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Maintaining Spiritual Traction in a Shifting Culture
Part 9
Facing the Future
2 Timothy 3:1-9
Bruce A. Hess
4/21/2013
Alright, let’s take out our Bibles now and turn in them, in the New Testament, to the book of 2 Timothy, chapter 3. If you don’t have a Bible, there should be one under a chair in front of you, you could take that Bible and turn in the back part to page 166 and you would be at 2 Timothy, chapter 3.
For all of us the future begins today. When we are facing the future, a believer, a follower of Jesus Christ, should always be a positive thinker. Whatever the situation may be in the world, whatever the circumstances may be in our life, we should always be a positive thinker, because God is large and in charge and we can never step outside of His providence. We can be a positive thinker because the victory has been won, the end has been determined. We can be a positive thinker because we have been adopted into God’s family, we have an inheritance ahead. There is a secure future for a believer in Jesus Christ. So, we ought to always be a positive thinker.
Yet we also have to be a realistic person. We live in a world that is perishing. Yes, this world has limited days. It is not going to go on forever. We need to be realistic because we live in a world that is spiraling downward. We live in a world where depravity raises its ugly head, illustrated by those events this past week in the Boston Marathon, when those two young men set off bombs that killed three people and maimed many.
You know what I found was interesting about those events? It is fascinating to me how easily surprised people are that such a thing would happen and yet Scripture is so clear as it says in Jeremiah 17:9 that the human “heart is more deceitful than anything else and is desperately sick.” We shouldn’t be surprised when things like that happen.
We are involved in a study of the book of 2 Timothy. It is a study we have entitled Maintaining Spiritual Traction in a Shifting Culture. The title of today’s message is Facing the Future. Today we are going to get a last days alert and it is very vital that we have this, because we need to stay anchored to God’s perspective as life happens and as the pathology of society goes awry. So, that is our goal, to stay anchored to God’s perspective.
We want to look at the first nine verses of chapter 3. I would like to read those verses. If you have your Bibles open or turned on, follow along as I am reading. Paul says, “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; avoid such men (such people) as these. For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of depraved mind, rejected in regard to the faith. But they will not make further progress: for their folly will be obvious to all, just as Jannes’s and Jambres’s folly was also.”
Now, in these verses we have before us today, we have a divine autopsy on the sinful human heart. We have depravity on parade. The future for you and for me is a future where we will experience this kind of an environment. Part of what Paul is saying to us is, don’t be caught off-guard.
Our plan today involves two things as we unpack these verses. First of all, we are going to look at the distortion of character in verses 1-5. Secondly, we are going to look briefly at the danger of false teachers in verses 6-9. Let’s dive right into it.
Look at verse 1. Very interesting connective, he says, “But realize this…” In the original language this is a very clear command. The NIV translates it, “Mark this,” the ESV says, “Understand this,” and it is in the original language what is called a present tense, that means that this should be an ongoing awareness for us. It is not like one day we are aware of this and another day we’re not. If I could choose a translation, I might translate it this way, “Be ever mindful.” Always be in touch with this reality. “Realize this, (be ever mindful), that in the last days…”
What does that mean, the last days? That phrase ‘the last days,” is used in two different ways in the New Testament. I want to look at them. The first way that it is used is to describe the final days before the return of Christ.
Keep your finger in 2 Timothy, turn several books to the right, to the book of 2 Peter, chapter 3. We see the phrase ‘the last days’ used here to describe the very final days before the return of Christ. 2 Peter, chapter 3, verses 3 and 4, he says, “Know this first of all,” verse 3, “that in the last days,” he is referring here, again, to these final days before the return of Christ, “mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming?” You know, His second return, the second coming, “For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation” In other words, they’re saying, ‘Hey, it’s been centuries since Jesus left and you say He is coming back, centuries and centuries and centuries and centuries. When is He coming?”
So, sometimes when you see the phrase, ‘In the last days,’ it is referring to those final days before the return of Christ.
