2 TIMOTHY 3:1-9 DIFFICULT TIMES “Understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith. But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men.”1 ou may be certain that difficult days lie ahead. When the Apostle wrote, “Understand this,” he was stressing that which was definite. Timothy, and thus all Christians, needs to learn Ythat challenging times are coming. It is the responsibility of the pastor to warn of what is coming; and those who hear are responsible to heed that warning. Paul doesn’t merely sound out some vague warning, he is quite specific about the future of the Faith. In order to have a thorough grasp of Paul’s prophecy concerning the last days, we will benefit from review of other instance of similar warnings from the Word. In an earlier missive, Paul wrote, “The Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared” [1 TIMOTHY 4:1, 2]. Paul clearly warns that the last days will be marked by demonic assault against the Faith and infiltration of the faithful by evil people. In this latter letter, the Apostle will focus on the individuals controlled by the demonic powers. The insinuation of evil into the worship of the Living God is not a new phenomenon; intrusion by wicked people has continued as long as mankind has worshipped the Living God. God, through Jeremiah, exposed this evil before the House of David fell in the last days of the Judean Kingdom. Speaking for God, Jeremiah said, “The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, worthless divination, and the deceit of their own minds” [JEREMIAH 14:14]. In a later chapter, God again exposed the evil of the religious leaders, “In the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing: they commit adultery and walk in lies; they strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one turns from his evil; all of them have become like Sodom to me, and its inhabitants like Gomorrah.” [JEREMIAH 23:14] 1 Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers, 2001. Used by permission. All rights reserved. 2 TIMOTHY 3:1-9 DIFFICULT TIMES God exposed what was happening when He said, “Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD. They say continually to those who despise the word of the LORD, “It shall be well with you”; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, “No disaster shall come upon you”’” [JEREMIAH 23:16, 17]. As difficult as the last days are prophesied to be, perhaps the most distressing aspect of these difficult times is the knowledge that the difficulty arises from within the congregations. It is lamentable that wickedness will be associated with the assemblies of the Lord. Perhaps you recall the Apostle’s warning to the elders from this Ephesian congregation when he met them at Miletus. At that time Paul cautioned, “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock that the Holy Spirit has appointed you to as overseers, to shepherd the church of God, which He purchased with His own blood. I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. And men will rise up from your own number with deviant doctrines to lure the disciples into following them” [ACTS 20:29, 30 HCSB]. One further passage will assist in understanding the difficult times that would come. Near the end of His ministry on earth, Jesus taught the disciples, “Many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.” Then He warned, “False christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect” [MATTHEW 24:11, 12, 24]. Difficult times, appearing to grow in severity and in intensity as the age moves toward a cataclysmic conclusion, are prophesied throughout the Word. What is sometimes forgotten is that we are now living in the last days. The Letter to Hebrew Christians begins by identifying the time in which we live. “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 heir of all things, through whom also He created the world” [HEBREWS 1:1, 2a]. In his sermon at Pentecost, Peter cited the Prophet Joel as he spoke of the last days. “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: “‘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; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’” [ACTS 2:14-21] Page 2 of 11 2 TIMOTHY 3:1-9 DIFFICULT TIMES To emphasise this point, note John’s statement in his first letter when he writes, “Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour” [1 JOHN 2:18]. What we see in these passages is that “the Last Days” are the indefinite time between Jesus’ first and second coming. We are living in the Last Days. We cannot say how long these last days will continue; but we may be confident that the last days are now. The next event on God’s timetable is the rapture of God’s people from this fallen world, an event that precedes the Great Tribulation when God pours out judgement on the earth for a period of seven years. Because we are in the last days, it is vital that we recognise what life will be during the last days. I don’t mean that we need to look for some activities that are otherwise unknown; rather, I want the people of God to understand their place among the churches during these last days and ensure that they are instructed how to live in light of what is taking place. Before I initiate an exposition of the verses, I need to stress one further matter. When Paul writes, “Understand this,” he uses the present, active imperative of the verb usually translated “to know.” In other words, the preacher is responsible to keep this message in the forefront of his teaching to the people of God. Knowing the times in which we live and knowing how we are to respond to the challenges of the times is crucial to healthy Christian growth. SOCIETY’S FOCUS IN THE “LAST DAYS” — “Understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power.”2 What a stunning catalogue of dismal characteristics marking mankind in the last days! The list Paul provides encompasses all mankind. This is evident when he writes “People will be,” or more literally, “Men will be.” Mankind is obviously in view! Perhaps one could argue that these characteristics mark all of us to greater or lesser degree; and that would be true! However, what I find especially daunting is the understanding that Paul provides this catalog as indicative of what would be witnessed among the churches identified as belonging to the Master! Society as a whole will be identified in ever-greater measure by the dreadful characteristics listed and simultaneously the churches will reflect the society in which they are located.