When Self Takes the Throne
Notes
Transcript
Scripture
Scripture
1 You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times.
2 For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred.
3 They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good.
4 They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God.
5 They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!
INTRO
INTRO
Every generation seems convinced they're living in the worst of times.
Our grandparents talked about wars.
Our parents talked about cultural change.
Today we talk about moral confusion, political division, violence, anxiety, and a world that seems to be spinning faster than anyone can keep up with.
It doesn't matter where you turn.
Turn on the news.
Open social media.
Listen to conversations at work.
Walk through the grocery store.
Everywhere you look, something feels...off.
Sometimes it almost feels like the world has lost its bearings.
Now here's what's interesting.
Paul wasn't surprised.
Nearly two thousand years ago, writing from a Roman prison cell, knowing his life was coming to an end, Paul writes one final letter to his spiritual son Timothy.
If this were your last letter...
If these were your final words...
What would you choose to say?
Paul could have written about anything.
He could have written about church growth.
Leadership.
Evangelism.
Prayer.
Instead...
He begins chapter three with a warning.
Not a suggestion.
Not an opinion.
A warning.
Listen to how urgent it sounds.
"You should know this, Timothy..."
Other translations convey this using terms like,
"Understand this."
"Realize this."
"Mark this."
Here's Paul's point.
"Timothy...
Don't miss this.
You cannot afford to misunderstand what I'm about to tell you."
Because if we don't understand what's happening around us...
you'll eventually become part of it.
YOU HAVE TO KNOW THIS
YOU HAVE TO KNOW THIS
The Greek word Paul uses here to express “you need to know this” is ginōskō.
It's a word that means far more than simply knowing or accepting information.
It means to truly perceive.
To recognize.
To understand at the deepest level.
This isn't the kind of knowledge you gain by reading a textbook.
This is the kind of knowledge that changes the very way you live.
Paul isn't saying,
"I've got an interesting fact for you."
He's saying,
"Timothy...
This truth needs to get into your bones."
Church Family...
The same is true for us.
This isn't simply information for our minds.
This is preparation for our hearts.
Because if we don't understand the days we're living in...
we slowly begin believing that these days are normal.
We'll stop noticing what God notices.
We'll stop grieving what grieves the heart of God.
We'll start calling darkness...
light.
We'll start celebrating the very things Scripture warns us about.
That's why Paul says...
"You have to know this."
THE LAST DAYS
THE LAST DAYS
Then Paul tells us what we need to know.
"In the last days there will be very difficult times."
Now whenever people hear the phrase "last days," minds immediately jump to prophecy charts...
Long studies into the book of Revelation…
Timelines...
And while those things matter...
that's not Paul's focus here.
The New Testament consistently teaches that the last days began with Christ's first coming and will continue until His return.
Peter stood on the day of Pentecost and quoted the prophet Joel, saying,
"This (this right here and now) is what was spoken about by the prophet Joel"
Some of that emphasis was my own
In other words...
The last days had already begun.
Which means Paul wasn't describing some distant generation.
He was describing every generation of believers—including ours.
Church...
We've been living in the last days for nearly two thousand years.
But Paul says something else.
These days...
will be difficult.
Some translations say...
Terrible.
Hard.
Perilous.
Dangerous.
The word doesn't simply describe inconvenience.
It describes something fierce.
Something spiritually dangerous.
This isn't just talking about hard economic times.
Or political instability.
Or natural disasters.
Paul is talking about a culture where truth becomes blurred...
where evil becomes celebrated...
where sin no longer hides in the shadows.
Haven’t you noticed...
People don't blush anymore.
What previous generations hid...
our generation advertises.
What once brought conviction...
now brings applause.
Isaiah warned of a day when people would call evil good...
and good evil.
I don't know about you...
but that sounds painfully familiar.
Yet here's something we need to remember.
Paul wasn't writing this so Christians become afraid.
He was writing so Christians would become alert.
There's a difference.
Fear paralyzes.
Alertness prepares.
Jesus never promised His followers an easy world.
He promised His presence in a difficult one.
So Paul says...
"Know this."
"Understand this."
"Don't be surprised."
Because when we understand the times...
we're far less likely to be shaped by them.
II. THE ROOT OF IT ALL
II. THE ROOT OF IT ALL
So what makes these days so dangerous?
Paul doesn't begin with war.
He doesn't begin with government.
