Soldiers for Christ: 2 Timothy 3:1-17

mostly. Gene said my priorities are in order. Don't you love the creativity of people? One of the great truths of the Christian faith is that people, all people, are made in God's image. we see it when we go to places like the Vatican where we can see the great artworks of history I can remember walking into the Sistine Chapel and looking up at the ceiling to see the work of Michelangelo that is there on the ceiling and I sat there and wondered how can a human being do something so creative and beautiful it's because they're made in the image of God we see the image of God or hear the image of God to Mozart and the intricate melodies he has, or when we listen to Eric Clapton on the guitar, even Jimi Hendrix. You remember Jimi Hendrix? Some of my generation. I mean, you see God's image breaking through in that creativity. I see it when I watch Louise paint a picture of art, the watercolors. You see it in little children as they are so inventive in their forth, you see the image of God breaking through in all sorts of ways. But there's another truth taught by the Christian faith, that that image has been terribly marred by human sin.

And that sinfulness is going to become more and more evident as we are in these last days. It's not a subject that we humans like to discuss that much, but if we ever forget the dark side of humanity, we cut out the reason that the gospel is so important. So today we're going to take a look at the dark side. Let's don't forget the image of God, but let's remember and be prepared for the dark side that we will see in human beings, particularly in these last days. Let's read 2 Timothy chapter 2, excuse me, chapter 3, 2 Timothy chapter 3, and let's read the first nine verses together.

You with me? 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, 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 them Paul says they are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth just as Janus and Jambres Moses, so also these men oppose the truth, 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. Lord, this day as we come to your word, help us to be willing to listen attentively. Help us to understand the conditions of life that we as believers will face in these last days. But knowing those conditions, may we be prepared, may we be ready, may we stand firm. For us in Christ's name we pray. Amen.

Let's review quickly. In our study of 2 Timothy so far, I would summarize the three main themes that we have studied so far are these. First, we must have courage if we're going to be soldiers for Christ. Secondly, we must train faithful soldiers whose greatest desire in life is to please King Jesus. And those faithful soldiers can then train other faithful soldiers. And thirdly, last week, we learned that if we're going to be soldiers for Christ and make it in this enemy occupied territory we must have pastors and teachers who cut straight paths with God's word so that the cancer of false teaching does not spread in the church and now today we're going to ask the question how do we as the body of Christ stand firm in these last days you see that Paul starts verse 3 saying there will be terrible times in these last days. Now let me comment on two words, two or three words right there. Terrible. The word terrible indicates that the last days will be times of great hardship, great difficulty, even dangerous and perilous So body of Christ, when we talk about living in the last days, we're talking about living in times that are dangerous and perilous times.

Now when are the last days? In the New Testament, the last days typically mean the period of time from the first coming of Christ until his second coming. We get this, for example, in Acts 2.17 where Peter is preaching And he quotes an Old Testament passage that says, 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. So the last days are the days in which the Lord pours out his Spirit on all people. And particularly at Pentecost, we see that happening, don't we? The pouring out of God's Spirit on people from all sorts of places. the spirit goes to the Gentiles. Hebrews 1 2 says but in these last days he has spoken to us by his son whom he appointed heir of all things and through whom he made the universe. So the sense seems to be that with the coming of Christ we have these last days beginning. So it's not necessarily that Christ is returning tomorrow but we are in the last era of human history before God sets all And he started that process of setting all things right with the sending of his son, Jesus Christ, through whom people can have salvation.

So we are in the last days, folks, if we live in this era since the first coming of Christ. To be sure, at the end of those last days, just before Christ's coming, things may get even more perilous, more dangerous, more difficult for the body of Christ. But we're already in that era of the last day. So we need to take note right now and hear what Paul is telling Timothy because we need to hear it because we're facing the same things that Timothy faced. The thing that we need to be particularly prepared for as we enter these last days is we need to be prepared for the character and conduct of people who will oppose true Christian faith.

That's letter B in your handout under Roman numeral 3. The context, remember, that we're in is that there are false teachers in the church in Ephesus. They're spreading false doctrine. And the people that Paul is describing to Timothy that have all these terrible characteristics are really the people who are not people who completely deny all religious notions. These aren't people who deny God completely.

we're in the context of people who claim to have some relationship to God, who claim that they know things about God. They have a form of godliness, but they deny its power. You see, that's what Paul says in verse 5. The people he is describing are not just people who completely deny the things of God. These aren't the absolute people who would call themselves pagan.

These are people who would call themselves religious. Do you hear what he's saying? Sometimes when we start to hear this list of bad characteristics, we say, oh, those people aren't religious people. He must be talking about people who are completely apart from the things of God. No.

