Well, please turn with me in your Bibles to 2 Timothy 3. 2 Timothy 3, we're gonna take a few weeks off from our study in the book of the Acts of the Apostles. July 14th, we'll resume as we consider the Ethiopian eunuch there, a good sermon or a good passage rather for our baptism service on that Sunday. So beginning in chapter three of 2 Timothy at verse one. But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come, for men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. having a form of godliness but denying its power.
And from such people turn away. 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, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Janus and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth, men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith. But they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was.
But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, long-suffering, love, perseverance, persecutions, afflictions, which happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra, what persecutions I endured. And out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. But evil men and imposters will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.
But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. Amen. Well, let us pray.
Opening Prayer
Our Father, we thank you for this beautiful day. We thank you for your handiwork and for the demonstration of your righteousness and glory in the created order. We thank you for your providence in our lives, the way you watch over us. We thank you for the healthy birth of Ivy Marie and for the many blessings that you pour upon the people of this church.
And God, we thank You for redemption through our Lord Jesus Christ. We thank You that You made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. And as we come on this Lord's Day to worship You, we pray that You would be glorified, that You would be honored and exalted, that we would come to the Father through the Son in the power of the Holy Spirit. And even now we pray that you would forgive us for our sins and our transgressions, that you would wash us in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that you would grant us freely your Holy Spirit so that we may receive your word.
And we ask these things through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Introduction
Well, one of the things we've noticed in our studies in Genesis on Wednesday night is the various difficulties and hardships and trials that Abraham faced in his life. And he was a man of faithfulness. He was not a perfect man. He certainly presented in Scripture as a good and a faithful man.
But again, not a perfect man. But one of the things we observed this past Wednesday night is the necessity for perseverance in the midst of hardship and trial. In Genesis 21, Abraham is called upon to banish his son Ishmael. He wasn't thrilled about that particular news.
Sarah said, cast out the bondwoman and her son. And it says that Abraham was very displeased by this, but then God said that this is accurate, you need to do it. And then following chapter 21, where he has to banish his son Ishmael, he's then called upon in Genesis 22 to sacrifice his son Isaac. Now we are told in verse 1 that this was a test.
We are alerted to the reality that God does not demand from his people child sacrifice. But this was an instance, rather, where God was testing Abraham. But the long and the short of it is, is that Abraham persevered in difficult times. It seems to me that this is the key to the Christian life, or one of the keys, to faithfully persevere through hardship and through trial.
And I want us to focus particularly this morning on verses 1 to 9. This is Paul's call to faithfulness in perilous times. It's for the man of God, Timothy, but it was certainly for the church in Ephesus, and by extension, it's for the church in the 21st century. And essentially what we have is a call to recognize the danger facing the church in verse 1, a description of the danger in verses 2 to 5a, thirdly, an exhortation to avoid the danger in verses 5b to 8, and then finally, an encouragement in spite of the danger in verse 9.
It seems to me that when we are told that there are dangers or perilous times, we can respond with a fear and a trepidation and a withdrawal from those things that confront us. But Paul doesn't address it that way. In spite of the fact that there is this danger, in spite of the fact that there is this apostasy, in spite of the fact that there is this defection, The people of God must persevere, they must be encouraged, and they must remember that Christ is on the throne and he's building his church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. So we'll look at those four things, the recognition, the description, the exhortation, and then finally the encouragement.
So
Recognition of the Danger
let's look first of all at the recognition of the danger in verse one. Paul tells Timothy, but know this, that in the last days perilous times will come. Now, this is an intriguing statement that the Apostle gives to Timothy in light of the context. Remember, Timothy is exhorted in chapter 2 to be a faithful man, to be a persevering man, to be a steadfast man.
In verses 24 and 25 in chapter 2, Timothy is told, A servant of the Lord must not quarrel, but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition. If God perhaps will grant them repentance so that they may know the truth and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will. So Timothy must be faithful to try and win back people that have gone astray. That's the emphasis there in 2, 24 to 26.
But Timothy must also be wise and not engage with those men that dig in their heels, that have hardened their hearts, that are opponents to the faith, opponents to Christianity. In that instance, in the one that Paul describes there in chapter three, Timothy must avoid such men. Timothy must be on guard against such men, and Timothy must not have truck with such men. Notice, know this, he says, know this for yourself, Timothy, but know this as well for the church, because the gospel minister not only has a responsibility to feed the flock, to tend to the lambs, but he also has the responsibility to drive away the wolves.
He must spot and recognize false teachers. He must spot and recognize those corrupting influences in the church. And he must, by the grace of God, seek to drive those men out so they don't have effect on or wreak havoc in the life of the church. So Paul says, you need to know this.
You need to recognize this. You need to understand that this is the reality. Now,
The Last Days Defined
when he speaks about the last days, we oftentimes put 2 Timothy 3, 1 to 9 into our future. That's the usual way that persons appeal to or address 2 Timothy chapter 3. They say, well, in the last days, these things are going to happen. The last days is an identifier for the time of the Messiah.
The Old Testament prophets spoke of the last days or the latter days, and we see the New Testament apostles use that same language, and it describes the time period between the ascension of Jesus Christ and the second coming of our Lord. That's the last days. We are in the last days, but so was Timothy. Paul does not say to Timothy, in the last days, horrible things are gonna happen.
Aren't you gonna be happy that you're not a part of it? No, he says, avoid such men. He says, reject such men, resist such men, which indicates that Timothy himself is living in the last days. So the last days is not in our future, but the last days is upon us. the time between the ascension of our Lord and the second coming.
