Turn with me to 2 Timothy chapter
3. 2 Timothy 3. We're going to continue
our study through 2 Timothy. Every word in this book, for
this Bible study, I really started thinking about this. Every word
in this book is the word of God. Every word is the word of God. And I don't want to skim over
any words. You know how we do that sometimes.
We'll read a section and we just kind of get down through that.
I don't want to do that. I don't want to skim over any
words that our Lord has given to us in his holy book. So I
want to take our time with this and really understand what's
been written here, and we'll get to the core of the message
in this text. But let's read the first five
verses, which will be our text, okay? 2 Timothy 3, verse one,
it says, this know also, that in the last days perilous times
shall come. For men shall be lovers of their
own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient
to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce
breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that
are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than
lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying the
power thereof. From such, turn away. Rather than just assuming that
we understand what all that means, we read that and think, well,
yeah, I pretty much know what that means. Rather than just
assuming that we understand all that, we're gonna dig into the
definitions of these words. Let's study what our Lord has
given us, okay? Verse one, he said, this know
also. Paul is continuing his instruction
to Timothy as a new pastor and as a preacher of the gospel. Verse 1, this know also that
in the last days, perilous time shall come, the last days. We
have been in the last days since Christ ascended up back to glory. The days of waiting for his return
for the last 2,000 years have been the last days. Turn over about two pages to
Hebrews 1. Verse 1 says, God, who at sundry
times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers
by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his
Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he
made the world. In these last days. When this
was written, the writer said, We're in the last days, in these
last days. Look at 1st John chapter 2. 1st
John 2 verse 18 says, Little children, it is the last
time. As you have heard that Antichrist
shall come, even now are there many Antichrists, whereby we
know that it is the last time. That makes me excited. You know,
everybody's waiting for the last time. Well, we're in it. I mean,
it could be any minute now. It could be any minute, we're
in the last days. So go back to 2 Timothy 3. 2 Timothy 3, verse 1. This know also that in the last
days, perilous times shall come. Perilous means hard to bear,
troublesome, dangerous. And we could most definitely
say that this world in general, you know, just the world we live
in, in general, we could definitely say that it's hard to bear, full
of trouble and dangerous. But let's remember the entire
context of what Paul is telling Timothy here. If you, if, you
know, we've gone back over it a couple of times, he's talking
about religion. He's talking about false religion. He is instructing Timothy on
true servants of the Lord, if any man's going to be a servant
of the Lord. You know, he started this by saying, be strong on
grace, preach grace. And he's talking about true servants
of the Lord, he's talking about false servants of the Lord. And what he's telling Timothy
here is in these last days, in regard to the truth being preached,
These are going to be hard to bear, troublesome, dangerous for men and women's
souls days. These are going to be dangerous
for men and women's souls days. It's going to be hard to bear.
Religion is going to be hard to bear. That's so, isn't it? Verse 2 says, for men shall be
lovers of their own selves. That means selfish. Lovers of
self. Lovers of man. Worshippers of
man. Worshippers of self. That is
literally exactly what we see in religion today. That's religion. False religion. It's all about
man. It's all of man. It's all to
man. It's all for man. It's all about
man. It's all about man's will and
man's desire and man's works. If you ever have the horrible
experience of witnessing a false religion service, you know, every now and then
we'll attend a funeral and some guy will get up and start talking
and you know what I'm talking about. If you ever have the horrible
experience of witnessing a false religion service, you're gonna
walk away from that service saying, boy, they sure are lovers of
man. They sure are lovers of self. You know what Job said? He said, I loathe myself. I hate myself. Why, Job? Because of all of my
sin. all of my rotten, filthy, wicked
sin against God." You know, you just don't find that in false
religion, especially in the man standing in the pulpit. Verse
2 says, men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous. That
particular word, covetous, means lovers of money, specifically. And that's exactly what's motivating
all this false religion today. It's all about money. Let me see your tax return. Let's
pass the plate again. It was that way in our Lord's
day. You remember he went into the temple with a whip and he
drove out all the money changers. He said, you are making merchandise
of men's souls. And that's exactly what men are
still doing to this very day. They're lying to people, they're
stealing money from people, they're literally making merchandise
out of men's souls. You know what our Lord said concerning
his gospel and concerning his grace and concerning salvation? You know what he said? He said,
it's free. That's what he said, it's free. He said, come. Take. Eat. No money, no price. Freely. We were freely justified
by His grace. That's good news, isn't it? To
a poor, broke person, that's good news. That's God. That is God's works. That's God's
ways. That's God's truth. But man,
Verse 2 says, men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous
boasters. That means braggers, but it means
empty braggers. Bragging when there's nothing