He's saying these are people who have a form of godliness, but they deny its power. So it may be true that people who are completely pagan, who say, I don't even believe in God, may have these characteristics. What's even more dangerous, even more insidious, is that people who claim to know God, who claim to be religious, will have these characteristics. How can somebody have the form of godliness but not its power? How can it be that you are religious but then don't have any power to your religion or that you have all these bad characteristics?

Well, let me give you some examples or some ideas of what I think, how you can be religious and deny the power of true religion. There are some people who elevate their view of what is right and true above the word of God. They claim to be religious, but they were religious in the way they think religion ought to be. They believe that human reason triumphs over God's revelation. they are people who believe that Jesus was a good man but he was not the God man they are people who believe that yes Jesus has been resurrected in my heart but he has not been resurrected from the tomb and there are many who attend our churches today who claim to be religious who say they know the resurrection power of Jesus in their hearts but still will not affirm that he has been raised bodily and physically from the dead.

They are people who believe that talk of human sin is depressing and should be avoided because the reality is that the solution to the human condition at root is more education, not conversion. They are people who say that we don't need a cross any longer and that communion really should not be observed that often focus on things that are sort of demeaning to the human condition they are people who say yes god exists but he is a helpless spectator as the events of this world unfold and he didn't have much to do with how you and i got to be here he was not the creator they are the people who say that yes salvation is found in christ but there are many other paths to heaven as well and the form of godliness but deny its power would say you know really our bodies are just our own and we can do with them as we think best not as god says we should there are many today folks who are religious who who engage in the outward ritual of church attend church but they deny the essential power of the message of the Bible because they deny its essential truths. So do you hear how somebody can have a form of godliness but deny its power? They are people who love certain things. And in these last days, there are three loves that I submit will predominate among people.

And I've given those to you in your handout. What do people love? Paul gave us a long laundry list of characteristics of these people, but there are three things if you read the whole list that they love. They love self. That's the first blank.

They love money. And they love pleasure. They love self. They love money. And they love pleasure.

Individualism, materialism, and hedonism. In the last days, that's what people will love. Now, to be sure, there is a view of self that is right in Scripture. We are to have a sense of self-worth, are we not? We are wonderfully made creations.

We are to have a sense of self-worth as people because we are creations of the Creator. but there is a real distinction between a sense of self-worth and self-love scripture condemns self-love and the notion there when it condemns self-love is it is condemning a self-centered selfish attitude that says i come first it is me first in every situation i am on the throne and anything that gets in the way of me being on the throne, I'm going to try to run around or do away with. When the scriptures say love your neighbors as yourself, it is not promoting self-love. You sometimes hear that, I have to love myself in order to love my neighbor. That's not what scripture is saying there, I submit.

What it is saying is this sinful love we turn toward ourselves. We love ourselves first. Christ is saying quit loving yourselves first. And all that love you're showering on yourself, you need to start directing it somewhere else. You need to turn it and direct it toward your neighbor.

So human self-love, we're going to see it in the last days. Me first. It doesn't take long to read the newspaper or long watching TV to see that love of self is at a great height in our culture. it not we come first and anyone who would dare say we should not come first and get exactly what we want needs to get out of my way a second love is of money to be sure there is a right view of money in scripture money is a tool of which we are to be good stewards but we are never to love money money is never to be our master and in fact the scriptures make it clear you cannot love both God and money. It is impossible to love both God and money. Now many of us Americans think we can. We think we can love God and our money. The reason we can't love both is they make competing demands that are irreconcilable. Jesus says I come first, you seek after me first. Money says acquire me, get me, seek after me. If you love money, it will substitute for love of God.

And we see many in our culture who are so wrapped up in the pursuit of wealth and stuff that they have lost what should be their first love, their love of God. Thirdly, pleasure, hedonism. To be sure, Scripture says there is a kind of pleasure that is right and appropriate. The pleasure that is found between a husband and wife in marriage. The pleasure that we find in nature.

the joys of life that we can have in children and family. But what is being condemned here is the love of pleasure that says, I will seek pleasure any way I want, anywhere I want, no matter what boundaries I must cross. It's the kind of idea that says, even if it's the love of a man, and I'm a man, if I want it, I'll take it. That kind of love of pleasure comes first. any boundaries to get whatever it wants to give pleasure. So do you see what a proper biblical view is of self, money, and pleasure, but then in these last days, these loves predominate in an unbiblical way. Most of the sins of humanity can be put under these three headings, love of self, love of money, and love of pleasure. Most of the sins will fall there, and in fact, most in our passage for today say that out of the love of self, all of the other vices listed follow.