Now, notice what verse 1 says. Know this, that in the last days perilous times will come. The ESV has times of difficulty. The NIV renders it terrible times.
All good translations. And as Paul goes on to describe why they are, in fact, terrible times, I think we'd all agree. I think we'd all say absolutely positively. These are, in fact, difficulties.
These are, in fact, terrible things. These are, in fact, perilous times. So we need to be mindful, in terms of this brief statement in chapter 3, verse 1, that there are dangers out there. And when we consider it, if we look at, say, Old Covenant Israel, and we look at the New Covenant Israel, the church, there's always two different types of threats.
There's those enemies from without, the Philistines in the Old Testament, the Roman state in the New Testament. But then there's those enemies within, those corrupting influences, the apostates and unbelievers within Old Covenant Israel. And this passage deals with corrupting influences within the context of the local church. In other words, much of what Paul says here is very parallel to Romans chapter 1.
But a distinguishing difference is the reality that these people have a form of godliness, but they deny its power. Paul is speaking about corrupting influences within the context of the local church. He's not telling Timothy, beware of the Roman state. He's not telling Timothy, beware of Islam.
He's telling Timothy to beware of those corrupting influences that creep into the context of the local church and start to derail people and start to shipwreck people when it comes to the truth of Christianity. And we need to understand that for our own context and our own lives.
Description of the Danger
Now notice, secondly, the description of the danger in verses 2 to 5a. Notice the focus in verse 2. He says, for men. That's your problem.
Notice it's not the environment. It's not that we need to green everything or else the church is going to be ruined. That's not the issue for the Apostle Paul. It is men that is the corrupting influence.
It's not natural catastrophes. Well, earthquakes are going to come, and hurricanes are going to come, and tornadoes are going to come. That's not Paul's emphasis. That's not the danger confronting the church.
The danger confronting the church are men. Men that are corrupt. men that don't think God's thoughts after him, men that see religion as a means of gain, men that see religion as a means of exploitation, men that see religion as a means to exalt themselves. Men are the problem. In fact, John Calvin makes the observation.
He says what he makes the hardship of those dangerous or troublesome times to consist. not in war, nor in famine, nor in disease, nor in any calamities or inconveniences to which the body is incident, but in the wicked and depraved actions of men. That's our problem. It's not the environment. Again, it's not the catastrophes.
The problem is man. And that's where Paul emphasizes with Timothy. And now he's going to describe the specific characteristics involved. Notice the list of sins.
Again, it's very similar to Romans 7. Romans 1, we call these vice lists, lists of vices, lists of bad things, lists of wicked characteristics. There are 17 adjectives here and there are two contrasts. We're not going to go through each of the adjectives and all of the contrasts.
I just want to sort of categorize what's happening in terms of this danger facing the church by way of godless men. Notice the sin of pride. The sin of pride. When we move on in this passage, it will be evident and it will be obvious.
These are the sorts of people that creep into the households of gullible women who are loaded down with various lusts because they can't face their own sort of equals. They have to prey on the weak. They are proud men and they're full of themselves and they need to exalt themselves in a way that is unrighteous. Well, Paul speaks of their pride in a couple of different ways.
He calls them boasters. They boast. They're full of themselves. You say, well, I don't know what these sorts of people look like.
Yeah, you do. I mean, this is a common sin, isn't it? And you know what one looks like every time you look in the mirror to shave or to do your hair. I mean, we all have this issue.
Again, we're not suggesting none of these things are present in the true church. Because of remaining corruption, these things are present in the true church to some degree or other. But these are not remaining problems. These are reigning sins in the lives of these particular adherents.
They're proud men. They're boasters. Notice as well, he says, they are proud, and as well, they are headstrong. You want to see some headstrongness?
Do a theological debate on Twitter or on Facebook and see the headstrongness. It's not a real great location for people to admit they're wrong and to admit their faults. No, they dig in, and they're headstrong, and they have to make everybody know that they're right. He then speaks of a lack of goodness, and this is referred to as being unthankful and despisers of good.
There's this general climate of a lack of goodness that obtains among these people. They're unthankful. They're despisers of good. Can you imagine that?
Despising good? We may have a problem in terms of remaining corruption from fully appreciating the good, but to despise the good is a diabolical trait. There is something good. By definition, we ought to prize it.
We ought to praise it. We ought to be about it. But because of our sinful tendencies, we don't always appreciate it. But these men actually despise the good, and they're unthankful.
Unthankfulness is characteristic of the ungodly. Paul describes this in Romans 1. Man's biggest problem is that he doesn't glorify God as God, nor is his heart thankful. Before Paul gets to the vice list in Romans 1, those are the two prevailing things.
They don't glorify God as God, and their hearts aren't thankful. It's from that vantage point that all of these vices proceed. And the same is true here. As well, he mentions disobedience to parents.
It's always intriguing to me that these vice lists contain disobedience to parents. If you see somebody in the world that is ungodly, lawless, wretched, and genuinely committed to despising good, I guarantee you it probably didn't develop in their adulthood. It was probably symptomatic of their childhood. It was symptomatic of their youth.
They don't honor parents. They don't obey parents. They don't listen to parents. They're despisers of parents.
And this is what's happening here. Notice as well, he says, they practice slander. They engage in slander. Go back to 2.6 for just a moment.
The hardworking, I'm sorry, 2.26. In 2.26, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will. Well, as Paul highlights the wickedness of these particular people, he says that they are Well, that's a function of the devil. Those who are enslaved by the devil to do his will will certainly ape the devil when it comes to slander.