to brag about. They say, let me tell you what
all I've done for God when they haven't done anything for God. When God does something for a
sinner, this is the truth, okay? When God does something for a
sinner, he tells that sinner, you go tell how great things
the Lord hath done for you. That's what happens. When God
truly does something for a sinner, the only bragging that takes
place is on the Lord. God's people say, where is boasting
then? It's on the Lord. It's in the
Lord. But that's not how it is in false
religion. Men and women constantly brag
on their decisions and brag on their baptisms and brag on what
they've done for the church, who they've led to the Lord,
all their soul winning, all the crowns that they ought to have
laid up for them in glory. Paul said, Timothy, when you
see that, recognize the fact that it's a false religion. Verse 2 says, men shall be lovers
of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud. That means seeing
one's self above others, seeing oneself as being preeminent. That means holier than thou. That's what it means. If you're ever in a place where
you get the feeling that everyone there is holier than you, you're
in a false religion. You're in a false religion. When
you are in a house of God, thank God he has houses of truth, houses
of God scattered abroad. And when you're in one of those
houses of truth, everyone there is smiting themselves, crying,
God, be merciful to me, the sinner. I'm the least, I am the lowest. If I'm the chief of anything,
it's the chief sinner. Verse 2, men shall be lovers
of their own selves, covetous boasters, proud blasphemers. That means speaking evil, slandering,
reproaching, railing against God. Railing against God, lying
on God, that's what it means. Slandering God's character as
God, the almighty, holy, just one. Slandering his word, calling
the good of his word evil and the evil that his word hates
good. That's exactly what's taking
place in false religion today. They'll get up here and they'll
say, God loves everybody. He died for everybody. He saved
everybody. That's blasphemy. That's blasphemy. You show them otherwise in the
word. You show them that God loves
every soul that was elected in Christ. Where is God's love? It's in Christ. It's to every
person that's in Christ. And Christ died for every soul
that was elected in Christ. God saved every soul that was
elected in Christ and only those souls that were elected in Christ.
False religion will see that and say, I don't believe that.
I don't believe that. I don't believe those words.
That's not my God. I hate that God. That's blasphemy. Verse 1, this know also that
in the last days perilous times shall come for men shall be lovers
of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers,
disobedient to parents. Kids have always been disobedient
to parents. There's never been a time. In the first times, look
at Cain. They're disobedient the first
time, the middle time, the last time, till the end of time. What
that translates, when you look it up in the concordance, what
that translates to is rebellers against authority. That's what
it means. Rebellers against authority saying,
I will not have that man reign, sovereignly reign over me. That's false religion. It hates
God's sovereignty. It hates God's sovereignty. Boy, God's people love God's
sovereignty. The sovereignty of our Father,
you know, disobedient to parents. He's our Father. The sovereignty
of our Father, evidenced in the person of the Son. You want to
see the Father? Look at Jesus Christ. We bow to His Word. by his grace,
by his doing, by his making it to be so. God's people who are
in his truth cry, there's nothing more that I could possibly want
than for that man to reign over me. Is there anything more that
you want out of life on this earth than for Jesus Christ to
reign over you? The end of verse two says unthankful. That means ungracious, without
grace. That's false religion. They are
without grace. All they have is their own works
and how could they be thankful to God for their own works to
him? The end of verse two says unholy. That means wicked. That's all
of us by nature. And that's all we will ever be
without Christ. The so-called worship of false
religion. Over in Isaiah chapter one, our
Lord said, he literally said, I hate it. He said, when you
hold your hand up, people like to go like this, you know. He
said, I'll turn my eyes from that. I don't want to see it. all of this false religion, so-called
worship in false religion, it is wickedness in God's eyes.
Without Christ, the scripture says, even a man just plowing
a field, just plowing a field without Christ, is wickedness
in God's eyes. But in Christ, it's nothing but
holy, spotless perfection. Just think, let this bless your
heart for one minute. How faithful are you as a worshiper
of the Lord Jesus Christ? How worthy are you as a worshiper
of Christ? How committed are you? How fervent
are you, okay, in Christ? This is holy, spotless
perfection. This is perfect worship. You
say, I can't even control my mind for 20 seconds. In Christ,
this is perfect worship. That's a blessing. Oh my goodness,
I want to crawl under the floor before I say this, but in Christ,
if this is of the Spirit of God, this is perfect preaching. Not
unto me, oh Lord, not unto me. Usually when I'm done, I want
to crawl out of here and never come back, never show my face
again, crying, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. But in Christ, it's
all about Christ. That blesses me. That just encourages
me so much. In Christ, it's perfection. Verse
3, without natural affection, that means unloving, no love
for God, no love for his truth. They receive not the love of
the truth. That's false religion. God's
people love God, capital G, capital O, capital D. Not some wimp that
they keep in their back pocket. God's people love God Almighty. They love God. It was God's truth of his sovereignty
and holiness that set his people free. They love God. They love His
Word. They love His salvation. They love Christ. They love the
blood of Christ. They love the people of Christ.
