Pay Attention

Introduction

Background - brief walk through 2 Timothy so far

Paul was writing from prison as he looked ahead and saw his execution on the horizon. Timothy had been stationed in Ephesus for some time and received this letter from Paul as a follow up to the first letter and as a plea to come visit before his death.

Throughout the letter Paul reminded Timothy about his role as a leader in the church by using themes of heritage and reliance on the truth.

Heritage is talked about in discussions about the received religious heritage from his mother and grandmother and Paul talks about the passing on of his teaching to the next generations of teachers. He’ll rely on this concept of heritage in terms of discipleship today.

Timothy is also to rely on truth. For Paul this is a lived-out truth, not just head knowledge. There are certain ways of life that ought to accompany the head knowledge of truth regarding Jesus and the good news. Paul will lean on the Scriptures to describe the truth in the passage we’re going to read today.

2 Timothy 3 ESV

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith. But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men. You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra—which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Main idea

The life we live will be impacted by the leaders we follow; either they will lead us to destruction or lead us to life.

We’re all be discipled by someone, we ought to be paying attention to their way of life to discern whether they should be given that privilege.

We pick up on things that people around us do and say. Have you ever noticed how your language changes in different settings? You’ll use a particular type of language at work versus at home, or you’ll pick up the character of the language of the people you’re around.

In those circumstances the people are discipling, training, us to speak a certain way whether we realize it or not, whether they realize it or not.

Living a life of faith in Jesus requires learning and training, this is what discipleship is. There will be things that we pick up from those who are discipling us and things that will need to be trained and developed.

Paul provides parallel but opposite examples of what discipleship can look like as he describes the false teachers and their handling of the truth versus his own model and and handling of truth in Scripture.

For Paul, the last days refers to the time from the completion of Christ’s redemptive work until his return. Often we think of the last days in terms of the future, but it is really about right now. For Timothy, the last days were today, and even today the last days are today. We are living in the same era, the last days in which are times of difficulty.

Paul uses the greek word chalepos to describe the hard times that will come in the last days. The CSB renders it “hard times”, but we could also think of it as dangerous times. Its in these hard times that the last days are revealed. In these dangerous times, there will be wicked people, the scary thing is that these wicked people are not outside the church, but within. They would be professing Christians. The warning that Paul gives to set off this passage is just as important and relevant today as it was 2000 years ago when he wrote it to Timothy.

First, we need to pay attention to who we are being discipled by.

We are all being discipled by someone.

We are all being discipled by someone or something. Paul is reminding Timothy of this by describing the destructive behavior of the false teachers and then juxtaposing it with the model that he had left to Timothy over the many years of their relationship.

Description of the false prophets actions (v.2-5)

In verses 2-5, Paul lists 19 things that describe the actions and character of the false teachers. Commenters have searched for a sequence or some logical connection in the flow of the list, but it seems to be more exhaustive than anything else with not much organizational or sequential development. What is often pointed out is that the initial characteristic could be said to be the root of the rest. We’ll look at these and very briefly.

lovers of self - The center of gravity of a persons life is themself. When this happens any number of sins can result. Instead the gospel proclaims love of others (Rom 13:8 “Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.”)

Lovers of money - love of money is to make an idol out of it, and as Paul says in his first letter to Timothy the love of money is the root of all kinds of evils (LUKE 12:15 “And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”” )

Boastful - this is self-promotion that is aimed at increasing how people think of you in order to gain influence. (James 4:16 “As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.” )

arrogant - or pride. God’s opposition to the proud is axiomatic in OT and NT (James 4:6 “But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.””; cf. 1 Pet 5:5)

abusive - speech that maligns people or God; (Matthew 5:38-45; James 3:6-8 “And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.” )

Disobedient to parents - violation of Commandment #5 which is affirmed by Jesus (Matthew 15:4ff)

ungrateful - Give thanks is a refrain in the Psalms particularly in 136.

unholy - to be unholy is to fail to take on the God-resemblance that gospel reception and transformation bring about (1 Peter 1:15-16 “but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”” ).

heartless (without love lit. bereft of natural affection) - God is love, to be one of God’s people is to love Him and love others (Matt 22:37-40)

Unforgiving - person refusing reconciliation of a grievance or disagreement even when reconciliation is attempted by the other party (Ephesians 4:32; Colossian 3:13)

slanderous - related to the word for the devil, deals with abusive or accusatory type of language; works as a synonym to abusive and unforgiving in describing one’s ungenerous posture toward another

without self-control - not able to show restraint where restraint ought to be demonstrated; instead we are to be disciplined (Titus 1:8, Galatians 5:23)

Brutal - savage, untamable, unmerciful, cruel

Not loving good (NIV: not lovers of the good) - deals with public good or acting in the interest of others (Phil 2:3 “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.”)