See, this is, again, something that's not absent from the true church. We need to guard our hearts here, brethren. We ought not to be slanderers. We ought not to be gossips.
We ought not to be those whisperers that say, hey, have you heard the latest about so-and-so? If it's not about you, it's none of your business. Keep it to yourself. But this is a reigning sort of a mindset with these people.
They are slanderers. Notice what else he says. They have no self-control. They are without self-control.
And this is a terrible thing. We emphasize control by the state today. Some emphasize control by the church. Well, self-control comes first.
Self-government always ought to come first. If persons govern themselves properly, you won't need so much on the other end. But these men have no self-control. They're about themselves and whatever pleases them.
And then notice they engage in treason. Verse 4, Paul says, traitors. It's an amazing statement, isn't it? Traitors against Christianity.
The word or later Christian writings used it of blasphemy and apostasy. So it's a pretty bleak picture that Paul paints with reference to the church here. But
Three Prevailing Philosophies
there's also three prevailing philosophies that are here. I got this from Andy Hamilton. I make no bones about it. Andy Hamilton, I thought, summarized this passage very well to demonstrate three prevailing philosophies, three sorts of things that mark individuals in the world, to be sure.
But again, as Paul is saying to Timothy, this is obtaining in the church. Notice these three philosophies. In the first place, there's a secular humanism. A secular humanism.
Why do we think that? Because Paul says they will be lovers of themselves. Isn't that what secular humanism is all about? Man is the measure of all things.
I'm the most important person on the face of the earth. Me, myself, and I, that godless unholy trinity that I constantly exalt and I constantly parade. Secular humanism is wretched. It is a loving of self.
But notice another prevailing philosophy, materialistic idolatry. Say, well, I don't see this. Just go to any store. Just witness any group of people.
Materialistic idolatry. They're lovers of money. I don't think that means, kids, that they have piles of money and they roll around in it. It's what money provides.
It's what money produces. It's what money can buy. Again, we're all in the world and we all have money and we all are to use it properly and to be good stewards, but we're not to be mastered by it. But these persons are lovers of money, which is materialistic idolatry.
But then there's what's called hedonism. Hedonism is when I really love myself. I think there's a sense where every creature loves himself. Jesus says we are to love our neighbors as ourselves.
But there's a general frame of reference there. We love ourselves in the sense that we eat properly. We love ourselves in the sense that we walk. We love ourselves in the sense that we rest.
We love ourselves in the sense that we move out of, you know, trains, or when trains are coming, we don't drive our cars in front of them. But this lovers of self, It's this worship. It's this adoration. I'm sorry, lovers of pleasure.
It's this pursuit of pleasure and things that we crave and that feed our bodies. So, this idea that we have to have these things in order to have pleasure. There is a humanism, an idolatry, and a sensuality that Paul says. But notice again the location of this problem.
Form of Godliness Without Power
In verse 5, he says, having a form of godliness, but denying its power. Sad, isn't it? You'd like to think that when you come to church, you don't have to deal with these sorts of things. You come to church and you're with your fellows.
We all have our struggles. We all have our remaining corruption. There is no perfect church. We need to remind ourselves of those things, because if we don't, we're always going to be let down.
If we think there are perfect churches, we are always going to be let down. If we think there are perfect pastors, I'm going to tell you, you're always going to be let down. I guarantee you. If you think that your brothers and sisters that are sitting near you right now looking all polished and nice and smelling good because they had showers and all that, we all have issues and problems.
We all struggle. We all have remaining corruption. We all have remaining hypocrisy. We all say with the Apostle Paul, the good that I wish to do, I don't do.
The evil I don't want to do, I find myself doing. We say with the Apostle Paul in Galatians 5.17, the flesh lusts against the spirit, and the spirit lusts against the flesh, and these two are contrary to one another, so that you don't do the things that you want. So we have that, definitely, but there are some in whom it's not remaining, it's reigning. And he says they have a form of godliness, but they deny its power.
I don't think he's talking about Islam. I don't think he's talking about other major world religions. He's talking about Christianity. They have a form of godliness.
On the outside, they have that glitter that gold has, but they deny the very power of it. And in the context, it's false teachers. It's men coming to churches, men that look polished, men that look like they know what they're talking about, men that may even sound like they know what they're talking about, but they're wrong. They're false.
They're off. They're deniers of the faith. And the apostle says, you need to watch out for these men. And that brings us to the exhortation to avoid them.
Well, before that, Calvin says, they whom he briefly describes are not external enemies who openly assail the name of Christ, but domestics who wish to be reckoned among the members of the church. I think this one's more difficult because we like to give people the benefit of the doubt, don't we? We like to give the judgment of charity, and we should. We're not supposed to be those people that, you know, somebody says one little, oh, wow, I can't believe it.
You're an apostate. You're a hater of Christ. No, don't do that. We need to be able to cut people some slack and to demonstrate love and charity and kindness.
But Paul ain't dealing with that. He's dealing with devilish men who are trying to captivate the hearts of people the way that Absalom captivated the hearts of Israel and took the kingdom away from King David. This is absolutely, positively wicked. Gordon Clark says, undoubtedly, pagan persecutions are perilous times, but internal subversion is also perilous and perhaps more so.
If you read through Old Covenant Israel, you read through the Old Testament, you see that they had their external problems to be sure, but it was the internal problems. It was when they were walking to Molech and throwing their babies in the arms of this demon God. It was when they were corrupted by marrying pagans. It was when they were corrupted by a whole host of things and led astray and drawn away.