God's people are loving. They are loving. Verse 3 says,
truce breakers. That means, all right, when you
look it up in the concordance, it means no desire to enter into
a truce. Not just that you didn't hold
up your end of the bargain, it means you have no desire to enter
into one in the first place. No desire or need for a covenant. God's people have a desire and
a need for a covenant, don't they? We need the covenant that God
the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit made. They're
the ones who made the covenant concerning the salvation of sinners
like us. Our hope is built on that covenant. built on the blood of that covenant,
the blood that that covenant was signed in. Our hope is not
in the deeds of the law. It's not in the deeds of the
flesh. Our hope is in his covenant. It's in his promise. That's where,
that's the strength of my hope. He promised and he can't lie. Verse three says, false accusers. That means one who slanders falsely. Wrongly, the margin says make
baits. That's one who causes contention
and fighting. Wrongly. Verse three says incontinent. That means there's no self-control.
Verse three says fierce. That means not tame, savage. Verse 3 says, despisers of those
that are good. That means they are literally
opposed to goodness. They're hostile toward virtue. And what all that means is, they're
not in their right mind. That's what it means, they're
not in their right mind. You know, when our Lord came to that Gadarean lunatic,
that lunatic, that describes that lunatic, just causing trouble
and just a savage, just no self-control, cutting himself, living in tombs,
and people were afraid of him. Our Lord came to that Gadarean
lunatic and he sat him down, clothed him, and put him in his
right mind. That's what happens when grace
comes. That's what happens when the
grace of Christ comes. When a man or a woman is converted
to Christ the truth from his or her false religion, the Lord
humbles that man. You know, before the man is just
so proud, They're just bouncing around, just ready to go tell
everybody, you know, who they are. And all of a sudden, it's
just humble down. And the Lord then clothes and covers
that man or woman, all of their dead works, they get clothed
with the living righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. They're calm and settled because
the work is now finished. They possess a righteousness
before God and they know that. And he teaches that man or woman
what God has done for them, him or her. And in that moment, all
of that fierce fighting against God and against his word, it
turns to peace. And that out-of-control sinner
becomes constrained by the love of Christ. And that goodness from God leads
that sinner to repentance, a changed mind, a right mind about all
these things. That's what repentance is, it's
a right mind, a changed mind from everything we thought in
false religion. But without that work from God,
verse four says, men and women are traitors. That means unfaithful. If Christ is not our faithfulness,
that's all we're ever gonna be. Verse four says, heady, that
means rash, Reckless one who is constantly falling forward,
headlong, just head first, hard-headed. That's the exact opposite of
wait on the Lord. Wait on the Lord, stand still,
know that I'm God. Verse four, Paul said, Timothy,
know this also, men are gonna be high-minded. That means puffed
up, full of hot air. That's false religion. That doesn't
sound like a false religion preacher. I don't know what does. He's
full of hot air. That's all he is, just hot air.
When God gets a hold of a man, he fills that man with the word
of God. With the word of God. The word
of the Lord. He gives that man something to
say about the finished work of salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ.
And he gives that man a humility that desires the opposite of
high-mindedness. That man says, I need to decrease. I'm a man of low degree, not
unto me. It's all unto Christ. You speak
and your servant will hear. You're the only one who needs
to speak. If you don't speak, we have nothing to say, nothing
to hear, nothing to believe. Verse four says, Lovers of pleasure
more than lovers of God. That's one who cares more about
the desires of the flesh than the desires of God. Lord, deliver
us from that. Thy kingdom come, thy will be
done on earth just like it is in heaven. And verse five is
really where all this false religion comes from. This is the root
of the problem. Everything to this point was my introduction
and now we're gonna get into, I'm kidding, But honestly, I
may come back and devote another message to verse five, because
this is the root of the problem. This really is the root right
here. Verse five, having a form of godliness. but denying the
power thereof. From such, turn away." That means
they have the appearance of reverence and respect toward God. And again,
let me just close by saying this is Paul really instructing Timothy,
okay? You're about to go out as a pastor,
as a preacher of the gospel, all right? You're about to go
out into Ephesus. And he said, you're going to
see that they have an appearance of reverence and respect toward
God. But they have no confidence in
the ability of God. No faith in the strength of God. No confidence in the word of
God. That's why man falsely and wrongly
believes he has to help God. That's the whole reason why.
He believes he has to do the work of God for him for that
very reason. Paul said back in chapter one,
I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able
to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day. Abraham
was fully persuaded that what God had promised he was able
to perform. In all of God's people who worship
him in truth, they've been given the faith to believe the same
thing. We look to him literally. We believe him. We trust him.
We hope in him. And we don't compromise that
faith in his ability at all. We do not compromise that certainty
in our inability and his all ability at all. And therefore, that's the reason
why Paul said at the end of verse five, from such turn away. That means shun, avoid. It doesn't mean, well, let's
all come together and see where we can find some common ground
anyway. That's okay, you do your thing,
I'll do my thing, we'll meet up somewhere in the middle. He
said, no, come out from among them. This was Paul's instruction
to Timothy and it needs to be Instruction to us, come out from
among them. Once you realize, once you recognize
that you're in a false religion, come out from among them. Light
and darkness cannot dwell together. How can two walk together except
they be great? How? All of God's people are
agreed. They're all agreed on Christ.
All of God's people worship Him together in truth. It's all for
His glory, for His honor in everything. Amen.