There is a second way that phrase ‘In the last days,’ is used in the New Testament and that is, it is used to describe the inter-advent age. What do we mean by the inter-advent age? Well, advent means coming, you had the first coming of Christ and then you have the second coming of Christ. So, the inter-advent age is all of the time between when Jesus came the first time and then was ascended back up into heaven and He comes the second time. We see the phrase, ‘In the last days,’ used in that sense, in the book of Hebrews, in chapter number one. Notice verse 1, it says, “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets,” He is talking about the Old Testament era, “in many portions and in many ways,” here it comes, verse 2, “in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things.” Now, when he uses the phrase, ‘In the last days,’ here he is not talking about just those final days before the return of Christ, when people are saying, ‘Well, He is never coming back.’ He is talking about the inter-advent age. You had the Old Testament but now, God speaks to us through Christ and that is a description of the last days.
So, when you go back to 2 Timothy, chapter 3, and he says, “Realize this,” be ever mindful, “that in the last days,” what is he talking about? I believe he is talking about, primarily, that second meaning. The inter-advent age. After all, he is warning Timothy about this and Timothy is not one who is going to be living in the final days, just before Christ returns. He is warning the Ephesian church. He is warning all the believers over the centuries. He is warning us. He is basically saying this, ‘We are in the fourth quarter of spiritual history,’ even though it has been a period of time. We are in the final leg of the race towards the climax of history. I think he is carrying about a discussion here of the last days, referring to the whole inter-advent age, but let your eyes go down to verse 13.
It says, “But evil men,” evil people that we are going to see described earlier in the chapter, “and imposters,” we are going to see them also being described. Notice what it says, “Will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.” This is going to be somewhat true of the whole inter-advent age, but what he is saying is, it is going to go from bad to worse as you move along. It is going to pick up greater intensity. There is going to be an intensity that will be much greater in those final days before the return of Christ.
So, “Realize this,” be ever mindful, “that in the last days difficult times will come.” This word here that is translated ‘times,’ is a word, in the original language, that means ‘epics,’ it means ‘seasons.’ Part of what he is saying is, throughout the church age, this inter-advent age, there is going to be particular seasons. In particular, epics, when things are going to get to be very difficult and it will have greater intensity as the end nears, as we escalate our approach to the second coming.
Be ever mindful “that in the last days difficult times will come.” The NIV translates this, interestingly enough, “Terrible times will come.” It is an interesting word; it is only used two times in the New Testament. The only other time it is used is in the gospel of Matthew in the eighth chapter, to describe two men who were demon possessed. Difficult times, terrible times, we could translate it ‘vicious times.’ If I were going to pick out a word, I would probably pick out the word, ‘menacing.’ Be ever mindful that in the last days menacing times will come, there will be epics and seasons where things will be very menacing.
We are going to take a look at this and I have to say this is not necessarily a fun passage, but it is indispensable. It is essential if we are going to stay anchored as we face these times.
That leads us to the first major thing, part of our plan today; we want to look at the distortion of character in the last days. We see a list here and it is a list of nineteen characteristics. It parallels another list that Paul gives in the book of Romans, chapter 1, verses 28-32. You can go and look at that list. Some of the same terms are used. What he is going to point out here are nineteen characteristics of the last days in terms of character and as we review through this list this morning, he is going to be giving a divine autopsy on the human heart.
Here is what I think is important for us to do as we work through these nineteen characteristics in the next few moments. I think each of us should do this. As we are hearing these characteristics, we should reflect on what we see in the world today. What are we seeing in the world today?
Secondly, I think we should contemplate where, perhaps, we, in our own character, are being squeezed into the mold of the world. Not only do we just want to see what is going on in the world, but maybe we are being squeezed into this kind of character in some way or another.
He says, be ever mindful that in the last days menacing times will come. For men, for people, will be lovers of self. That is where it all starts, being lovers of self. Ultimately, the world’s problem is not the weather, it is not global warming. The world’s problem is not cancer, it is not disease. The world’s problem is that people are lovers of self. They have bought into the ‘me’ agenda. They have a fancy word today called narcissistic. Somebody who is narcissistic is just a lover of themselves. They just call their own shots [acts as if in charge, make all the decisions]. They just chart their own course [make their own plans]. It is all about them. This is the core of depravity and depravity spreads out from there.
