There was the road from the south which centred the trade of the Maeander valley in Ephesus. We live in a fallen world, and there are many challenges that face the believer who has not only trusted Christ for salvation, but is also ready and willing to deny self, take up his cross, follow Christs example, and say without compromise Thy will, not mine, be done.The newbornbaby Christian has to grow in grace and mature in the faith over an unspecified periodof time, to reach this level of maturity in his faith, while other who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ may slip in and out of carnality and worldliness for many years, stunting their growth and even regressing in their faith back to spiritual infancy.Many, if not all believers, are called to become mature in the faith by walking in spirit and truth and living godly, Christ-centred lives, but few are willing to exchange the cosy blessings of early Christian infancy, for the difficulties that inevitably follow the mature believer. (187) And he says this, partly that believers may prepare themselves for submitting to this condition, and partly that good men may not view him with suspicion on account of the persecutions which he endures from wicked persons; as it frequently happens that the distresses to which men are subjected lead to unfavorable opinions concerning them; for he whom men regard with aversion is immediately declared by the common people to be hated by God. There is teaching. For that very reason it is unanswerable that, whatever a man might argue about the rest of the Bible, it is impossible for the Church ever to do without the Gospels. We live in a fallen world with a spiritual enemy who prowls around as a roaring lion or appears to us as an angel of light seeking to devour, destroy, or deceive us.Jesus clearly told us that in this world, those who believe in Him would suffer persecution and pain, and Paul expands that truth by adding that all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. And they were able to imitate the workings of God up to a point and then they came to the place where they were backed down by Moses, but "men of corrupt minds, they are reprobate concerning the faith. This of itself indicates that the epistle provides for a time when it is no longer simply a question of recognising persons coming out of the world. Why not baptize at once every soul around? Copyright 2023, Bible Study Tools. Had the Lord Jesus not sent him? Those who are well instructed in the Scriptures will always be ready when an opportunity arises to do good (16-17).Since Gods servants must give him an account of their service, they should not miss any opportunity to teach the Scriptures, though they must always speak in a manner suited to the circumstances (4:1-2). But no man ought to separate himself from the children of God, unless it be a dire necessity for the Lord; it is clearly not according to Christ. . And those who wish to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted; while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceived themselves and deceiving others. The words that finally decided me were those in John 18:37: 'For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. In the last days there would come times which would menace the very existence of the Christian Church and of goodness itself, a kind of last tremendous assault of evil before its final defeat. We have already seen how secluded the life of the respectable Greek woman was, how she was brought up under the strictest supervision, how she was not allowed "to see anything, to hear anything, or to ask any questions," how she never appeared, even on a shopping expedition, alone on the streets, how she was never allowed even to appear at a public meeting. (See notes Matthew 5:10, 11, 12) They're profitable. Resurrection is the form and character of the lowest blessings of which Jesus is the dispenser; much more is He risen to exalt God in the highest. But this is not what the Bible teaches. 1. Such is the meaning of purging himself. The Gnostics had their own fanciful books; the heretics all produced their own literature to support their claims. To many a man and woman has a little bit of dress done no small injury, just because they think it is too little for the Spirit of God to direct them in. 2 Timothy 3:12 NIV - In fact, everyone who wants to live a - Bible Gateway How many people who have stood before God and have pledged for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until death do us part; and yet again, the high divorce rate. [4.] 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how from infancy you have known What am I to believe about man? It is the whole spiritual experience, so to speak, of the apostle. At the end of each reading, the brigand said: "That's a good book; we won't burn that one; give it to me." This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come ( 2 Timothy 3:1 ). Certain of the temporary persecution, he is equally certain of the ultimate glory. He says: "Open thy mouth, speak whatsoever occurs to thee, and thou shalt prophesy." As Shakespeare had it: "Good name in man and woman, dear my lord. There is instinctively, I think, within persons that love of a parent for a child or an adult for the child because we realize the helplessness of a child, the dependency that they have. 13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. Many and many a time we would be saved from hurting ourselves and from wounding other people, if we would only stop to think. And so Paul is warning Timothy of certain things that will be transpiring in the last days. If Timothy would adhere to the truth as he had been taught it, this would arm him against the snares and insinuations of seducers. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, ", The Bible tells about God giving people over to reprobate minds, men who resist God and the truth of God. Or life, or death, or life after death? One dark night in a forest in Sicily a brigand held up a colporteur at the point of a revolver. The man who is anosios ( G462) offends against the fundamental decencies of life. But shun profane and vain babblings.". So if you want God to use your life, then thoroughly equip yourself in the Word of God, the study, the understanding.That's why we're here tonight. Men will be disobedient to their parents. (1) that they who make a profession of religion, should come prepared to be persecuted. Compare the catalogue, Ro 1:29, &c., where much the same sins are attributed to heathen men; it shall be a relapse into virtual heathendom, with all its beast-like propensities, whence the symbol of it is "a beast" (Re 13:1, 11, 12, &c.; 17:3, 8, 11). Paul concludes this section with an appeal to Timothy to remain loyal to all the teaching he had received. When trouble fell on the Thessalonians, Paul wrote to them: "When we were with you, we told you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction; just as it has come to pass, and as you know" ( 1 Thessalonians 3:4). Such is the perversity of sin. Whose will is to live, or who are bent on living. Persons sometimes say it does not matter who taught; but God does not treat the matter so lightly. Friday evenings, you know, everybody out looking for their weekend companion, incontinent, no sexual restraints. In 2 Timothy 3:13 he meant that evil becomes more intensive as time goes on. When the Lord was entering on His ministry He says, "Woman, what have I to do with thee?" He returned after the first missionary journey to visit the Churches he had founded, "strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God" ( Acts 14:22). Paul goes on to list the things in which Timothy has been his disciple; and the interest of that list is that it consists of the strands out of which the life and work of an apostle are woven. Men can be savage in rebuke and savage in pitiless action. 3:8-9 In the same way as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these also oppose the truth, men whose minds are corrupt, and whose faith is counterfeit. For example, "37-1-2459" means the reference is on page 37, is in column 1, and is word number 2459.). There is faith, complete belief that God's commands are binding and that his promises are true. "[21] See also under 1Thessalonians 3:3. Now you get out your, you know, your green and blue pens and for the inspired ones, we'll underline those with blue and we'll use red, maybe, to underline those that are not inspired, you know and, and so here I am, I'm the authority.Well, the next liberal comes along and he says, Well, no, no, no, he was wrong on that one. Paul's life: one of faith. 3:2-5 For men will live a life that is centred in self; they will be lovers of money, braggarts, arrogant, lovers of insult, disobedient to their parents, thankless, regardless even of the ultimate decencies of life, without human affection, implacable in hatred, revelling in slander, ungovernable in their passions, savage, not knowing what the love of good is, treacherous, headlong in word and action, inflated with pride, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. Vincente Quiroga of Chile found a few pages of a book washed up on the seashore by a tidal wave following an earthquake. Wow, watch out now because Jesus bought it. It is said that, after hearing an evangelical sermon, Lord Melbourne once remarked: "Things have come to a pretty pass when religion is allowed to invade the sphere of private life." The Jewish Rabbis ranked high in the list of sins what they called the sin of insult. And that is precisely what Christianity demands that a man should do. . It may well be a proof of Timothy's courage and consecration that he had seen very clearly what could happen to an apostle and had yet not hesitated to cast in his lot with Paul. But the sin of the man who is arrogant is in his heart. VERSION, NIV Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. Do you have a hard time accepting that man can build a great fish that can swallow men and keep them under water for several days and deposit them later at a port?Hey, hey, wait a minute then. Perilous Times 2 Timothy 3:1. He says that in them difficult times would set in. So God's word, scripture given for inspiration, by the inspiration of God and is profitable.Of course, this morning we pointed out that the inspiration of the Bible is proved by internal evidences, such as its total accuracy with known facts of science, when it happened to cover scientific subjects. In these terrible days men would be braggarts and arrogant. God wants you to be complete. 2 Timothy 3:12 Context. This chapter has a vivid description of the great apostasy (2 Timothy 3:1-9), signs of which were already present, an appeal to Paul's own inspiring and inspired example (2 Timothy 3:10-15), and one of the most impressive paragraphs in all the Bible with reference to the inspiration of the Holy Scriptures (2 Timothy 3:16,17).For more extensive discussion of the apostasy, the man of . The more the person who lives godly and righteous in Christ stands out. The ancient world set duty to parents very high. It is beyond argument that the Scriptures can convict a man of his error and convince him of the power of Christ. He had fought the good fight of faith. 