treacherous - word used to describe a betrayer: Judas and those who stoned Stephen as betrayers of the Righteous One Acts 7:52)

reckless (NIV: rash) - behavior that is reckless and hasty, often dealing with speech. This is correlated with the fool of Proverbs (LXX) with several proverbs using this greek word to describe fools

Swollen with conceit (NIV: conceited) - those overly impressed with their own knowledge (1 Corinthians 8 deals with the misuse of knowledge to shame others or give yourself liberty)

Lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God - those that enthrone their own self-gratification (Eve taking the fruit because it was a delight to her eyes). Paul presents a clear dichotomy. You can either be a lover of pleasure or lover of God, which will you be?

Having the form of godliness but denying it’s power - outward appearance (see Rom 2:20 for similar use); false believers using their “godliness” to mask their true character

The summary statement of having the form of godliness but denying it’s power are talking about people who are able to play the part of Christian, especially in the company of other church people, but their character is truly rotten in other contexts. These are people who are using their religion to cover their terrible character. They will eventually show themselves for who they really are, because out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.

So I’m going to stop for a second and ask, would we be surprised by your character when you’re not in the church building? Are you using your religion to cover your bad character? If we saw you interacting with your coworkers, friends, family, or neighbors would it look like the religious mask you wear on Sunday? Or is what we see at church, what we would get in every other area of life?

The power that they denied is the power that God gives us to change our lives to reflect Christ’s character. Its the Spirit of God that gives us power, love, and self-discipline; its the Spirit of God that helps us persevere in suffering for the sake of the gospel. This power is denied in the life of those who merely have the appearance of godliness, but inwardly are wicked. Jesus described the Pharisees this way in calling the whitewashed tombs in Matthew 23:27-28 ““Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”

Paul commanded Timothy: avoid these people.

Paul’s desire is that there would be a continuity between the godliness shown with the church and what is actually happening inside. Some theologians call this integration. When your life is integrated, your character is the same across the spectrum of a person’s life.

Description of Paul’s model (v.10-13)

In contrast, Paul offers his life as a positive example that Timothy has familiarity with. He uses that familiarity to drive the point home. He also uses a list in this case. There are 9 positive characteristics that Paul gives here:

9 Items:

teaching - breadth and depth of the body of Paul’s convictions

conduct or way of life - Paul’s conduct as a result of living in accordance with the way of his teaching

aim in life or purpose - the will to live out the implications of Jesus being Messiah

faith - the personal commitment to Christ that Paul had andTtimothy shared (faith that is believed; faith that is lived would likely fall under #2 above)

patience - Paul’s steadfastness to wait through trial with God by his side

love (agape) - Paul’s life was compelled by love (2 Cor 5:14)

steadfastness (NIV: endurance) - Paul was steady and endured hardship, Timothy will need to be reminded of that example

persecutions - Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra are all cities from Paul’s first journey. Lystra was where Timothy was from (Acts 16). Paul was stoned in Lystra (Acts 14) and then was taken alive back into the city. Timothy likely saw the fresh wounds and how Paul reacted to those who stoned him.

sufferings (passions) - often connected to Christ’s sufferings: “Paul is commending to timothy one of the hardest and yet noblest aspects of Christian belief: Jesus’ followers do not add to what Jesus did for them on the cross, but they are called to live out the implications of the cross in their daily lives.”

These nine items are recalled in order to stabilize and strengthen Timothy’s own resolve as he faces these opponents in real time.

As Paul moves to strengthen Timothy, his own life is not just an abstract example. Timothy had lived with Paul for many years, this short list of things would have recalled many events that confirm the truth of Paul’s statement as Timothy watched them happen in real time. Paul’s discipleship of Timothy included seeing these characteristics played out in real time and served as a training ground for Timothy. Paul is drawing on this. He’s reminding his disciple to follow the way of the master.

This is what discipleship looks like. It’s not based on a program, a small group, or even participation in the church. Discipleship is being relationally connected with someone who is ahead of you so that you can see a model of what it looks like to live out the way of Jesus. There are too many Bible scholars and teachers and church members who know all about the Bible and Jesus, but because they never had an intentional relationship with someone who modeled behavior in line with Jesus, they are still racked by the sins that they were plagued with before they were decided to follow Jesus. Their character look more like verses 2-4 rather than 10-13.

Who is discipling you? Who’s life are you watching closely? Are you watching how they disciple their family, treat their wives or husbands and kids? Do you see how they handle conflict at work or with neighbors? Have you sat down with them to read the Bible and pray? Have you seen them engage with their enemies? These are things that truly form our character that we can’t learn no matter how many books we read. The best way to learn how to live is to observe someone’s life. I encourage you to find someone to be discipled by.