He doesn't begin with violence.
He doesn't even begin with false religion.
He begins with something much closer to home.
Listen again to verse two.
"For people will be lovers of self..."
Stop there.
Because if we rush to the rest of the list, we'll miss Paul's point.
He could have started anywhere.
Thing of this with me…
Iut of nearly twenty descriptions...
this (Lovers of self) is the first one.
Why?
Because every other sin on the list grows out of this one.
It's the root.
Everything else is fruit.
It's almost as if Paul is saying,
"If you understand this one sin...
you'll understand every sin that follows."
Now let me make something very clear.
Paul is not condemning healthy self-worth.
Pastor Stevie did a great job explaining this last week, but I will repeat this much;
Some people hear the phrase "love yourself," and immediately feel guilty.
But Scripture teaches something different.
The Bible tells us that we are fearfully and wonderfully made.
It tells us we were loved before we ever loved God.
It tells us Christ died for us while we were still sinners.
If you're here this morning carrying shame...
believing you're worthless...
wondering if anyone could ever love you...
hear me.
God loved you first.
Before you ever cleaned yourself up.
Before you ever came to church.
Before you ever deserved anything.
The cross settled that question forever.
You are deeply loved.
So Paul isn't talking about learning to see yourself the way God sees you.
He's talking about something entirely different.
He's talking about making yourself the center of your life.
There's a world of difference between knowing you're loved by God...
and believing your life is all about you.
Here's the danger.
Every heart has a throne.
Every single one.
Something...
or Someone...
always sits there.
Think about the throne of your heart right now…
Someone or something sits there on the throne of your heart…
Someone or something is lord of your life.
That is what gets your attention,
your love,
your interest,
your worship,
your finances
The question isn't whether you worship.
The question is what you worship.
And when Christ is seated on that throne...
life begins to find its proper order.
Relationships make sense.
Money finds its proper place.
Success no longer defines you.
Pleasure no longer controls you.
Everything begins to orbit around Jesus.
But...
when self climbs onto that throne...
everything changes.
We stop asking,
"What does God want?"
And we begin asking,
"What do I want?"
We stop asking,
"What brings Him glory?"
And we begin asking,
"What makes me happy?"
Slowly...
almost imperceptibly...
our lives begin orbiting around ourselves.
Church...
this is the oldest temptation in human history.
Go all the way back to the Garden.
The serpent never convinced Eve to hate God.
He simply convinced her that she would be better off making her own decisions.
"You can be like God."
In other words...
"You sit on the throne."
Every temptation since Eden has been selling the exact same lie.
"It's about you."
Can I make a statement that may be uncomfortable?
Satan doesn't have to convince us to reject Jesus.
He only has to convince us to replace Him.
One preference at a time.
One compromise at a time.
One selfish decision at a time.
Become a lover of self.
Eventually, Christ slowly moves from the throne...
to the passenger seat.
We still acknowledge Him.
We still sing about Him.
We still pray to Him.
But we no longer surrender to Him.
That's what Paul is warning Timothy about.
Now here's what happens.
Once self takes the throne...
everything else begins to make sense.
The rest of the list starts to kick in.
People become lovers of money...
because money serves self.
People become proud...
because pride protects self.
People become arrogant...
because arrogance elevates self.
People become abusive...
because other people become obstacles to self.
Do you see the pattern?
Every sin in this list can be traced back to one question.
Who is sitting on the throne?
Because whatever sits at the center of your heart...
determines the direction of your life.
What you love...
shapes how you live.
What you worship...
determines who you become.
And Paul says...
The defining characteristic of the last days...
isn't merely that people become more sinful.
It's that people become increasingly devoted… to themselves.
The temptation is just to start pointing fingers at the culture...
But before we do that, let's pause.
Because this is where it's easy to miss the point.
It's easy to think about Hollywood.
Washington.
Social media.
The people who don't know Christ.
But remember who we said Paul was writing this letter to?
Paul isn't writing to Hollywood.
He's writing to Timothy.
A pastor.
He's writing to the Church.
So before we ask,
"Is this true of the world?"
Maybe we should ask a better question.
Is there any place...
where self has quietly taken the throne of my own heart?
Have I begun making decisions based more on my comfort...
than Christ's calling?
Do I value convenience...
more than obedience?
Have I started loving my preferences...
more than His presence?
Those are hard questions.
But they're exactly the questions Paul wants us to ask.