If you love yourself, you're going to seek after that money just to have what you want. You're going to seek after pleasure any way you want, just to have it the way you want it. So love of self is at the real root of the problem in these last days.

This is not very pleasant stuff for us human beings, is it?

But mark my words, Not only do we see it already in our culture, this is going to get worse. Satan and his ambassadors will try to convince us that put this self-centered selfishness is really right and good and appropriate. And after all, you deserve whatever you want. It is an unbiblical, ungodly view about life. These people who love self, love money, love pleasure, do not love the good or God.

And they have let these lesser loves substitute for what should be good and for the love of God. Anything that substitutes for the love of God or gets over, predominates over the love of God, is wrong and evil. But in these last days, love of God is going to be something that we see diminishing love of self, money, and pleasure increases. People who have these attitudes towards self, money, and pleasure behave in certain ways. And I've grouped the way they behave in categories here for you in your handout. They are boastful, proud, and conceited. They like to talk about themselves, think very highly of themselves. And the truth be known, they don't think many people are on their same plane.

It's very easy for them to spot the faults and difficulties and problems that other people have, but in their own eyes, they have few, if any, faults. They are abusive and slanderous. They have sharp tongues that will say mean-spirited things about other people, usually untrue. They are disobedient to parents and ungrateful. In other words, honoring parents and respect for parents in these last days will be something that we will see diminish tremendously.

Is that not true? Is that not true? Have we not seen that in our own culture? Disobedience to parents increasing and ungratefulness to those parents who have done so much to help and care for the children. We will see unholiness, unloving, and unforgiving people.

People who are without self-control and even brutal, running over people to get whatever they want, who are treacherous and rash, who will scheme and devise and do whatever it takes to get what they want.

These are not pretty pictures. But if we want to stand firm in the last days, Paul is saying to Timothy, you need to know what's coming. One way you stand firm is to be prepared for what you will face. We as Christians should not be surprised when we see outrageous behavior from other people, even people who claim to be religious. It's part of being and living in these last days.

There was a real specific example that Paul gave in Ephesus. It's starting in verse 6. about these false teachers who have these evil characteristics, and he says they're the kind of people who will worm their way into the homes of what the NIV calls weak-willed women to take advantage of them. Now, I've got to step back and set the context here. In Ephesus, apparently, if you read 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy, there was a real problem among the women in Ephesus.

Ladies and men, in Paul's day, women were second-class citizens. They had very little standing in the culture. With the coming of the Christian faith, women were elevated significantly. In Christ, there is neither male nor female. Women were put on a par with men in their relationship to God.

But there was a danger with that freedom, a danger that it would be abused, a danger that people would want to take what was good and make it something bad. And apparently in Ephesus, there were at least a strong core of the women who were grasping after power, who were grasping after seeking their own pleasure, doing what they wanted to do in a culture where they so often were not permitted to do what they do, what they wanted to do. And these false teachers who were lovers of money and lovers of pleasure took advantage of that. And apparently there were some of these false teachers who were getting into the homes where women wanted to learn, and they were teaching them false doctrines, and they were apparently being paid for their teaching. So they were able to pursue the love of money.

And secondly, they were apparently, at least in some instances, able to pursue the love of pleasure. An indication, apparently, there was some sexual immorality going on in the process. So Paul is essentially saying to Timothy, you can see the example of the last days right there in Ephesus. These false teachers seeking their own pleasures, teaching false doctrines, but getting their money and pleasure as they do so. They are like Janus and Jambres in the Old Testament.

You see that in verse 8? names of people who opposed Moses. If you go back and read the account of Moses, you know when he was doing some miracles before Pharaoh, there were some magicians in Egypt who came and did some quote miracles as well. They were opposing the truth and opposing the things of God. These men aren't named in the Old Testament, but by Jewish tradition, the names of two of the magicians who opposed Moses were Janus and Jambres. False teachers who were leading people away from the truth. That's exactly what the false teachers were doing in Ephesus in displaying the character of people in the last days. So how are we going to, if we know the danger of the false teachers and we know the danger of the character of people in these last days, what can we do to stand firm against being sucked into that kind of behavior or that kind of conduct.