5. Look at the lack, lackness. The nature of its doctrine was no way likely to command success: (1) it condemns all other religions, some established for ages; (2) it enjoins precepts ungrateful to flesh and blood, the mortifying of the flesh, the love of enemies, and the bearing of the cross; (3) it enforces these seemingly unreasonable precepts by promises seemingly incredible; not good things such as afford complacency to our senses, but such as cannot be obtained till after this life, and presuppose what then seemed impossible, the resurrection; (4) it predicts to its followers what would seem sure to keep most of the world from embracing it, persecutions. On the other hand, it is unholy to tamper with evil. But now there were other reasons for it, namely, that Christians were neglecting godliness and order. Then in 2 Timothy 3:1-17 he proceeds to show us not merely a picture of the condition that Christianity will fall into, but, besides, a state of things that would be produced by this confusion. And Paul said, You've known the Holy Scriptures, able to bring you to a faith in Jesus Christ, salvation through the faith in Jesus Christ. He must take care of the manner in which he strives. It is still possible for a teacher to gain an undue and unhealthy influence over others, especially when they are impressionable. The Greek moralists wrote much about this word. It is needful to exercise judgment now. "Much the greatest rogue of all is the man who has gulled his city into the belief that he is fit to direct it.". Timothy was well aware of this, even before he joined Paul in his work. 2 Timothy 3:12 in Other Translations - Bible Study Tools He is sure that in the long run it is better to suffer with God and the right than to prosper with men and the wrong. The world is full of these braggarts to this day; the clever know-all's who deceive people into thinking that they are wise, the politicians who claim that their parties have a program which will bring in the Utopia and that they alone are born to be leaders of men, the people who crowd the advertisement columns with claims to give beauty, knowledge or health by their system, the people in the Church who have a kind of ostentatious goodness. "The cloke," then says he, "that I left at Troas with Carpus, when thou comest, bring with thee, and the books," not only the clothing, but even that which he is to read, "especially the parchments;" what he was going to write on, probably. Let us then see what Paul says of the usefulness of scripture. In the Old Testament they are not named, but they are referred to in Exodus 7:11; Exodus 8:7; Exodus 9:11. It's instructing us in righteousness. In short, let us know that we are Christians on this condition, that we shall be liable to many tribulations and various contests. Activity of service was no longer before him. It is easy for a professed Christian to avoid persecution, if he yields every point in which religion is opposed to the world. Verse of the Day , 2 Timothy 3:12 Treasury of Scripture Knowing, God, My Praise (Study In God - All I Need-19). Verse 1. "I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. Whatever duty we have to do, whatever service is required from us, we may find enough in the scriptures to furnish us for it. 3 f I thank God g whom I serve, as did my ancestors, h with a clear conscience, as I remember you i . There was the road from north Asia Minor and from Galatia which came in via Sardis. If he does not hide the sorrowful view of an old fellow-labourer's cooling in zeal, with all its dangers, the consolation is also before Timothy both of those that go on in faithful labour, and of one at least restored. She had waded through book after book and laboured with philosophy after philosophy in an attempt to find satisfaction. The Christian life does not consist only in knowing something; it consists even more in being something. Pride always begets insult. It has become their God and thus, they are guilty as those in the Old Testament who were worshipping Mammon, who, or rather Molech who was the god of pleasure. It means to follow a person spiritually, not only to understand what he says, but also to carry out his ideas and be the kind of person he wishes us to be. Paul refers to his own experiences to illustrate the truth that the person who whole-heartedly follows God must expect persecution. Thank You that Your grace is sufficient for any attack that the evil enemy of my soul can throw at me, and that nothing can ever separate me from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus. It is often a very great safeguard for the saint of God; for, after all, it makes no small difference who says this or that. And then again "the husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits." It is true that these things happened before the young Timothy had definitely entered on the Christian way, but they all happened in the district of which he was a native; and he may well have been an eyewitness of them. Regardless of the persecution, it is our duty to live in such a way that the world will know that we are Christians. The Greek word is that men will become anosios ( G462) . Instead of hiding either from Timothy, he points all out to him. Years later that same brigand turned up again. The doctrine of the necessity of persecution was no new thing to Paul. That is the inevitable way to ruin, for no man can master anything unless he first masters himself. God is right. Here we find the perilous times fairly brought before us. Now I'm not about to say God was wrong. A man has sunk far when he finds even the presence of good people something which he would only wish to avoid. There would be two ways in which these heretics in the days of Timothy could exert an evil influence. 