Because transformation never begins by examining everyone else.
It begins by allowing the Holy Spirit to examine us.
(Transition)
And once self becomes king...
Paul says something tragic begins to happen.
It doesn't stay in the heart.
It spills into every relationship.
It changes how we treat people.
It changes how we treat God.
It changes who we're becoming.
Let's look at what self-worship actually produces.
III. WHAT SELF-WORSHIP PRODUCES
III. WHAT SELF-WORSHIP PRODUCES
Paul doesn't give us this list so we'll become better at identifying sinners.
He gives us this list so we'll recognize what happens whenever Christ is removed from the center of a person's life.
Because sin never stays contained.
It always spreads.
Like a crack in a windshield...
Like leaven in dough...
Like cancer in the body...
It never says,
"This far and no farther."
It always grows.
That's why Paul begins with the root...
and then shows us the fruit.
Self-Worship Corrupts Our Worship
Self-Worship Corrupts Our Worship
Look at the first few descriptions.
"Lovers of self... lovers of money... proud... arrogant..."
Do you notice something?
None of these begin with actions.
They begin with affections.
What we love...
What we love...
determines how we live.
determines how we live.
Jesus said it this way:
"Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
Our lives always follow our loves.
If I love Christ...
my life begins to resemble Christ.
If I love myself...
everything begins revolving around me.
Money isn't just money anymore.
It becomes security.
Status.
Power.
Identity.
Pride isn't simply confidence.
It's believing I'm the measure of truth.
Arrogance says,
"I know better."
"I deserve better."
"I don't need correction."
Church...
Pride is dangerous because it's one of the few sins that blinds us while we're committing it.
Very few people wake up and say,
"I'm proud."
Pride always feels justified.
It whispers,
"You're right."
"They're wrong."
"You deserve this."
"They should appreciate you more."
It quietly feeds the flesh while convincing us we're perfectly healthy.
Can I say something that's become increasingly obvious in our culture?
We've confused confidence...
with self-exaltation.
The Bible encourages confidence—
confidence in Christ.
Confidence that we are loved.
Confidence that God has gifted us.
But biblical confidence always points beyond ourselves.
Worldly pride always points back to ourselves.
One glorifies Christ.
The other glorifies me.
Those are not the same thing.
Self-Worship Corrupts Our Relationships
Self-Worship Corrupts Our Relationships
Now the list begins moving outward.
Paul says people become
abusive...
disobedient to parents...
ungrateful...
unforgiving...
slanderous...
without self-control...
brutal...
treacherous...
reckless...
Notice what happened.
The heart problem...
has now become a relationship problem.
Because when I become the center of my universe...
other people stop being people.
They become obstacles.
Or tools.
Either they help me get what I want...
or they get in my way.
That's why selfishness is so destructive.
It doesn't merely hurt me.
It wounds everyone around me.
Families begin breaking apart.
Friendships become transactional.
Marriages become negotiations instead of covenants.
Churches divide over preferences instead of uniting around Christ.
Because whenever self sits on the throne...
someone else eventually gets sacrificed.
Think about how many of these sins grow from one simple question:
"What about me?"
Why should I forgive?
Why should I apologize?
Why should I serve?
Why should I give?
Why should I submit?
Every one of those questions assumes the throne belongs to me.
Jesus asked a different question.
"How can I lay down My life?"
That's the difference between the kingdom of God...
and the kingdom of self.
One grasps.
The other gives.
One demands.
The other serves.
One takes.
The other lays down its life.
Church...
You cannot follow Jesus...
while insisting your life revolves around you.
Self-Worship Corrupts Our Relationship With God
Self-Worship Corrupts Our Relationship With God
Then Paul reaches even deeper.
He says people become
unholy...
without natural affection...
lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.
Did you catch that comparison?
He doesn't simply say people love pleasure.
He says they love pleasure rather than God.
There's the issue.
Pleasure itself isn't the enemy.
God created laughter.
Celebration.
Food.
Marriage.
Music.
Rest.
These are gifts from His hand.
But gifts become idols...
when they replace the Giver.
Anything—even a good thing—
becomes dangerous when it occupies the place reserved for Christ alone.
That's why idolatry is so deceptive.
We imagine idols are little statues made of wood and stone.
But modern idols are much more respectable.
Comfort.
Success.
Entertainment.
Politics.
Sports.
Careers.