Notice he goes on to say, in the last days people will be lovers of money. Sometimes people misunderstand what the Bible has to say about money. The Bible considers money to morally neutral. It is just a matter of what you do with money or the affection you have towards money that is the issue. 1 Timothy, chapter 6, verse 10 says, “The love of money is the root of all sorts of evil.” Luke tells us in the gospel of Luke, chapter 16, verse 14, it is just an interesting little phrase, it says, “The Pharisees were lovers of money.” That is a mark of depravity.
This was an issue at Ephesus, you will remember that is where Timothy is and Ephesus was a prosperous, very prosperous, commercial center. There was a lot of wealth there. It is an issue in our culture because we live in a prosperous place and isn’t it interesting, you cannot go a week where you don’t hear about or read about or see that people have been lying and cheating and stealing and embezzling. Why do they do that? Because they are lovers of money.
In the last days, number three, it says that people will be boastful. That’s just a word that means to magnify yourself, to exaggerate your ability, to exaggerate your accomplishments. People who are boastful are know-it-alls. Do you ever run into those folks? You know, we have some people in our extended family that are like that. Just know-it-alls. They are boastful. In I Corinthians, chapter 1, verse 31, says, if you are going to boast, boast in the Lord. Brag about God, you don’t brag about yourself.
In the last days people will be, number four, arrogant. A very interesting, picturesque word. It takes the word, in the original language, for ‘to appear’ and then it adds the word, ‘over’ and connects it together. See the picture? Someone who is arrogant appears over other people. Someone who is arrogant is haughty; they think they are better than others.
Remember the Pharisee in Luke, chapter 18, verse 11? He was having his little prayer time with God and he says, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people.’ That is arrogant, that is haughty. You know, someone who just has great joy when they look in the mirror and they are thinking, ‘Look at how impressive I am, just look at me. I am so wonderful.’
Because people will be haughty and arrogant, number five, they will be revilers. The NIV and the ESV translate it, ‘abusive’ they will treat other people with contempt. They will disregard the value of others.
In the last days, he says, we need to be ever mindful that people will be disobedient, number six, to parents. It may be a little surprising that that one even shows up on a list of depravity, but what is interesting is, if you cross reference the list in Romans, chapter 1, the same phrase pops up. People will be disobedient to parents, it is a high-handed violation of the fifth commandment, where we are to honor our father and our mother. See, someone who is disobedient to parents really, it is ultimately again, in fact it is on the level of lovers of self, it’s all about you. That is why you reject counsel, that is why you fail to show courtesy and respect.
By the way, I think this attribute taken with the next one, number seven, ungrateful, makes up what we might call the Beavis and Butthead [adult animated television show about two teenage delinquents] syndrome, disobedient to parents and ungrateful. It means unappreciative. Someone who is like this thinks, ‘I deserve all this stuff. I deserve people to do things my way.’ The mentality becomes that other people exist for your benefit.
In the last days, it says also, number eight, people will be unholy. The New Living Translation translates it, ‘they consider nothing sacred,’ they have no sense of decency. Now, let me ask you, do you see that in the culture today? That there are people who consider nothing to be sacred, they have no sense of decency.
In the last days, number nine, people will be unloving. The ESV translates it, ‘they will be heartless.’ It is a particular kind of heartlessness. It is a heartlessness that goes towards those they are related to. Isn’t that interesting? Being unloving and being heartless, we see that with husbands in the way they relate to their wives when they batter their wives. When there is verbal and physical abuse. They are being heartless; they are showing heartlessness. We see it with parents and their children when parents mistreat their children, some parents even, in the name of Jesus, beat their kids up. Being heartless, heartlessness.
In the last days people, number ten, will be irreconcilable. Literally, it says in the original, they will be without truce. They are unforgiving. They are unyielding. There is no compromise. You screwed up; you are forever in the doghouse [in trouble] with me.