See, we can't rest on our knees and think, well, everything's gonna be okay always. No, Paul says there is this danger facing the church today. and you need to be aware of it. Now
Exhortation to Avoid the Danger
notice thirdly, the exhortation to avoid it. Verse 5b, he says, and from such people turn away. From such people turn away. So in chapter 2, verses 24 to 26, Timothy expresses patience, or he's supposed to, and he's to attempt to win people back.
He wants them to fish. But if the persons are this kind of men, he wants them to cut bait. He doesn't want to retain them. He doesn't want to try to recoup them.
He's not supposed to try and go after them, but rather he is to avoid them like the plague. Why do you think that is? Because the corrupting influence of evil is really powerful. See, we have this zany idea that we're so holy and godly, we can go out into the world and affect everybody for good.
You see this sometimes when people date or when they get married. A Christian will date or marry a non-Christian. Well, I'm going to win them to the Lord. Well, that's a nice sentiment, but there's a couple problems.
One, you're commanded not to marry unbelievers. I mean, that's basic and fundamental. But two, the problem is that oftentimes the unbelievers win. When God tells Israel to go into Canaan and dispossess the land of the Canaanites, He says, I don't want you to have any social interaction with them.
Vis a vis, don't marry their daughters, don't marry their sons. I want you to have obviously no political sort of truck with them. You're not supposed to do the body politic with the Canaanites. And you're also not to have any religious sort of affinity with that.
You're supposed to destroy their altars. You're supposed to destroy their instruments of worship. Why is that? Is God mean?
Is God vicious? Is God unkind? No, God knows the hearts of Israel. That if they don't rid the land of those Baals, they're going to be bowing to Baal, and that's exactly what subsequent history would reveal.
They didn't dispossess the land, and then they end up acting like the Canaanites. Brethren, it is not the case that we are so godly and so holy that we're going to affect everybody positively for good. At some point, at some time, and this requires great wisdom, pastors and godly people need to allow people to cut bait, to go. And in this instance, the apostle tells Timothy, avoid them.
The verb, according to one man, is a strong one, implying that Timothy is to avoid them with horror. Present imperative indicates that this should be a continual habit of life. What's that mean? That means that everything's not roses and fairies and meadows and unicorns and dancing and happy.
It's not that way. We all have to persevere. It may not be in the banishment of Ishmael. It may not be in the sacrifice of Isaac.
But persevering to the very end means to be aware of the dangers that are out there and sometimes in here and to guard our hearts against it. Because if we cozy up to false teachers, what's going to happen? We're going to end up believing they're garbage and be led astray. Paul deals with a couple of men in these epistles called Hymenaeus and Philetus.
Hymenaeus and Philetus taught that the resurrection had already occurred. You say, well, that's outlandish. I haven't seen Jesus. That's crazy talk.
Well, Hymenaeus and Philetus were able to convince a group of people and they made shipwreck of the faith. See, brethren, we need to be on guard. We need to be watchful. We need to be prayerful.
We need to be vigilant. We need to be faithfully persevering in the midst of danger. Those dangers that are outside and those dangers that are inside. Now, notice what Paul does.
They Creep and They Capture
He explains this in more detail. He gives them the exhortation to avoid the danger at the end of verse 5, and from such people turn away. Now he's going to explain this in a bit more detail in verses 6 and 7, and then he's going to give a comparison in verse 8. But notice in verses 6 and 7 what these men do.
They creep and they capture. A horrible way to be described, isn't it? You creep. They use that today.
The kids use that today, right? I feel weird saying that nowadays. Oh, like the kids say. I still feel 18, but I'm not, obviously.
But the kids say creep. They creep them on Facebook, or they creep them on Twitter, or they creep them on whatever. And what that all means, I don't know that I fully understand, but the word is suggestive of deceit. The word is suggestive of diabolicalness.
The word is suggestive of coming in the back door. See, truth has no problem walking right in the front door. Truth has no problem with coming right out in the open. Truth has no problem dealing with its equals, men teaching other men.
But in this instance, look at what these guys do according to Paul in verses 6 and 7. He says, for of this sort, the people that he just described, those who have a form of godliness but deny its power, 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, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Again, this idea that they creep, it's deceit. Now, we all know there's filters for the internet so that persons don't look at pornography.
I've often thought there ought to be filters on the internet so people don't look at heresy. Heresy is dangerous. Heresy is pervasive. Anybody can do anything on the internet nowadays, can't they?
I mean, just look at some of the stuff out there. Now, I would never, as a pastor in the church, tell you, here's a list of things you can and can't do. No, I'm not going to add to the word of God lest he rebuke me and I be found a liar. But I'm going to encourage you that not all that glitters out there is gold.
And you need to be aware of that. One of the reasons why we use a confession of faith that was written in 1689 is because it has stood the test of time. It accurately reflects what the church from the beginning till now has confessed. It is a safe, proven, reliable, and trustworthy guide.
It's a parameter. It's a hedge. It's a protective agent so that we don't go astray. When you're going up a mountain road, you like the fact that there's a guardrail on the side, or else you will go right off the edge and plummet to your death.
And yet in the church, whatever we want, whatever we think, whatever... No, we need guardrails, brethren. We don't want to fly off the side of the road. We want Chalcedon to define for us what biblical Christology is, so that we don't end up heretics.
So the Apostle Paul tells us, with reference to these men, that they creep, but then they also capture. Now, just so I can dispel the myth that Paul is anti-woman, he's not talking about all women. He's not talking about all women. Paul is not, in the language of George Bernard Shaw, the eternal enemy of women.