Even family...
can become an idol if it takes God's place.
An idol is anything that receives the affection...
the trust...
or the devotion...
that belongs to Jesus.
And here's the frightening part.
We rarely notice it happening.
Because idols never announce themselves.
They quietly ask for just a little more of our attention.
A little more of our affection.
Until one day we realize we've been pursuing God's gifts...
while neglecting God Himself.
Can I ask you a question?
When was the last time you simply wanted Jesus...
more than anything else?
Not His blessings.
Not His answers.
Not His provision.
Not even relief from your burdens.
Just...
Him.
David said,
"Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is nothing on earth I desire besides You."
Church...
That's the cry of a heart where Christ is still on the throne.
Self-Worship Corrupts Who We Become
Self-Worship Corrupts Who We Become
Finally...
Paul describes what all this produces.
Not merely sinful actions...
but a sinful person.
Reckless.
Conceited.
Hard-hearted.
These aren't isolated mistakes.
This is a life that's being shaped.
That's what sin always does.
It doesn't simply influence our behavior.
It forms our character.
Every decision...
every compromise...
every act of obedience...
is shaping someone.
The question is...
Who are you becoming?
Because no one drifts toward Christlikeness.
We drift toward ourselves.
Holiness is always intentional.
Selfishness is always natural.
Which is why Jesus said,
"If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me."
Notice what Jesus didn't say.
He didn't say,
"Improve yourself."
He said,
"Deny yourself."
Because the greatest obstacle to following Jesus...
is often the person we see in the mirror every morning.
(Transition)
(Transition)
But Paul isn't finished.
In fact...
he saves the most sobering warning for last.
Everything we've talked about so far...
we expect to find in the world.
What comes next...
we expect to find in church.
And that's what makes it so dangerous.
"They have the appearance of godliness... but deny its power."
Church...
those may be the most frightening words in the entire passage.
IV. THE GREATEST DANGER
IV. THE GREATEST DANGER
After all of those descriptions...
after pride...
after arrogance...
after selfishness...
after brutality...
Paul saves the most sobering warning IN VERSE 6 for last.
Listen carefully.
"Having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power."
Think about that.
Paul doesn't say they reject religion.
He doesn't say they're atheists.
He doesn't say they hate church.
In fact...
they look religious.
They know the songs.
They know when to stand.
They know when to say "Amen."
They know the language.
They know the Bible stories.
They know how Christians are supposed to act.
Outwardly...
everything appears to be in place.
But inwardly...
nothing has changed.
Church...
that should stop every one of us in our tracks.
Because appearances can be deceiving.
Jesus warned about this Himself.
He looked at the Pharisees and said,
"These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me."
Think about that.
Their lips were close.
Their hearts were distant.
Isn't that frightening?
It's possible to attend church...
without knowing Christ.
It's possible to sing worship songs...
without worshiping.
It's possible to know Scripture...
without surrendering to the Author.
It's possible to look alive...
while being spiritually dead.
That's exactly what Paul is describing.
Notice what he says next.
They deny its power.
What power?
The power of the Gospel.
The power of the Holy Spirit.
The power that actually changes a human heart.
Church...
Christianity has never been about becoming better behaved.
It's about becoming a new creation.
The Gospel doesn't simply improve people.
It transforms them.
It doesn't merely make bad people nicer.
It makes dead people alive.
That's the power Paul is talking about.
The same power that rolled away the stone...
is the power that rolls away our old life.
The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead...
now lives inside every believer.
So when Paul says people deny its power...
he's describing people who settle for the appearance...
without experiencing the transformation.
Can I say something that may be uncomfortable?
There is a difference...
between being around Jesus...
and belonging to Jesus.
Judas spent three years walking beside Christ.
He heard every sermon.
Saw every miracle.
Watched the dead raised.
Yet his heart never belonged to Jesus.
Being close to spiritual things...
is not the same as being spiritually alive.
And that should cause every one of us to examine ourselves.
Not our neighbor.
Not our spouse.
Not the person across the aisle.
Ourselves.
Paul isn't inviting us to become inspectors of everyone else's faith.
He's inviting us to ask,
"Has Jesus actually changed me?"
How would you know?
Not because you attend church.
Not because your parents were Christians.
Not because you know Bible trivia.
Not because you serve on a ministry team.
The evidence is transformation.
Do I love differently than I used to?
Do I forgive more readily?