In the last days, number eleven, they will be malicious gossips. Literally, it means ‘to speak evil about other people,’ someone who takes pleasure in verbally running people down.
In the last days, number twelve, people will be without self-control. You know, here we go, here we go, if that’s not descriptive of folks today…there is no self-restraint in their life at all.
In the last days people will be, number thirteen, brutal. Very interesting word, in the original language it takes the word for ‘tamed’ and adds an alpha-privative in front of it. The total opposite of being a tamed person. Someone who is brutal, someone who is savagely ruthless, which is exactly what those two marathon bombers were.
In the last days, it says, number fourteen, people will be haters of good. It is interesting, in Titus, chapter 1, verse 8, when it is talking about qualifications of elders and overseers in the church, one of those qualifications is that they are to be a lover of good. They are to be an advocate for that which is worthwhile and beneficial and honorable. Well, here we have that exact phrase, being a lover of good and again, you have that alpha-privative put in front of it. Haters of good. Haters even, of things that are beneficial, haters of things that are honorable.
We have people running around today, and you start talking about wanting to protect the unborn and they think you are the stupidest person on the face of the planet. They are haters of good. Or even protecting marriage, standing up for marriage, in Hebrews, chapter 13, Paul tells us that we are to hold marriage in high honor. If you do that, and you have people who are haters of good, they are coming after you because marriage is something that is worthless to them.
In the Old Testament, in Isaiah, chapter 5, verse 20, God says, “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil.”
In the last days times are going to be menacing and number fifteen, people will be treacherous. They will be a traitor. It is the opposite of being loyal. Someone who is treacherous will actually feign friendship with you in order to enrich themselves, in order to enhance their position. It is interesting how, in the Scripture, basically it tells us this, we are to worship God, we are to love others and we are to use things. But our depravity makes us distort all of that so we end up worshipping our self, we end up loving things and we use others. When that happens there is spiritual disaster, not only in your own individual life, but in the life of other people and the life of the culture.
In the last days people will be reckless. The NIV translates it, ‘they will be rash.’ It means ‘to be hasty with your speech, hasty with your action,’ it means that people will be impulsive, they are going to take wild chances without any concern for consequences. I see that happen so often. We are in a college community and I watch people approach marriage out there at these various marriage getaways and a lot of people are reckless, they are just rash, they just marry too quickly, you know, really think about everything they need to think about marriage.
Then, I am also seeing that people get re-married too quickly. They don’t do any kind of an autopsy of what happened in the previous relationship, this relationship falls apart for whatever reason, and we just go out and we do it all over again. Often times ending up in serial marriages, it is just reckless, it is rash.
We see people doing that by jumping into deep debt. We just keep handing our plastic cards to people until suddenly, whoa, we didn’t think about the consequences of all of this. Part of depravity.
In the last days people will be conceited. The ESV translates it, ‘swollen with conceit.’ They have an exaggerated view of their own importance and their own intelligence. It reminds me of a story of Oscar Wilde, who was returning to England, and going through customs. As he went through customs he said this, ‘I have nothing to declare but my genius.’ He wasn’t joking, he was serious.
In the last days, it says, number eighteen, people will be lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. What is really interesting, in the original language there is a play on words [similar sounding words] that Paul does here. He says, ‘They will be lovers of pleasure, philedonos versus philotheos. P-h-i-l-e-d-o-n-o-s rather than philotheos, the word for God. In the last days people will be philedonos rather than philotheos. They are going to choose personal pleasure over pleasing God. You know what is interesting to me is, sometimes people, outside the faith especially, but sometimes even Christians, think, ‘Well, if you are going to love God that means you have a life without pleasure.’ No, no, no, no, no.
David points out in Psalm 16:11, he says this, “You (God) will make known to me the path of life.” God will put you on the path to know how to live life rightly and He says, “In Your presence is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are pleasures forever.” It is not if you love God you have no pleasure, but in the last days people will be lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God because they are into the short-term, they are not thinking about the long-term.