That is not accurate whatsoever. Paul is the friend of women. He's using an example. Notice what he says in verse 6.
For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women. It's not saying all women are gullible. But there is, at least in Ephesus at the time, these households that were occupied with gullible women. And in these households that were occupied with gullible women that were also laden with various lusts and sins, these false teachers would prey on them.
These false teachers would creep in there. These false teachers would come with the answers. These false teachers would come with the encouragements. These false teachers would come to exercise their control and power over them.
That's what Paul is speaking to. In fact, not Knight describes what Paul says in terms of the grammar. He says Paul does not use the term to derogate women, but to describe a situation involving particular women. There are gullible men too.
Let me tell you. Okay? But what Paul has in mind specifically with reference to the churches in Ephesus, the church in Ephesus, is this group of gullible women that are laden with sin, and these guys try to dominate. Paul does not use the term to derogate women, but to describe a situation involving particular women that he uses a diminutive form shows, that's of the word, that he is not intending to describe women in general.
To get that from this text is inaccurate, it's wrong, and that's not what Paul is saying. In the church at Ephesus, there was a group of gullible women that were laden with lust, and these false teachers preyed on them. On the one hand, it's a statement concerning the pity that ought to be shown for these poor women. The main point is to show how terrible these men are.
I've often thought about that. Cults, you know, they go door to door during the day. Come at night when the men are home. Now, I'm not saying a woman can't hold her own at the door, but I don't want two dudes from a cult talking to my wife during the day when I'm not there.
That's a usurpation of God's created order. It's not legit. It's not right. And these men go into these houses where they know that these women are prey.
It's not a statement about bad women. It's a statement about these wretched men that have a form of godliness, but they deny its power. Can you imagine? They won't stand in the ring with Timothy.
They won't go toe-to-toe with the Apostle Paul. They will go to these poor women that should be pitied, cared for, encouraged, and nurtured. not manipulated, not twisted, not distorted, not brought to a place where they're in utter confusion. That's Paul's point in the passage. It is a pathetic but all too common state.
And again, it's not just with women, it's men too. Look at what he says in verse 7. He says, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. You've probably met people like that before.
They're familiar with the Bible. They're familiar with religious teaching. But they go from Dan to Beersheba doctrinally. You have no idea where they're at, because they have no idea where they're at.
They don't know if the Trinity is true. They don't know if justification by faith is true. They don't know about sanctification. They don't know any of these things, because they know tiny bits about a whole lot of stuff.
Those kind of people, you want to say, here's a good Bible, and here's a confession of faith. Here's your guardrails. Don't go off the cliff. But isn't that, again, I don't know if you ever met these people.
They're always learning, but they never come to a knowledge of the truth. There's people that are very curious. There's people that are very interested. There's people that have a desire to learn what the Bible says.
Well, they click on the wrong guy, and they're not going to learn what the Bible says whatsoever. It intrigues me that when I go to these thrift stores and I see books that say what the Bible says about such and such. More often than not, the Bible says nothing of the kind. There's a man by the name of N.T.
Wright. He's reworking the doctrine of justification by faith with reference to the Apostle Paul. He wrote a book called What St. Paul Really Said.
Another scholar said he should have named the book What St. Paul Never Said. We have to be careful, brethren. But these men are perverse, they prey upon these gullible women, these poor women that are always learning but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Comparison with Jannes and Jambres
Now notice comparison in verse eight. Verse eight he says, now as Janus, he's still talking about these particular men, and he says, now as Janus and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth. Men of corrupt minds disapprove concerning the faith. Now the reference, Janus and Jambres, they're not mentioned by name in Exodus, but pagans and Jews together believe that this is what Paul's speaking about.
They've identified these magicians, or at least two of the primary ones at the time of Moses and Pharaoh as Janus and Jambres. And so the apostle Paul is linking these men in the situation that Timothy is facing with these men back in the times of Moses. And he says specifically, Just as Janus and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth. They are men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith." Now, notice what they do.
The similarity between the magicians and the similarity with these apostates. They resist truth. That's the problem with these guys. They're men of corrupt minds.
You see where the emphasis lies? Certainly they've got bad morality and certainly they've got bad ethics. If they love themselves, they love money and they love pleasure. Those are bad things with reference to the actions of a man.
But what Paul has in the crosshairs is that they're men of corrupt minds. They resist the truth of God's Holy Word, because the reality is that when you internalize God's Holy Word, there is a doctrine that accords with godliness according to Paul in Titus chapter 1. So these men are corrupt in their minds, they're corrupt in the way they think, they're corrupt in their doctrine of justification, they're corrupt in their doctrine of the Trinity, they're corrupt in their doctrine of Christ, and as a result they live like heathen. And so Paul says they're just like those magicians.
They're just like Janus and Jambres. They're just like those guys who resisted the truth as Moses spoke. They don't want the Word of God. That's it, fundamentally.
It all comes back to that, doesn't it? It always comes back to that. What think ye of the word? You say with the psalmist, the entirety of your word is truth, therefore I love it, or the entirety of your word is truth, therefore I despise it, I hate it, I loathe it, I want to get far, far away from it.
I want to manipulate it, I want to use it, massage it enough so that I can prey on gullible women and get a following. See, men who are conquered by the truth go wherever the truth takes them. But men who want to conquer the truth, manipulate it, massage it, and do whatever it is they think will benefit themselves. That's who Paul is talking about in the context of the local church.
The false teachers are disapproved concerning the faith. So do these also resist the truth, men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith. Isn't that a beautiful statement, disapproved concerning the faith? There is objectivity to Christianity.
