2 Timothy 3:1-15
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Our Finest Hour
Our Finest Hour
1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:
Times of stress
Warning
28 When He had come to the other side, to the country of the Gergesenes, there met Him two demon-possessed men, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way. 29 And suddenly they cried out, saying, “What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?”
Before the time
The Last days are here
3 and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.
Orchestrated
How will the last days manifest?
Not Obvious or explicit
The last days reveals itself as outward immorality
2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
Characteristics of Godlessness:
Men will be lovers of themselves
PRIDE-The world has embraced this as a good thing
Life that will be centered in self
The moment you make your own will the center, divine and human relationships are destroyed
25 He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
The essence of Christianity is not the enthronement but rather the obliteration of oneself
No longer I who lives but Christ in me
2. Become Lovers of Money
Notice what happens when you fall in love with the tool
When the tool becomes your God
When it’s what your soul longs for instead of God
Timothy’s work is in Ephesus
Ephesus was the Treasure house of the ancient world
12 merchandise of gold and silver, precious stones and pearls, fine linen and purple, silk and scarlet, every kind of citron wood, every kind of object of ivory, every kind of object of most precious wood, bronze, iron, and marble; 13 and cinnamon and incense, fragrant oil and frankincense, wine and oil, fine flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and bodies and souls of men. 14 The fruit that your soul longed for has gone from you, and all the things which are rich and splendid have gone from you, and you shall find them no more at all.
What does your Soul long for?
3. Boaster or Braggart
Derivative or the greek work alazon
Meaning like a quack doctor
Or someone who promises solutions or ailments that don’t really work
Used it a lot to describe politicians
Socrates said “Much the greatest rogue of all is the man who has gulled his city into the belief that he is fit to direct it”
4. Blasphemers
We tend to think of blaspheme as an insult to God
Pride always begets insult
Insult to God is thinking you don’t need him or you can live your life how YOU see fit
The ultimate insult is thinking you know better than his word
5. Disobedient to Parents
Parental Duties in the Ancient world was a very serious duty
Honor your father and mother, Before murder
1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with promise: 3 “that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.”
It’s the single most important job we have as parents is to create obedient children
3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!
8 Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith; 9 but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was.
They were according to Jewish tradition the chief Egyptian magicians who went against Moses
Pharoah went back and forth with God
These guys really held Pharoah back from faith in the word of God
Self Help
False thinking: Power comes from within instead of Through God
10 But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance, 11 persecutions, afflictions, which happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra—what persecutions I endured. And out of them all the Lord delivered me. 12 Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. 13 But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, 15 and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
From Childhood he had a foundation that was not shaken
The world won’t like what your teaching and you’ll have persecution
Why did they persecute Jesus?
See what the world thought they wanted was Jesus when he was benefitting them
But when he didn’t fit the bill
When he didn’t look like the King they anticipated
When he didn’t say the things they thought he should be saying
When He told them to drop everything
When He told them to give up their lives
I will therefore chastise Him and release Him” (for it was necessary for him to release one to them at the feast).
And they all cried out at once, saying, “Away with this Man, and release to us Barabbas”—who had been thrown into prison for a certain rebellion made in the city, and for murder.
Pilate, therefore, wishing to release Jesus, again called out to them. But they shouted, saying, “Crucify Him, crucify Him!”
Instead of Dying to themselves they wanted to crucify our Savior
They cried out for something they were familiar with
They cried out for something that made them comfortable
Jesus was the Rock of offense
This Christian walk is about self denial
Perilous times will come because that’s what the world wants
They want their own way
What does this mean for the church?
14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. 15 For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. 16 But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
17 ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God,
That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
Your young men shall see visions,
Your old men shall dream dreams.
18 And on My menservants and on My maidservants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days;
And they shall prophesy.
19 I will show wonders in heaven above
And signs in the earth beneath:
Blood and fire and vapor of smoke.
20 The sun shall be turned into darkness,
And the moon into blood,
Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.
21 And it shall come to pass
That whoever calls on the name of the Lord
Shall be saved.’
When the world falls apart and it loses its mind
Guard rails an ethos
It becomes the churches finest hour
25 For David says concerning Him:
‘I foresaw the Lord always before my face,
For He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken.
26 Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad;
Moreover my flesh also will rest in hope.
27 For You will not leave my soul in Hades,
Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.
28 You have made known to me the ways of life;
You will make me full of joy in Your presence.’
12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.
We must grab onto the word of God just a little tighter
Dig your heels in just a little bit deeper this morning
that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Dear God, I am a sinner.
I’m sorry for my sin; please forgive me.
I believe Jesus Christ is Your Son
and that He died for my sins
I believe You raised Him back to life.
I want to invite Jesus into my heart
today.
I’m make your Lord of my life
In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.