Then, the final one, the final characteristic, number nineteen, is found in verse 5. In the last days people will hold to a form of godliness. There will be this appearance, this sort of resemblance, almost this little masquerade about godliness. They might be running around wearing sacramental robes, they might be going to church on a fairly regular basis, they may have some Bible knowledge, they might be able to talk the talk to appear godly. We have a particular individual in our extended family who is exactly like that. Perfect description of him. They hold to this, sort of, appearance of godliness, but they have denied its power.
In Titus 1:16 it says, “They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him.” They deny its power, where is the power? The power is in the gospel, it is embracing the person and work of Jesus Christ.
In Romans 1:16 it says that the “gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” and they have this general appearance of godliness, but they are totally disconnected from the gospel. Having reviewed through those nineteen marks of depravity he has a very short, very strong statement he makes at the end of verse 5 and that is, “Avoid such men (such people) as these.”
This is a command to you and to me. It is a very strong term. The NIV translates it, ‘have nothing to do with’ people like we have just listed out in those nineteen characteristics. The New Living Translations says, ‘stay away from’ people like that.
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:33 that “Bad company corrupts good morals.” We need to steer clear of folks like this.
There is a saying that says, ‘People are known by the heroes they crown.’ Let me ask you a question, who are the heroes you have in your life? Who are the heroes you might associate with by way of the media, even in movies? Television? In the music realm? Stay away from people like this, he says.
So, the first thing he is letting us know is, in the last days there will be a distortion of character.
Secondly, in the last days there will be the danger of false teachers. In verses 6-9 we are going to go through this really quickly. Look at verse 6. You have these nineteen characteristics of depravity and he says from that world of depravity, “from among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses.”
From all of these depraved people you are going to see, some of them are going to enter into homes. It is very sneaky, it is words that means they are going to creep in, they are going to worm their way in, they are going to be very insidious. It says they are going to captivate weak women. Now, we need to pause for a moment and just underscore, he is not downgrading here, women as a whole. He is not saying that men aren’t also susceptible to false teaching because we are. What he is doing here is, he is addressing a historical reality that was going on in the city of Ephesus. In that day women had a very limited education, if any. Very few women were actually employed. We learn from I Timothy, chapter 5, that there were many widows, older women, who were in Ephesus. What these false teachers were doing was targeting vulnerable women, verse 6, women who had been weighed down by sins, who were led by various impulses. You remember that Ephesus was an incredibly pagan, sensual city. What the false teachers were doing was, taking advantage of the problems that these vulnerable women had. These are women who were “always learning and never able to come to a knowledge of the truth.” They were women who were open minded to any religious racketeers who might show up.
It reminds me of my dear grandmother. I remember I would go and visit my grandmother and we would talk and I would say, ‘What’s going on? What are you learning?’ And she would tell, ‘Oh, I’ve been watching these TV evangelists. I’ve been watching so-and-so and so-and-so,” and she just swallowed their appeals. She is writing checks to them and I am saying, ‘Grandma, don’t do that. That individual is not a legitimate individual. Here [as I would explain] are the Biblical reasons why I say that. Don’t send them money.’ When I would come back and visit her again, she maybe stopped with that one and she has picked up with another one. That is the kind of thing these guys were doing. Taking advantage of vulnerable women.
In verse 8 he says they are just like Jannes and Jambres. You ask, ‘Who are those guys? Where do they show up in the Bible?’ You know, their names are not actually in the Bible, but the Holy Spirit here, sovereignly identifies them. We learn from this verse, and also from tradition, that it says that Jannes and Jambres were some of the Egyptian magicians who mimicked Moses’ miracles in Egypt. They are described as of depraved mind and rejected in regard to the faith. In other words, these false teachers are rejected due to a lack of merit. What they do and what they teach does not stack up with the word of God.