Paul says to Timothy, he gives Timothy two ways to avoid being sucked in. The first begins at verse 10 where he says, You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecutions, sufferings. What kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra, the persecutions I endured,

Paul essentially says to Timothy, In these last days, don't forget my good example and follow it. now Paul is not a proud boastful person here Paul is probably in his 60s he knows he's near death he's just speaking candid truth to Timothy and he says you know when we're in difficult times we need role models to follow one of the best ways we teach our children isn't it is we say here's a model here's how somebody else dealt with this difficult circumstance or this difficult situation and we teach them stories about heroes and people who stood firm in difficult times and we teach them about how to be courageous and kind and to live right in right ways and Paul is essentially saying to Timothy I'm a model for what you should do and he gives him a list of things to remember and he gives that list there starting in verse um in verse 10 he says you know all about my teaching so remember my teaching what was paul's teaching his teaching was the gospel of jesus christ what was his way of life that's the second thing he says for timothy to remember his way of life was conduct that was pleasing to jesus christ he tells timothy to remember my purpose his purpose was the advancement of the gospel with single-minded commitment to remember his faith in Christ, his patience with all people and in all circumstances, to remember Paul's love toward people. Paul went to places where he was persecuted, imprisoned, yet it was because of love of others that he continued to preach the gospel. He tells Timothy to remember his endurance through all circumstances and to remember his persecutions and sufferings. And he points to his persecutions and sufferings in three places.

Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. If you go and read Acts 13 and 14, you can read about Paul's sufferings and persecutions in those cities. In Antioch, he was persecuted by the Jews for his preaching. In Iconium, they plotted to stone him. And then in Lystra, in Lystra, who was from Lystra?

Timothy. And I think Paul mentions this example because Timothy probably remembered as a young boy what happened to Paul. When Paul went to Lystra on his first missionary journey and preached the gospel, he was stoned. And they thought he was dead after he was stoned. They dragged him outside the city and left him there.

But he wasn't quite dead after all. but he says to Timothy remember what I've been through but how I've stood firm through that and you do the same you do the same endure to the end one of the great things scripture does for us I think is time and again point to people who have been examples of standing for the faith and it encourages us to be faithful as well you go read Hebrews 11 the hall of fame of faith the reason the Hall of Fame of Faith is there is to inspire us to be faithful people through difficult times. To be like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who refused to bow down to a false god. Like Daniel who even when ordered not to pray went ahead and prayed even though it meant he was going to be thrown in the lion's den. To be people like Moses who left the palaces of Egypt to go suffer with God's people to lead God's people. I know in my own Christian journey, it has been reading the stories of the martyrs that has so inspired me to see how people stood for faith through such difficult circumstances.

And those types of stories can inspire us when we face difficult circumstances, stories like Jim Elliott and other stories. So if we want to stand firm in these last days, we need to see the examples of those who have gone before and we need to follow them but lastly and this is letter d in your handout in these last days if we're going to stand firm in the faith we must continue in or imbide in and live by god's word read with me starting at verse 14 but as for you continue in what you have learned and have been become convinced of because you know those from who you whom you learned it and how from infancy you have known the holy scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in christ jesus all scripture is god-breathed and is useful for teaching rebuking correcting and training in righteousness so the man of god may be thoroughly equipped for every good work paul reminds timothy that timothy was brought up in the holy scriptures and he is to continue in those scriptures in these last days. The word there, I like to translate it as the word abide. Abide in the word. As Christ said, if you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples.

And the idea of abiding in the word means that on a continuous, long-term basis, we live in and are guided by God's word. The reason that Christians are so devoted to Holy Scriptures and the reason that Paul says you must continue in this Word in these last days is that we as Christians believe something about the Bible, about the Holy Scriptures. What does Paul say to Timothy about the Holy Scriptures? He says in verse 16 that they are God-breathed. and this is a crucial verse for those of us who view scripture as our authority because this verse teaches us that the bible is god's inspired word literally god expired the word and when we talk about scripture being god breathed we mean that god by his supernatural influence, direction, and guidance through his spirit guided the human authors as they wrote scripture so that the words of human authors, the human authors, were also God's words.

So inspiration is the guidance of the Holy Spirit as the writers of scripture wrote so that their words would be God's words. We talk about verbal plenary inspiration. Did I put that those words in your handout, verbal plenary inspiration, meaning it's not just that the writers of Scripture were like Shakespeare. They felt an artistic inspiration and started writing. We mean that the Holy Spirit guided and directed the writers as they wrote every single word of Scripture.

And it is for that reason, because we believe this book is not just another book. It is inspired by God that we hold it up so high in our teaching and preaching to other people. Scripture is important for a number of reasons according to Paul. It is of great value because it first leads us to salvation because it teaches us about the necessity of faith in Jesus Christ. That's what Paul says in verse 15.

It is of great value because it is so important for teaching. It is through the Scripture that we know the foundational truths about God, about ourselves, about life. It is useful for rebuking. One of the great and important things a preacher does with Scripture is he stands up, and this is sometimes one of the most difficult things he does, and he rebukes his own people. He says, Scripture teaches this, but you have strayed.

