In the Last Days

Introduction:

Up to this point, we have seen that God is calling Timothy through the ministry of the apostle Paul to entrust faithful men with the sacred Gospel of which they are to use, protect, and pass on. As they do this, they are to be mindful that within the visible local church, there will be dishonorable vessels, and false teachers who claim to be true believers and will deceive many.

Paul, as we saw last week, characterizes the true believers as those who flee youthful passions, and pursue Spiritual virtues, and disciplines, with the fruit of these pursuits as being the ability to correct their opponents with gentleness, thus allowing for the work of God to grant their opponents repentance and escape the snare of the devil.

However, as we get closer to Christ’s return, it seems that the presence of false teachers become more prevalent and obvious, taking on the same characteristics of those outside the church, and causing godly leadership to take more drastic steps to avoid and dissuade such activities in the church. This is Paul’s message to us tonight as we look at how the church is to respond to such activities in the last days.

Text: 2 Timothy 3:1-9

Main Idea: Because we live in the last days, we as God's people must expect false teachers in the church, and avoid them.

This is not the first time Paul warns Timothy of what to expect in the last days...

1 Timothy 4:1–2 ESV

1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, 2 through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared,

1. Understand: last days will be difficult for the True Church (v. 1)

Understand (ginosko) [pre, act, imp] - knowledge gained by experience through observation or the senses.

a) Time of difficulty

the last days - time from Pentecost to the return of Christ, as Peter began his sermon on the day of Pentecost by quoting from the prophet Joel (Joel 2:28-32) when he said:

Acts 2:17 ESV

17 “ ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams;

b) Reality of difficulty

Notice how infatic Paul’s words are…there will come times of difficulty.

For, an explanatory conjunction, transitioning into the explanation of what he means by difficult.

2. Corrupt: character of those disqualified in the faith (vv. 2-4, 6-8)

a) Begins and ends with misplaced love (v. 2a, 4b)

Love for self and not love for God characterizes itself in pride, disobedience, ungratefulness, unholiness

It is as if we could say that if these characteristics are prevalent in one’s life, it is symptomatic of misplaced love, in others, not loving God.

b) Appears godly but powerless (v. 5a)

The tragedy is that one with misplaced love can actually appear godly by some outward legalistic veneer.

denying (arneomai) [per, mid, par] - to disregard, to not recognize, its power, it is powerless.

This is to deny both the authority and work that is to go to God alone. Misplaced worship!

c) Misguides the weak into sin (v. 6)

Taking advantage of and seducing certain women

The ESV Study Bible Chapter 3

3:6 women, burdened with sins. Due to their guilt from their past, these women are particularly susceptible to both the asceticism (promoting artificial self-denial; see 1 Tim. 4:3) and the antinomianism (teaching that all sorts of sins are really acceptable; see 2 Tim. 3:2–4) set forth by the false teachers.

d) Relentless learners going away from the truth (v. 7)

Leading people away from the truth through their relentless learning, thus creating a following as an expert.

This is not new in the local church…we are constantly bombarded with experts who show us how to build the church through becoming seeker friendly.

e) Mimic but oppose the truth (v. 8)

Who are Jannes & Jambres?

The ESV Study Bible Chapter 3

3:8 Jannes and Jambres are the names given in early extrabiblical Jewish writings to the Egyptian magicians who opposed Moses in Ex. 7:8–13. In these writings, these men became key symbols of opposition to God’s truth. Though their names do not appear in the OT itself, they would be familiar to Timothy and other Jews; identifying the opponents with these archetypal enemies of God’s truth would have significant rhetorical power.

Notice that though they mimic truth and make swelling claims, these people do not have saving faith (disqualified regarding the faith), since they oppose the gospel both in their teaching and in their living (see Titus 1:16)

Titus 1:16 ESV

16 They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.

3. Respond: the True Church takes action against corruption (v. 5b)

The verb avoid (apotrepo)[pre, mid, imp], has two parts to it...

a) Dissuade such activities

dissuade or deter actions or activities

b) Avoid such people

turn away from and not allowing inclusion in the main stream.

1 Timothy 6:20 ESV

20 O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge,”

Titus 1:10–14 ESV

10 For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party. 11 They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach. 12 One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” 13 This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, 14 not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and the commands of people who turn away from the truth.

4. Result: the false believers are exposed and stopped (v. 9)

a) Certainty of their end

they will not get very far

b) Certainty of their identity

their folly will be plain to all

as what became evident with the Egyptian magicians