2 Timothy 3:12 New International Version 12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, Read full chapter 2 Timothy 3:12 in all English translations 2 Timothy 2 2 Timothy 4 New International Version (NIV) Love of self is the basic sin, from with all others flow. He did so to help him realize that he faced no unknown situation in Ephesus and to enable him to combat it intelligently. This might deter a sensitive saint from his duty. Then the apostle brings out most important directions for the days that were then coming in, but now come, and more. We don't have the time to devote to it this evening but I would suggest that you get a good Greek lexicon and do a word study on these particular Greek words that Paul uses to describe the attitudes and the actions of people in the last days. James encourages us by explaining that those who persevere under trial, on the journey to maturity, will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him, and He exhorts us to consider it all joy, when we encounter various trials.There is an urgency in this final letter thatPaul wrote before his death, to remind us that ALL who live godly lives in Christ will certainly suffer persecution. THE VALUE OF SCRIPTURE ( 2 Timothy 3:14-17 ). All rights reserved. Things were so bad that Tacitus could say: "He who had no foe was betrayed by his friend." So from his earliest childhood Timothy had known the sacred writings. (iii) The Scriptures are valuable for reproof. The volume of the book, the Old Testament, it's all about Jesus Christ. Therefore, isolation is never desirable, though it may be sometimes necessary. The fact remains that the only place in all the world where we get a first-hand account of that person and of his teaching is in the New Testament. Truth and holiness and endurance are wanted, not authority or outward order. From , before, and , to deliver up.Those who deliver up to an enemy the person who has put his life in their hands; such as the Scots of 1648, who delivered up into the hands of his enemies their unfortunate countryman and king, Charles the First; a stain which no lapse of ages can wipe out. See also 1 Timothy 4:7; 1 Timothy 6:11, and on godliness, 1 Timothy 2:2. (v) Paul makes a final point. Not so the apostle Paul. Everything today is, you know, for the body beautiful. In the Testament of Issachar, one of the books written between the Old and the New Testaments, we get a picture like this: "Know ye, therefore, my children, that in the last times. The final condemnation of these people is that they retain the outward form of religion but deny its power. for it is evident that there have been many godly persons who have never suffered banishment, or imprisonment, or flight, or any kind of persecution. He was one that needed to lean on an arm stronger than his own. Godly = adv. It is to be supposed that the younger labourer cowered somewhat, unwilling to incur the odious charge, so easily made but hard to refute, of setting himself up and taking the place of some great one. But let not a man who will do this, suppose that he has any claim to be numbered among the martyrs, or even entitled to the Christian name. Now they're right out where little kids can go in and pick them up and leaf through them. And my full doctrinal concepts are premised upon the scriptures. The apostle's life was very exemplary for three things: for his doctrine, which was according to the will of God; for his life, which was agreeable to his doctrine; and for his persecutions and sufferings. THE QUALITIES OF GODLESSNESS ( 2 Timothy 3:2-5 continued). 10 But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience, 11 Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me. It may flourish for a time, but when it is exposed to the light of truth it is bound to shrivel and die. "Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things. Again he said, "Lo, I have come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God" ( Hebrews 10:7 ). "No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life" (he must be unencumbered, and undivided in his object); "that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. The insult which comes from anger is bad but it is forgivable, for it is launched in the heat of the moment; but the cold insult which comes from arrogant pride is an ugly and an unforgivable thing. That's not the kind of promises we really enjoy, is it? A man may embrace some absurd opinion, and call it religion; he may adopt some mode of dress irresistibly ludicrous, from the mere love of singularity, and may call it "conscience;" or he may be boorish in his manners, and uncivil in his deportment, outraging all the laws of social life, and may call this "deadness to the world;" and for these, and similar things, he may be contemned, ridiculed, and despised. On account of his opinions, he may be held up to ridicule, or treated with neglect, or excluded from society to which his attainments and manners would otherwise introduce him, or shunned by those who might otherwise value his friendship. He might even seem to be humble; but in his secret heart there is contempt for everyone else. Of course it was infinitely higher, it is needless to say, in the Master; but the servant was as closely as possible following in His steps.