It's not a free-for-all. You don't get to believe whatever you want. The church, the Bible, theology, biblical truth ain't Canada, ain't America. You don't have the liberty to be wrong when it comes to thinking God's thoughts after Him.
You certainly do as a Canadian. You can believe whatever it is you want, as long as you don't harm people. Well, and as long as it's not the truth. At least that's where we're heading.
But you understand. But with reference to God, it's not open for debates. It's not open to be massaged. It's not open to be manipulated or twisted.
There is an objectivity about the Christian faith, and Paul says they are disapproved concerning the faith. Again, another plug for the confession of faith. What has the church as a whole described in terms of the objectivity of the faith? Is it, you know, the pastor woke up on a Sunday morning and said, let's all speak in tongues?
No. Is it the pastor woke up on Sunday morning and said, let's all do that? No. There's an objectivity about the Christian faith through exegetical prowess, through reading the Bible, through study, through good hermeneutics, through all the things that the church has recognized are are good for understanding and getting at the text of Scripture, there's objectivity to it.
We ought to be able to spot or tell if somebody is defective in their theology. And again, I'm not talking about some of the things that differentiate God's people, those intramural debates where we have legitimate issues and differences. That's not what's in view. These men have departed from the truth of God.
And Paul says they are recognized for that.
Encouragement in Spite of Danger
Now notice, finally, This is a bleak picture, isn't it? Before we get to the encouragement, it's not very encouraging what Paul portrays here. We are in the last times. The last times are going to have perilous times.
The last days are going to have perilous times, difficulty, terrible hardship. You know, we see descriptions given of these men, this humanism, this idolatry, this hedonism, the sorts of things that make the godly people Again, we have these remaining corruptions, but we see that, we say, that's not right, that's terrible, that's wicked. And then Paul says they have a form of godliness, but they deny its power. So it's not the external enemies, it's not the Philistines out there, but it's the professing believers within here.
That's a discouraging and bleak picture, isn't it? I mean, if there was no verse 9, we could all be dispensationalists. If there was no verse 9, we could all toe the line with the guy who says, why polish the brass on a sinking ship? But there is a verse 9, and the people of God unfortunately forget that.
Look at what Paul says by way of encouragement in spite of the danger in verse 9. He says, but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was. So they, the false teachers that Paul is warning Timothy about, will progress no further, for their folly, they, the false teachers that Timothy is to be warned about, their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was, Janus and Jambres. Do you ever come away from the book of Exodus saying, boy, I'm so thankful for those magicians.
What great guys. Nobody does that. They were the losers, weren't they? Yeah, they lost tremendously.
They couldn't replicate the plague of lice. And when it came to the plague of boils, guess who got affected with boils too? the magicians. So Janus and Jambres, for all of their pomp and all of their show and all of their ability, at least at the lower level, are there standing or covered in boils. They didn't win that exchange.
Nobody celebrates the magician. I imagine there's a group out there that does celebrate those magicians. I would imagine you could find the YouTube video somewhere that, oh, yeah, these were great guys, victorious and wonderful. You know, that's not the big majority of people.
They lost. They were exposed as frauds. They were exposed as shams. They were exposed as men that did not have the power of God.
Just like Simon the sorcerer, when he comes, or when Philip comes and he preaches the gospel to him, this was a man who claimed to be someone great. People around him were chanting that he is the great power of God. Philip comes, Philip preaches, and even according to the text, he himself believed and was baptized. Nobody goes, wow, what great guys and their antagonism to the Word of God.
Those are not heroes, brethren. Those are fools. Their folly will be evident to all. We looked at Proverbs 30, verse 6 last week.
Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar. History always, well, I hope, history always demonstrates who was right and who was wrong. And in this instance, Paul tells Timothy that like Janus and Jambres, these men are going to fail. Aaron's rod swallowed up the magicians.
They couldn't duplicate the plague of lice and had to confess, this is the finger of God. They were covered with boils in the sixth plague. And again, nobody reads that book and says, wow, these are great. I want to be like these magicians.
It's just like when you read 1 Samuel chapter 17 and the Goliath or the Philistine champion Goliath is out there taunting the armies of Israel and Saul and the Israelite army are all afraid. And then David comes up and David says, who's this uncircumcised Philistine talking about the armies of the living God? Who of us as Bible readers want to identify with Saul and his army? None of us.
What woman wants to marry Saul and his army? They want a David. Men want to be Davids. In the same instance, Paul says men want to be Timothys.
Men want to be Pauls. Women want to marry Timothys. They want to marry Pauls. They don't want these kinds of guys that can't meet their fellows but go into houses of women who are gullible and loaded down with various lusts.
Those are cowards. Those are fools. Those are men who creep. Those are the persons that engage in deception.
These are persons that are described in vivid detail in verses 2 to 5 as being the sorts of people nobody wants to be around. So Paul tells Timothy, don't try to rehabilitate them, but avoid them. Flee from them. Have nothing to do with them.
So they will not progress. Notice.
Guard Against Despair
We need to be vigilant, but we also need to guard against despair. We need to guard against despair. And I think this is what happens with this passage. You meet people that have a bad eschatology, a bad understanding of how things turn out at the end, and they say, well, it's just going to get worse and worse and worse and worse and worse.