Am I becoming more humble?
More patient?
More generous?
More like Christ?
Because the Gospel always leaves fingerprints.
If Christ is truly reigning...
people around you should begin seeing Jesus in you.
Not perfection.
None of us are perfect.
But direction.
Growth.
Repentance.
A life increasingly surrendered to Him.
Then Paul says something that almost feels shocking IN VERSE 5
"Stay away from people like that."
Wait...
Really?
Stay away?
Why?
Because influence is powerful.
We become like the people we continually allow to shape us.
You've heard it said,
"Show me your friends, and I'll show you your future."
Paul would agree.
He's not telling Timothy to hate people.
He's not telling him to avoid unbelievers.
If that were true, we'd have to leave the world altogether.
Jesus ate with sinners.
Jesus pursued the lost.
Paul's warning is different.
He's talking about people who claim Christ...
but continually reject His transforming power.
People whose lives quietly normalize compromise.
People who make holiness seem unnecessary.
People who convince you that following Jesus doesn't really require surrender.
Those voices...
those influences...
are dangerous.
Because they don't pull you toward Christ.
They slowly make you comfortable living without Him.
Then Paul gives us one final picture.
He says they're
7 always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.
What an incredible statement.
Always learning.
Always reading.
Always listening.
Always consuming.
Always gathering information.
Never transformed.
Church...
our world has more biblical content available than any generation in history.
Thousands of sermons.
Podcasts.
Books.
YouTube channels.
Bible apps.
Commentaries.
Christian conferences.
And yet...
information alone...
has never changed anyone.
Knowledge is wonderful.
But knowledge without surrender...
only makes us educated sinners.
God never intended His Word to stop at our minds.
He intended it to penetrate our hearts.
James says,
"Don't merely listen to the Word... do what it says."
That's the difference.
One collects information.
The other is transformed by it.
V. DON'T MISS THE WARNING
V. DON'T MISS THE WARNING
Church...
Can I just speak pastorally for a moment?
Because this passage has a way of making us look through the wrong end of the telescope.
We hear Paul's list...
and we immediately start thinking about someone else.
"That's our culture."
"That's Washington."
"That's Hollywood."
"That's social media."
But that's not why Paul wrote this.
He didn't write this so Timothy could diagnose Rome.
He wrote it so Timothy could guard his own heart.
Can I suggest something?
Maybe the greatest danger isn't what's happening out there.
Maybe the greatest danger is what can quietly begin happening in here.
In me.
In you.
In the Church.
Because here's how it happens.
No one wakes up one morning and decides,
"Today I'm going to replace Jesus."
It doesn't happen that way.
It happens one compromise at a time.
One neglected prayer.
One missed opportunity to obey.
One unchecked attitude.
One little sin we refuse to surrender.
One excuse.
One justification.
Until eventually...
the throne belongs to someone else.
Not because we rejected Christ...
But because we slowly stopped pursuing Him.
I've often wondered...
What if Timothy had read this letter and thought,
"That's interesting."
Then folded it up...
Put it on a shelf...
And went on with life.
Nothing would have changed.
Because information never changes people.
Obedience does.
That's why James says,
"Don't merely listen to the Word...Do what it says."
Church...
God didn't bring us here today to increase our Bible knowledge.
He brought us here...
to examine our hearts.
So let me ask you...
Not what do you know?
Not how long have you been a Christian?
Not how many verses can you quote?
Here's the question.
Who is sitting on the throne of your heart today?
Because somebody is.
Something is shaping your decisions.
Something is directing your affections.
Something is determining your priorities.
What is it?
Maybe for some of us...
it's comfort.
We simply want life to be easy.
Maybe it's success.
Maybe it's money.
Maybe it's our reputation.
Maybe it's politics.
Maybe it's entertainment.
Maybe it's our family.
Maybe...
it's simply ourselves.
Church...
Anything that occupies the place that belongs to Christ...
has become an idol.
Even if it's a good thing.
Now here's the beautiful news.
God never points out idols...
to shame His children.
He points them out...
so He can set us free.
That's the Gospel.
Jesus doesn't expose our hearts...
to condemn us.
He exposes our hearts...
because He loves us too much to leave us there.
Every warning in Scripture...
is an invitation to come home.
pause.
No movement.
No music yet.
Just silence.
Five...
maybe even ten seconds.
Let people sit with that.
Because silence preaches.
