2 Timothy 3

1-9 10-17

1-9

1

The last days that Paul is writing about is not some far off time, he is talking about now. The time period between the first and second coming of Christ, this Church age and in this age there will be times of difficulty. Another blow to the name it and proclaim it twisting of the gospels. While we in this time have more copies of the Bible in more languages than the first century Christians probably thought possible, the word is ignored and minimized more and more in main stream culture. What follows from verse 2 through verse 4 was true in Paul’s day and is true today.

2-4

The list starts with the main and root cause of all that follows. People will be lovers of self, the unsaved and fallen heart lives only to please and love the self. Me first and a lot of the time me alone. 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. All of that list flows from the first, lovers of the self and culminates at the end of the list with a general summation of all of it. Lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.

5

All of the false teachers fall into this category, like the scribes and Pharisees before them, they have the appearance of godliness but ultimately deny its power because they at the heart are lovers of themselves and of pleasure rather than lovers of God. Paul’s advice is sound, avoid such people. Paul is not saying that they are too evil to be saved or too far gone to be given the gospel, but do not associate with them, they are not your friends, those that try and spread the devil’s lies as truth are not concerned for your soul but only of what they can get, amass and obtain in this world and care not for the eternal.

6

False teachers pray on those weak in virtue, weighed down with the guilt over their sinful lives, not repentant, but eagerly looking for the lies that seem like comfort and excuse and condone sinful living and sin filled lives.

7

Cults and false religions instilling in their victims more and more “knowledge” but never any truth. Teaching to the point of brainwashing people with all manner of works based man centered “spirituality” as an escape from the light of Christ and the repentance of their sin.

8

Jannes and Jambres are not mentioned in the Old Testament but there are a couple of theories on who they were. One is that they were the magicians that Pharaoh pitted against Moses and Aaron in Exodus 7-9. Jewish tradition may also say that they were pretenders among the Jews and instigated the creation and worship of the golden calf in Exodus 32. But Paul’s mention of them shows that there have been, from the very beginning of the bible, those who apposed and tried to deceive God’s people.

9

But God is sovereign and these false teachers will not get very far and their lies will be plain to see for all God’s people, and if Jannes and Jambres were the magicians or the instigators of the golden calf worship, their folly was plain to see as well, either they suffered the fate of the Egyptians in the plagues or were destroyed with the rest of the idolaters at Mount Sinai.

10-17

10

Paul commends Timothy saying that he has been faithful and has followed his teachings, conduct, direction for life, faith, patience, love, and steadfastness.

11

Paul mentions several of his persecutions and sufferings that he has gone through, at Antioch where the Jews stirred up the people and had him run out of the district, Acts 13:50 “But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city, stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district.” In Iconium when again the Jews this time stirred up the Gentiles and plotted to have them stoned, Acts 14:5–6 “When an attempt was made by both Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to mistreat them and to stone them, they learned of it and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the surrounding country,” And Lystra where the Jews did convince the people to have Paul stoned. Acts 14:19 “But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead.” But from all of these persecutions and more the Lord has rescued and protected him, giving him the strength to endure.

12

Paul then states it very plainly, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, not may be or could be, will be persecuted.

13

And while those who desire to live a godly life are persecuted, those who do evil and spread a false gospel will go on and on and get worse and worse, until the return of Christ.

14-15

But Timothy as well as all of us need to continue with the faith, in our knowledge of the true and living God, read, meditate and study the sacred writings, the Old and New Testaments which make us wise in truth and reveals the salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.

16

All scripture, from Moses writing Genesis to John penning Revelation, all of scripture is breathed out by God. Men put pen to paper but God had the guiding hand, revealing the truths and his will to divinely inspired authors. The bible does not contain the words of God, the bible IS the word of God, all of it. And all of if is profitable, it is worthy, it is good for teaching, for teaching us and for us to teach others about God’s will, for reproof, the basis and bedrock standard that is used to identify sin, our own sin and sin in others to bring repentance, for correction of false gospels or the twisting of the meaning of the gospels, and for our own training in righteousness, our sanctification.

17

So that we, Christians, can be complete men and women of God, not lacking in any knowledge about the mysteries of salvation, equipping us to do good works that are pleasing and acceptable to God, works that are done for the glory of God alone.