I'm not suggesting that there's going to be a utopia on earth. I'm not suggesting that man by himself, left unchecked by the grace of God, is ever going to get better or better or better. But at some point, brethren, we have to appreciate the book of Revelation when we are confronted with a great multitude that no man can number, from every tribe, every tongue, every people, and every nation that are assembled together before the throne of God and the Lamb who sits upon the throne. We have to reckon with the claims of Christ in Matthew 16, when he said, I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
So if your understanding of the danger causes you to go hide in your closet, you're not understanding it properly. Christ is over the danger. Christ is sovereign in the midst of the danger. Christ will build his church, and there is no place for the sorts of fear and trepidation that paralyzes the people of God.
It happens in major movements. Persons in the early part of the 20th century, when a particular view of the end times took, didn't go on to higher education, didn't marry, didn't have babies, they were convinced the world was getting worse and worse and worse and Jesus was going to come any moment. Well, how'd that work out for them? Not well.
We need to have a proper understanding of the danger that is there, but we ought to never lose focus upon Christ. You see that? The scriptures are filled with promises concerning the power of the gospel. Paul says, I'm not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
Why? Because in that gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, that as it is written, the just shall live by faith. The Lord Jesus Christ made the promise of building his church. Do you think Islam is going to stop him?
Do you think Justin Trudeau is going to stop him? Do you think a band of fools in the context of a local church is going to stop King Jesus Christ? Never. If there is not a confident expectation in the power of Jesus and his gospel in the hearts of his people, then we haven't understood it.
Yes, there's danger. Yes, there's persons to avoid. Yes, there's persons to guard against. But yes, there's a Christ who has purpose to save a multitude that no man can number.
So brethren, be advised, but be encouraged. Calvin says he encourages Timothy for the contest by the confident hope of victory. For although false teachers give him annoyance, he promises that they shall be, within a short time, disgracefully ruined. disgracefully ruined. And we're not talking about the garden variety center that, you know, has his issues.
We're talking about men that have taken a stand against Christ, against his word, and are trying to manipulate people and trying to exercise power and authority over them for whatever their twisted ends are. Those ones will be disgracefully ruined just as Janus and Jambres stood there covered in boils trying to protest the God of Israel. So be warned, but be encouraged.
Application
In terms of some concluding applications, first, we ought to appreciate the duty required of church members, church members, or by extension, attenders. You gotta know the truth, not exhaustively, not perfectly, because you're not God, but you gotta know the truth in the foundational basic principles of Christianity. I mean, I'm not saying, give me the proof for superlapsarianism. No.
A basic understanding of the doctrine of the Trinity. an understanding of justification by faith, an understanding of the gospel, that the gospel isn't my feelings, the gospel isn't my story, the gospel isn't my experience, the gospel is the truth of Christ Jesus, that He came into this world, that He lived in obedience to the Father's law, that He died as a sacrifice at Calvary, that He was raised the third day, and with the thought, the reality, that everyone who looks to Him in faith will receive both forgiveness of sins and the righteousness of Christ. Beautiful thing. I fear, brethren, that outside of reformed circles that aren't taught and educated, people don't know these things. We're not talking about the quantum physics of theology.
We're talking about the basic building blocks of theology, justification by faith alone. If you have a thought that you're going to go to heaven, in small part, based on your works, you're wrong. Absolutely, positively, 100% wrong. The only way we go to heaven is based on the works of Jesus.
His life, His death, His resurrection. The Apostle says it so clearly and in a summary fashion in Romans chapter 4. He says that Christ was delivered up because of our offenses and He was raised for our justification. You see, these are basic doctrines that the people of God must know and they must cherish.
As well, the people of God must strive, by the grace of God, to let their conduct be worthy of that gospel. Philippians 127. Many emphases in the New Testament. In other words, what we believe concerning God ought to affect the way that we live with reference to God.
Just because all that glitters is not gold is true, doesn't mean that gold doesn't glitter. We got to have some glitter. It's not going to be perfect glitter. It's not going to be, you know, impetuously great glitter.
There's going to be a degree of glitter. Again, godliness is that fruit of understanding the truth of the gospel. And then the people of God must be discriminating with reference to those who teach the Word of God. They must be discriminating with reference to those who teach the Word of God.
If Pastor Cam and I get blasted on the way home from church today, we're dead. Don't just let anybody into this pulpit, ever! Never, ever! Guard it.
The way that you guard it is by discriminating, not based on ethnicity, not based on age or anything like that, but on biblical and theological acumen. If a guy doesn't know scripture or theology, he has no place in a pulpit. That's all there is to it. He could be a pilot, he could be a doctor, he could be whatever he wants.
But if he can't handle accurately the word of truth, he has no business being in a pulpit. Why is this so obvious elsewhere but not in the church? If I wandered down to Vancouver General Hospital and I entered into the operating theater, the surgery room, and I said, I'm going to do this brain surgery, everybody would, with shock and horror, say, no, you're not. You're not a brain surgeon.
Oh, yeah. Well, it doesn't matter. I'm going to get in there and finagle around and do my best. We let that happen in the church all the time.
Fools that have no clue whatsoever about basic doctrine are preaching in churches. I'm not picking on them, I'm picking on all of us. Brethren, these things ought not to be. 1 Timothy 3 determines what a man must be to serve in the eldership. Titus 1 determines what a man must be to serve in the eldership.
And Revelation chapter 2, we always think about the church in Ephesus and all we remember about them is that they left their first love. They left her, they lost their first love, those dirty rotten scoundrels in Ephesus. Brethren, I don't think for a moment that they apostatized. I don't think for a moment that they abandoned their Savior.