There’s a curious little aside that Paul adds in this section about persecution.

2 Timothy 3:12–13 ESV

Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

God’s presence and carrying us through hard times cannot be stressed enough or overstated. It is literally the hope of the resurrection. But at the same time, we live in America, a christian nation, we rarely experience persecution.

The Letters to Timothy and Titus (2 Timothy 3:12)

K. Greene-McCreight has written tellingly on contemporary martyrdom. She draws effectively on the church father Jerome: “Not all Christian martyrs lose their lives in their witness. In the fifth century, St. Jerome made a distinction between different types of martyrs. Red martyrs (or wet martyrs) are those who lose their lives for the sake of the name of Jesus. They are ‘red’ because their own blood was spilled in their refusal to deny Christ. White martyrs (or dry martyrs) are those who embrace the cruciform life in the humdrum of their own daily walk. For most of us, our lives do not require the shedding of our own blood.” “Everyone … will be persecuted” is not a mystery in too many Christian enclaves worldwide today. Those believers are under duress, and none is exempt.

(She goes on to say): Suffering is simply part of our fallen condition. It is already part of our lives. Afflictions surround us: loss of loved ones, failing health, dashed hopes and dreams. When we place this suffering at the foot of the cross, we may be able to point beyond ourselves to the God who redeems our griefs and draws us into the light of his presence. We might in this way serve as white martyrs, signposts and witnesses to Christ. This kind of living into our afflictions can forge in us gifts of patience, hope, compassion, and peace that can witness to Christ in powerful ways. Thus we can give voice to Christ, who went to the cross in silence.

In other words, persecution and suffering does not necessarily mean the end of our physical life because of Jesus, but rather the little deaths we experience in our lives. The little deaths are things we give up to follow Jesus, the seemingly needless suffering of loved ones or even our own illnesses, or even death of a loved one. Living a godly life in Christ will involve many, if not all of those things, but we have hope. Hope that Jesus is with us. Hope that in the end, things will be made right. In the meantime, we can trust that Jesus is with us and his compassion burns for us as we suffer, his compassion burns because he too has suffered. We worship a God who lost a parent, was rejected by his own brothers, was mocked and brutally murdered. He is able to sympathize with us in our sufferings. And because of this we are able to endure with hope.

If you are wondering what your suffering and loss is for, let me urge you to consider that Jesus was with you through it and is wanting you to know his love for you in it.

We have the Truth, what will we do with it?

Description of the false prophets use of the truth (leading astray and opposing it) (v.6-9).

Paul says this about the false teachers: 2 Tim 3:6-9 “For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith. But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men.”

To Paul it was clear that the manipulative tacts were out of line with proper wielding of the truth and were rather opposing the kingdom of God and the progress of the gospel. These men were using sneaky manipulative tactics to gain a following.

They were weaseling their way into households and had particular favor with a certain set of women. Paul categorizes them as weak women, the NIV and CSB translate it as gullible women. The women are being played by the false teachers who are preying on their past sins or desires. It’s possible that these women are the young widows mentioned in 1 Timothy 5 who were often insecure socially and financially. They would be easy targets for the false teachers. They would be rather easily swayed by the honor and prestige of being associated with a powerful teacher and because the teachers were not teaching truth, what they were always learning could not lead them to the truth let alone acknowledge it. Instead they were always learning, but unable to arrive at the truth.

Yarbrough says this:

The Letters to Timothy and Titus (2 Timothy 3:7)

To learn is a mark of a disciple (a word that means “learner”) of Jesus. But learning under Christian auspices should lead somewhere. Paul describes a situation in which people are “always learning” but “never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.”

Arriving at the knowledge of the truth requires a change in action that agrees with that truth. A changed mind is observed through changed actions.

Paul goes on to make a comparison to some unknown characters: Jannes and Jambres.

According to Jewish tradition, these names were given to the sorcerers of Pharaoh’s court. In the Exodus account of the plagues on Egypt, magicians stood beside Pharaoh and performed signs similar to those that Moses performed.

Jannes and Jambres received judgment because they fought against the truth of the Lord through Moses. They opposed the truth. Paul correlates the two groups as being corrupted in mind, or having a depraved mind. Their ability to assess truth had ceased to function, their faith, whatever it was, was worthless. They were disqualified.

This word disqualified is the antonym of the word used in the previous chapter to describe an approved worker, one who is genuine. Paul is saying that these false teachers, like Jannes and Jambres, were disqualified, or disapproved, regarding the faith.

