,
preying
upon all
kinds of
women,
engaged in
countless
acts of
sexual
immorality.
You can
read the
full report
on Christianity
today.
These were
not occasional
falls into
temptation,
which he
repented of.
He was
constantly,
continually
through this
period,
manipulating
and coercing
women.
He was
making threats
about what
would happen
to them
spiritually if
they didn't
comply with
what he
wanted.
It was
heartbreaking
to read
this.
Notice in
verse 6,
they are
the kind
who are
opportunistically
taking advantage
of women.
It's one of
the marks of
these religious
pretenders.
So we see
these variety
of misdirected
loves.
They will be
marked by
these misdirected
loves.
And we
notice also
that they'll
just be
straight up
people without
love.
See that in
verse 3.
They will be
without love.
They'll be
lacking in
concern for
others.
Cold,
hard,
indifferent.
That's pretty
obvious in
the way that
he was
treating those
women.
How could
you do
that?
Paul says
they will
not be
lovers of
the good.
That's kind
of a funny
phrase in
our language.
It's kind
of the word
good-loving,
but then he
negates it by
putting the
negative particle
on the front.
So they're
like un-good-loving.
They're not
people who
love what
is good.
They're not
generous.
They're not
caring about
the common
good or
the public
good of
others.
Again, a
lack of
love.
They'll be
unforgiving,
he says.
A loving
person forgives.
A loving
person releases
another person
from the
debt that
they owe
you or the
wrongs they've
done to you,
just as Jesus
has done for
us.
But a
person who
lacks love,
they hold a
grudge bitterly.
They refuse to
forgive a
wrong despite
the many
wrongs that
they've done
to others.
And ultimately,
I think we see
here at the
bottom, the
biggest problem,
the massive
problem here is
that a love
for God is
what is lacking.
Lovers of
pleasure rather
than lovers
of God.
They don't
love God.
I mean,
that's shocking
to read right
beside having
a form of
godliness.
Having a
form of
godliness,
but they
don't love
God.
So there's a
variety of
bad fruit that
we see that
will be normal
in the lives
of these people
who have a
form of
godliness,
but deny
its power.
We see the
misdirected
loves,
we see the
lack of
loves,
we see in
some cases
that they'll
just be
straight up
brutal.
Brutal,
slanderous,
treacherous,
disloyal.
And we
only need to
look back in
history to
see how this
has happened
in the name
of God,
in the name
of Jesus.
Things like
the Crusades.
Timothy,
these kinds
of people,
you need to
avoid them.
Have nothing
to do with
them.
Turn away
from them.
If they
don't respond
to that
gentle
instruction
with repentance,
if they
persist in
living wicked
lives like
this,
avoid them.
They're going
to cause
hurt and
harm to
others.
They oppose
the truth.
They are
men of
depraved
minds.
And as
far as
the faith
is concerned,
Paul says,
they're
rejected by
God.
Turn away
from them.
I think
verse 9
is especially
helpful for
us knowing
why Paul is
sharing all
this with
Timothy.
In verse 9
he says,
but they
will not
get very
far,
because as
in the
case of
those men,
their folly
will be
clear to
everyone.
So in
the long
run,
in the
grand scheme
of things,
don't worry
about these
kinds of
people,
these religious
pretenders.
They may
have some
momentum at
the moment.
They may
gain some
following,
their teaching
may spread,
but they
will not
get very
far,
because their
folly will
be clear to
everyone.
This is the
good news when
it comes to
false teachers
and religious
pretenders.
Eventually the
truth comes
out, and
all who belong
to the Lord
truly and
believe in
his name
will see
clearly that
religious
pretenders
and false
teachers are
not true
brothers and
sisters in
the Lord.
The fruit
that's being
produced as
the norm
in their
lives betrays
their profession.
And that's
why I think
Paul writes
all this to
Timothy.
It's so that
he and
us might
know what
are the
marks of
religious
pretenders and
false teachers.
Just as
Paul said
earlier in
the letter
after naming
Hymenaeus and
Philetus back
in chapter 2
verse 19,
everyone who
confesses the
name of the
Lord must
turn away
from wickedness.
Paul's saying,
Timothy, there's
going to be
more like
Hymenaeus and
Philetus in
the days ahead.
What you're
seeing now is
going to happen
a lot.
People will be
having that
outward appearance
of godliness,
but you'll know
that they're
imposters and
pretenders and
crafty deceivers
because they
will be those
who confess the
name of the
Lord, yet do
not turn away
from wickedness.
people who
live in all
manner of
sin.
Ultimately, you'll
know that
they're imposters.
You'll know that
they're pretenders
because you'll see
the foolish and
sinful attitudes and
behaviors that mark
their ways.
It'll be obvious.
The truth will
come out.
Then when you go
and bring that
gentle correction or
instruction to bear
on them, they will
resist it.
They will oppose
it.
They won't
respond.
They won't
change.
And so you, for
your part, at that
point, must turn
away from them and
have nothing to do
with them.
And so I believe
this passage is
here not so much
to help us discern
the times in which
we live, but to
help us discern
the people, the
teachers, the
influencers in
our day.
Are they
genuine or are
they imposters?
Finally, these
words are a good
reminder of how
we are to be
different as true
followers of Jesus,
of how we're to be
set apart and
holy.
I mean, look at
this list, these
descriptions.
It's an awful
description, but now
flip them the other
way around.
This is what the
true follower of
Jesus looks like.
Not a lover of
themselves, but
lover of others.
Not a lover of
money.
Greedy, but
content.
Not boastful and
proud, but humble.
Not ungrateful, but
grateful.
Obeying their
parents.
Holy, loving,
forgiving, speaking
the truth about
others.
Self-controlled,
gentle, loving
what is good.
Loyal, and
ultimately at the
bottom there, loving
God more than
anything else.
may the Lord work
powerfully within
us to make this
so in our lives.
Let's pray.
Father, we thank
you for this
sobering warning,
and we know that
you're coming.
We know, Jesus, that
your return is soon.
You said so in your
word.
Lord, we do look
out at our world
with alarm, and
it is hard to
live in a world
that is full of
these things, and
we know that
before we came to
know you and
believe in your
name and were
saved, we
participated.
And so we
thank you for the
encouragement and
assurance you give
us.
We thank you that
at the end of
everything, those
that you have
called and chosen
will not be
ultimately led
astray and
deceived and
missed the way.
So long as we
keep our eyes on
you, Jesus, and
we ask that you'd
help us to do
that, to stay
fixed on you, to
love you more
than anything else,
more than life
itself.
Do that in us,
we pray, and show
through us your
goodness and your
grace to the world.
In Jesus' name,
amen.