Staying Strong in Stormy Times
Part 1
“Perilous Times and Perilous Men”
2 Tim 3:1-9 “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, [b]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! 6 For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, 7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 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.”
Paul tells Timothy that in the last days there will be difficult times. Now, we typically speak of the last days as something yet to come in the future. Or that after all these centuries of Christianity, we are finally in the last days. But in the scriptures the last days refer to the age of Christ and the time that followed. The writer of Hebrews states that he was living in the last days.
“Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.” (Hebrews 1:1–2)
So when Paul tells Timothy about trouble and difficulty in the last days, he is not pointing to something more than 2000 years away. Rather, Timothy was already living in the last days. And we too continue to live in the last days and will remain in the last days until the return of Jesus.
It could easily be argued that we are in the last of the last days due to so many prophecies signaling the return of Christ coming to pass. It certainly looks this way to me.
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So here is Paul’s starting point: it is going to be hard to live as a Christian during the last days. It is not going to be comfortable or easy. There are going to hard and trying times for those who are trying to follow Jesus.
Then in the next 8 verses (2-9) Paul turns his focus to false followers, what we would call fake or phony Christians. Fake Christians would be a prominent feature of the last days. While they will appear religious, Paul describes their true character, which explains why the last days will be so difficult–the treacherous, godless character traits of the last days world.
And again, as we read the list of sins that people will be committing, remember that Paul is not talking about the condition of the sinful world. This list of sins are always true for those who do not belong to Jesus. There is nothing surprising about any of these characteristics when talking about sinful people. These things are true about everyone who has ever lived in defiance to the Lord.
But the reason why these are going to be difficult times is because there are going to be people among us who claim to be followers of Jesus but are practicing these things and have these characteristics.
Jesus gave us the parable of the wheat and tares, and that is the same thing Paul is talking about. Jesus said:
Matt 13:24-30 “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field. 25 But that night as the workers slept, his enemy came and planted weeds among the wheat, then slipped away. 26 When the crop began to grow and produce grain, the weeds also grew.
27 “The farmer’s workers went to him and said, ‘Sir, the field where you planted that good seed is full of weeds! Where did they come from?’
28 “‘An enemy has done this!’ the farmer exclaimed.
“‘Should we pull out the weeds?’ they asked.
29 “‘No,’ he replied, ‘you’ll uproot the wheat if you do.30 Let both grow together until the harvest. Then I will tell the harvesters to sort out the weeds, tie them into bundles, and burn them, and to put the wheat in the barn.’”
So in light of this, let’s look again at Paul’s description of last days false followers of Jesus:
• They love themselves. Philautos: love of self
We live in the me, myself, and I age. It’s all about me. I am number one. We have selfies, Self magazine, social media revolves mainly around broadcasting yourself–what you’re doing, where you’re going, all things you.
He’s not say by inference to hate ourselves. Only not to overestimate your importance, don’t have an inflated view of yourself. Paul says in Ro 12:3,
“For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.”
In the 70’s I remember we were called “the Me generation.” But I can tell you the 70’s have been totally eclipsed by this current generation!
Hey, it’s not ‘THEY-TUBE,’ it’s YOU tube!
And we note that from this first evil, love of self, spring all the following godless character traits! Paul goes on:
• They love money.
• They are proud and boastful.
• They are arrogant.
• They are abusive and demeaning.
• They are disobedient to their parents.
• They are ungrateful.
• They are unholy.
• They are heartless.
• They are unappeasable and unforgiving.
• They are slanderers.
• They are without self-control.
• They are brutal and cruel.
• They do not love good.
• They betray their friends.
• They are rash and reckless.
• They are puffed up with pride.
• They love pleasure.
• They act religious, having an appearance of devotion to God, but want nothing to do with genuine Christianity.
Paul states bluntly in verse 5–Avoid such people. Timothy, you need to avoid people who are fake Christians!
Why should they be avoided? Shouldn’t we love them? Welcome them into the house? The answer is that they are dangerous. Fake Christians are dangerous people.
Verses 6-9 reveal why they are dangerous. In verse 6 we see that they take advantage of people. They are opportunists that worm their way into relationships and homes, targeting women who feel guilty and weighed down by their sins and take advantage of them.
Vs 6 “For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts.”
“Gullible” from a word meaning ‘weak, lacking discernment, easily deceived.’
These women are feeling guilty over past sins, and are dissatisfied with sound teaching from God’s word. The fake Christians spot them a mile away and exploit their vulnerabilities with false messaging that, as we’re about to see, never leads them to the truth in Christ.
So Paul says “avoid these people” because they are dangerous. They destroy homes, livelihoods, and vulnerable souls. They will worm their way into your life only to take advantage of you, and they do it in the name of God!
In verse 7 Paul points out what drives these vulnerable women.
“…always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
The idea here is that these gullible women are always looking for something new, something novel, some new truth, the latest theological fad. They aren’t content to be fed the good word of God. In chapter 4:3 Paul predicts this very thing:
“For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear.”
They are like the Athenian philosophers Paul addresses in Acts 17 who “spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing.”–vs 21
Remember, if its new its not true, and if its true its not new!
But for these gullible women (and men) if it’s novel, a new twist on old truth, mysterious, intriguing, they’re all in, and are ever in search of the false teachers that will scratch their theological itch!
Paul notes that they are always learning (the new things) but are never able to draw a conclusion or take a stand for the truth in Christ. Their knowledge of all the new things does them no good to the saving of their soul.
These same people go around telling others they’re Christians but they are not true believers. Paul points out that they listen and listen but it never changes them.
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Next he returns in verse 8 to a description of the false teachers the gullible women have gathered to themselves, and by default he describes them–the listeners–as well. They are corrupted in mind and worthless in the faith.
“These teachers oppose the truth just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses. They have depraved minds and a counterfeit faith.”–vs 8
The teachers the gullible women (and men) turn their ears to oppose the truth. They take a complete stand against sound teaching. They’re not just teaching something new, they fight against, take a stand against the genuine truth of Scripture. They are scripture twisters and truth resisters.
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But let’s note how all this stuff with the false teachers and fake followers shakes out. Paul says they do not get very far because their folly is exposed to all.
3:9 “But they won’t get away with this for long. Someday everyone will recognize what fools they are, just as with Jannes and Jambres (two of the sorcerers resisting Moses).”
Time reveals those who are false. You can only be fake for so long. The behaviors that are listed in verses 2-5 eventually come out. And the consequences of these behaviors also become evident. Their life is going to sooner or later blow up.
Jesus said in Matt 7:27 that if your life is built on the sand of falsehoods, “When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.”
NEXT TIME: The Safe Place in Stormy Times