You are not walking in the ways of Scripture. And Scripture, the light of Scripture, is used as a rebuke, as a way to expose the faulty thinking or actions of the people of God. We need to be willing to listen to the rebuke that comes from Scripture. We need to be willing to look at ourselves and let the light of Scripture shine on us and expose or in our actions we fail to measure up. Scripture is important for correcting.

Scripture doesn't just expose our faults. It teaches us how to set things right. It teaches us how we are to live, how we are to behave. So we need to be willing not only to have our faults exposed, to hear the rebuke of Scripture, but then we need to take corrective action. We need to hear what Scripture says about how we are to live our lives where we are falling short so many people I have dealt with in my life particularly my legal career some of whom were many of them were church people hadn't let Scripture expose their faults or listen to the corrective teaching of Scripture how many much time and pain and agony people have suffered because they wouldn't listen to the corrective teaching of Scripture and follow what it said and lastly two other things Scripture is important for That idea of training is that the everyday working to mature in the faith by learning and following God's word.

And then lastly, it equips us for every good work. You want to be useful to the master, equipped for every good work, you've got to know the book and how it teaches us to live. Well, here are my lessons for life. Yes, sir. Question.

Oh, man, a question.

Okay, Tully, the question was, how do you answer the question? There have been different translations of this verse 16. All scripture is God-breathed or inspired by God is the translation given by the NIV. There are some who have argued it should be translated. Every scripture that is inspired by God is profitable for God.

isn't it to say all scripture is God breathed God breathed versus every scripture that is inspired which would imply that maybe some parts aren't I think it's this is a very technical answer in many ways you have to go and look at the Greek text and read it but it's pretty clear I think when you look at the Greek text that the inspiration is what is called a predicate nominative As opposed to an adjective. Meaning, a predicate nominative, you know what a predicate nominative is?

Boy, this is taking you back a long way, huh? Okay, real quick. A predicate nominative would be to put the word is in between. Scripture is God-breathed. because the God-breathed comes after that word is, it's a predicate nominative.

And it serves as an adjective. It defines scripture, but it is the predicate nominative. David is tall.

Or David is bald. You know, that's in the predicate. So the question is, where does the word is fall? Does it fall before the God-breathed or after? In the Greek text, there is no is.

supply it. But in the way the words are lined up in the Greek text, I think it is pretty clear that it is the is falls before the God breathed. And Paul's point in this whole passage is how high and strong and important the scriptures are.

And so his point wouldn't be to diminish scripture, every scripture that is inspired as if some is not. His action is just the opposite, to say every bit of it is inspired, therefore you need to follow it. The other reason we interpret it as is God breathed is there are other passages of Scripture that we can go to that again indicate the whole of Scripture is God breathed. So this is a fairly technical point. If you want me to deal with you further on that, I'll be glad to.

But just take it for granted. that in the Greek text, all Scripture is God-breathed is the best translation. Okay? Let me do my lessons for life very quickly here. What love motivates me most in life?

I can't answer that for you. You have to answer that for yourself. But begin to ask the question, what motivates me? What love? Am I being motivated by love of God, or is it that self, money, or pleasure?

Money should never be our master but only our servant.

C, remember, the first shall be last, the great shall be the least.

Be motivated to get away from that love of self and putting yourself first all the time because the first shall be last. D, let's listen to our words. let's begin to talk more humbly, kindly, and gently and to be less proud, pushy, and conceited. We need to begin to listen to what we sound like and what we say. When we get through with conversations with people I really think we need as Christians sometimes to go back and think, man, did I really say that?

We need to ask, how could I have said that more humble and gentle. E, parents, develop some system for teaching your children the scriptures and stick with it. You can't teach them everything in a day, but a little bit every day for how many ever years you've got them, 16, 17, 18 years, powerful impact if you're faithfully doing a little bit every day. Even if you're doing a little bit every week, if you do it week in, week out, over the long haul, you're going to have a huge impact. Don't ever, ever think that, oh, I've only got such a little bit of time today. If I only spend two or three minutes, it's not going to be worth anything. Those kids, a little bit each day over the long haul is much better than doing it one time a year it's easter let's sit down and talk about jesus and the resurrection that doesn't stick what sticks is the faithful day in day out f we should not be surprised or shaken because people even religious people call evil good we've had recent examples of that haven't we in our own country episcopal church ordaining a practicing homosexual as a bishop G. We must daily examine our motives and actions against the light of Scripture.

I hadn't looked forward to this lesson in a lot of ways because I don't like talking about the dark side of humanity. But folks, it's there, and we need to be prepared for it.