He finishes by declaring that just as Jannes and Jambres’ folly was clear to the Egyptians and Israelites in Exodus, so the false teachers’ folly will be clear to see eventually. While these false teachers had access to the Truth and may have known some of it, the Truth was not able to saturate their lives and lead them to a life that reflected the truth. Their folly would bring about their destruction.

Description of the inspiration and usefulness of Scripture.(v.14-17)

Timothy on the other hand was to rely on scripture, not in a manipulative way, but to wield it properly.

Paul reminded Timothy that his heritage brought him to the Scriptures at an early age. Surely, he had in mind Lois and Eunice, his mother and grandmother mentioned in chapter 1 verse 5 as well as those in the Lystra synagogue, but also Paul himself.

Timothy is to hold to or remain in what he has learned. This is a call to more than holding to orthodox teaching, but a commitment to live and abide in what he’s learned. We’re looking at the joining of knowing and doing.

Being a Jewish boy, Timothy was instructed in Torah starting at age 5. He would have memorized Torah and then some of the prophets and writings as well. In having such a depth of knowledge, Paul describes that the scriptures are able to make one wise for salvation because they point to Christ who is the Truth. This is in contrast to the teaching of the false teachers who were probably abusing Scripture to pad their comforts.

Paul made the bold claim that the scriptures make one wise for salvation through faith in Christ. For them, the scriptures were our Old Testament. When meditated on, the Scriptures (our Old Testament) set the conditions for faith in jesus because they point to that which Jesus fulfills in totality. The Scriptures don’t provide salvation in themselves, they point to the one who can provide it.

It is in the Old Testament that we are made aware of the creator, our condition, God’s plan to restore the earth, the messianic hope, and what faith that leads to righteousness looks like.

Verse 16 is one of the most important verses that defend the inspiration of Scripture by God. Many books have been written and continue to be written about it. Paul doesn’t describe the mechanics of it, he simply states it’s the case. Lea and Griffen say this about the word theopnuestos which is translated inspired or God-breathed.

1, 2 Timothy, Titus 2 Timothy 3:16

The idea the term presents is that God has breathed his character into Scripture so that it is inherently inspired. Paul was not asserting that the Scriptures are inspiring in that they breathe information about God into us, even though the statement is true. The Scriptures owe their origin and distinctiveness to God himself. This is the abiding character of Scripture. In affirming the inspiration of Scripture, Paul declared the fact of inspiration without discussing the process by which inspiration took place.

In stating that scripture is inspired, Paul goes on to give 4 ways that the Scripture can be rightly wielded.

First they’re for teaching. The work of the pastor, the work that Timothy was to do, was one that required teaching. It involves many strategies and sources, but the foundation of Christian teaching is the Scriptures. From Scripture flows doctrine.

Second, they are useful or profitable for reproof or rebuke. For many pastors and leaders, this can be one of the hardest things to do. Reproof refers to the type of rebuke that exposes the errors of false teachings or sinful behavior. It demonstrates that a sinner that they are wrong and is tied to the third use.

Third is correction. It is unloving to tell someone they’re wrong, but not show them how to correct their behavior or mistake. Correction clarifies the point of the mistake and leads them to correct thought and action.

Finally, Scripture is profitable for training in righteousness. The word translated training denotes a system of discipline used by a parent to develop a particular type of character. In this sense, it describes the discipline that leads to a holy lifestyle.

Paul presents Scripture as a guide for all of life and particularly how to deal with opponents. The Scriptures help us learn the truth of the gospel; expose false teachings, attitudes and beliefs; correct our beliefs and actions to be in line with the truth; and instruct us how to live lives that are pleasing to God through faith and partnership with Jesus. But to do that we have to have familiarity with Scripture and let it saturate our thoughts.

When we have thoughts saturated with the truth and live lives that are informed by the Truth we become complete, or refined. We become in a fit shape or condition, ready to do whatever it is that God calls us to perform. Paul describes this as “every good work.”

God created mankind to partner with him in being the rulers over the earth, to have dominion over the earth according to his wisdom. God in turn has saved us from our sin and death in order that we would partner with him to accomplish his task of dominion over the earth. The response of the follower of Jesus is to partner with him to accomplish what God has set out for us to do. We don’t gain salvation by doing the good works, we respond to what God has accomplished and is continuing to accomplish in us by doing the things he sets in front of us.

It means doing our job as A partnership between us and the Lord, by working as unto the Lord and not to men. It means parenting using the wisdom that God gives, not by trusting in manipulative or damaging tactics that may bring about quick fixes. It means loving the people that God has placed around us and showing compassion to those who are hurting and on the outsides of society. It’s a response to what God has done, not a way to get God to do something.

Application

Pay attention to the way of life of those you let influence you

familiarize yourself with Scripture and what it teaches

Train by the power of the Spirit to act in line with Scripture’s teachings