Have you ever wondered…I do this all the time…have you ever wondered, why does God allow all these false teachers out there? Anybody ever thought that thought? Sometimes I just wish we had this big video game and I could just push the destroy button, poof, they’re all gone! That would be cool. Maybe you even think, sometimes when you see what false teachers can do, that, could it be that the church might even be overwhelmed by these dudes? We have an assurance, given to us in verse 9, that that is not going to happen. It says these false teachers “will not make further progress; for their folly will be obvious to all.” The New Living Translation translates it this way, “They won’t get away with this for long, someday everyone will recognize what fools they are, in the end they are going to be shown to be frauds just like Jannes and Jambres were.”
See, at times it may seem like they are winning, and they may be misleading certain people, but Jesus made a very clear statement. He said, “I will build my church. Even false teachers will prove not to be fatal to the gospel.” See what he is saying here? He is saying that in the last days depravity is going to worsen. In the last days false teachers may prosper.
I love the way Chuck Swindoll puts it, ‘Divine truth always prevails. In the end God wins. Joseph did live to see justice roll down. Pharaoh did finally let the Hebrews go and they did cross the Red Sea safely. Gideon’s three hundred men did prevail against a vastly superior army. David did defeat his enormous blaspheming foe, Goliath. Daniel did survive the lion’s den. Nehemiah did rebuild the wall around Jerusalem against incredible opposition. Jesus’ resurrection did follow His crucifixion and a handful of ordinary men, called apostles, did turn the world upside down.
We need to be aware, but we don’t need to panic at all. By the way, in the rest of chapter 3 we are going to get some more keys to staying anchored in the last days. But it will be a couple of Sundays before we get there.
I want to talk about, as we close today, some life response we can have from this section of Scripture.
Here is the first one. Remember, the reign of evil is temporary. Evil’s days are numbered. Even evil people’s days are numbered. One day, as it says in 2 Thessalonians, chapter 1, verses 7-9, “One day Jesus is going to be revealed with His mighty angels, He is going to be revealed to deal out retribution to those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel and they will pay the penalty of eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord and the glory of His power.” What is happening is, this depravity and evil is temporary. We need to remember that.
Secondly, second life response that we can have is, evaluate who we associate with. Who are our heroes, really? Even by way, again, of the media and movies and television and the music realm? Don’t have anything to do with the kind of people that are described here.
Third life response is to respond wisely. I would like to read out loud from Romans 13:11-14. As we do this, let’s please, just for a second, think of this as Jesus talking directly to us.
Time is running out, wake up, our salvation is nearer now than when we believed. The night is almost gone, the day of salvation will soon be here. So, remove your dark deeds like dirty clothes, and put on the shining armor of right living. Because we belong to the day, we must live decent lives for all to see. Don’t participate in the darkness of wild parties and drunkenness, or in sexual promiscuity and immoral living, or in quarreling and jealousy. Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And don’t let yourself think about ways to indulge in your evil desires.”
We need, men and women, in the last days, to respond wisely.
Let’s pray together. Father, we thank You again for the word of God. It actually gives me goose bumps. It is so real, it is so relevant, it is what we need. We need to be ever mindful of the kinds of things that can erupt in the last days. Father, we would pray that we would be men and women who just don’t go with the flow [just do what other people are doing] that we are not just influenced. Rather, we are men and women who respond wisely. For Your honor and glory we pray, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Questions for Reflection: (week nine)
–Identify some “menacing” examples of depravity in our culture. What could the potential influence be?
–Have you ever witnessed a “menacing” or terrible example of character in the church? Elaborate.
–Are there any media (TV, film, music) influences in your life than you may need to reevaluate? Remember, 1 Corinthians 15:33. (Are they worthy of being your “hero’?) Be honest!
–Misplaced love, Paul tells us, will be a significant issue in the last days. Specifically he mentions the love of self, the love of pleasure, and the love of money. To which one of these are you most vulnerable and why.
–How has false teaching crossed your path? What was your response? Have you ever been lured into it even for a season? Elaborate.
–Read Ephesians 5:15-18 and Colossians 4:2-6. In light of where the world is now, how then should we live? Make a short list.
–Thank God right now that no matter what the situation is in the world, or what your life circumstances may be, we never step outside of His providence; the victory is already won; the end has been determined. Because of Him we win!