I don't think for a moment that they had stopped being believers. They had been weary in the battle because they tested those who claim to be apostles and were not. Here's my take on the brethren in Ephesus, which, by the way, is the church that Timothy is in ministering to. Paul gives them the qualifications for elders.
These guys show up at the church, and they say, we're apostles. And so the church responsibly and rightly says, OK, sit down. We're going to run you through the gamut. We're going to take you from Dan to Beersheba with reference to Bible and theology, and we're going to test you.
We're going to see if your claims are accurate or if they're not. And in the midst of that, probably these guys didn't like it. Well, what do you mean you test me? Well, what do you mean?
Never trust a guy who isn't open for scrutiny. Never trust a man who's not going to put his money where his mouth is when it comes to his theological commitments. So they probably had a lot of battles. And in the midst of those battles, yeah, they lost their first love in the sense that they weren't red hot, fired up for Jesus.
The encouragement is, is get both. Fight those false apostles. Test those who say they are and aren't. But at the same time, reach Spurgeon and have great devotions and love Jesus.
It's not an either-or, but a both-and. As well, there are duties for pastors. I think this text demands. First, they need to guard against external threats.
They need to guard against internal threats, and they need to understand that the way they do those things is essentially the same, by being faithful with the Word of God. And I think here it is important for us, brethren, to have sort of a positive and a negative emphasis. There was a guy that ministered, and I don't know if he died or retired. He must have retired because he couldn't have said this if he was dead.
But he retired, and he said, you know, I spent all these years teaching my people what to believe, and I never taught them what not to believe. It's like when we go through Birkhoff on Saturday morning. The false teachings of Rome, for instance, and the false teachings of other groups are the foil or the context in which we appreciate the gem of truth. There's times when people need to be warned.
There's times when we need to understand. There are false guides out there. You're not supposed to like them. Again, it's hard because you can't dictate, can't tell people what they can and can't read, can't tell people where they can and can't click.
But at the same time, you need to be on guard, and pastors need to be encouraging, not only in terms of truth, but as well with reference to error. Calvin says, Paul informs Timothy that the church will be subject to terrible diseases, which will require in the pastor's uncommon fidelity, diligence, watchfulness, prudence, and unwearied constancy, as if he enjoined Timothy to prepare for arduous and deeply anxious contests which awaited him. That's right. And then I quoted a bit of this quote earlier from Gordon Clark.
I'm going to add to it. He says, undoubtedly, pagan persecutions are perilous times, but internal subversion is also perilous, and perhaps more so. He says, the duty of a pastor, therefore, the duty of a synod or general assembly, is to keep the church pure. The church cannot be pure in the sense of having only sinless members, or even of expelling all hypocrites, but it can, with vigilance, maintain its confessional standards.
That's the task. Can pastors accurately see all the hypocrites and expel all the bad? No, but we can demand fidelity to God's holy word as summarized and encapsulated in our wonderful confession of faith. This is the means by which pastors exercise that vigilance and hopeful watchfulness so that this kind of stuff doesn't enter into the church.
And then finally, Paul makes this reference. He makes it not only here, but in what's called the pastoral epistles, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus. Notice what he says in verse seven. He says, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
There is this knowledge of the truth. Knowledge of the truth in 1 Timothy chapter two brings salvation. In other words, you cannot be saved by your works. You cannot be saved by your best deeds.
You cannot be saved by moral reform. If you've heard this morning some of these sins mentioned, and you think to yourself, well, I'm going to go home, and I'm not going to love myself anymore. I'm going to go home, and I'm not going to love money anymore. I'm going to go home, and I'm not going to love pleasure anymore.
Great, but that's not going to get you into heaven. The knowledge of the truth is crucial. The knowledge of Christ and Him crucified, the knowledge of a substitute at Calvary, the knowledge of a righteousness availing with God through Christ, that's the knowledge of the truth that brings salvation. In other words, when you hear that truth, that knowledge of the truth, you're supposed to believe it.
You're supposed to embrace it. You're supposed to welcome it, whether you're young or old. You're not supposed to say, well, I'm a kid. I'll wait until I'm 50, like those really old people in the church.
Don't say that. And then I'm going to believe this knowledge of the truth. No, believe it now. Paul says today is the day of salvation.
Now is the acceptable time. Why do we think we have tomorrow? Why do you think you're going to make it to your business meeting on Wednesday? Why is it that we don't listen to James when he says, why are you boasting?
Your life is like a vapor. It's here for a time, and then it's gone. Think about that teapot, that steam that flows out at the end of the teapot. It's there for a moment, but then it's gone.
That's our lives, brethren. And we're not sure of having a tomorrow. We're not sure of having a rest of today. You say, well, he's trying to scare me.
Maybe, yeah, you should think about it. Kids, young men especially, they're eight foot tall and bulletproof. Nothing will ever happen to me. You need to guard your hearts.
You need to come to the Savior. You need to hear the knowledge of the truth. You need to believe that truth. That is most important today.
That is the most important thing ever, is that you come to Jesus. That's the way of salvation. That's the way of blessedness. That's the way of joy unspeakable and full of glory.
Christ, in the language of the Song of Solomon, is altogether lovely and chief among 10,000. Those who've been conquered by sovereign grace, yea and amen that, don't we? Don't we say with reference to Christ, He is altogether lovely. He is chief among 10,000.
He has my heart. and I have by grace His righteousness and forgiveness." That's the most important thing facing you ever. What? Think ye of Christ. If you are not a believer, believe.
If you are not saved, look unto Him and be ye saved. All the ends of the earth, God says to the prophet, for I am God and there is no other.
Closing Prayer
Well, let us close in a word of prayer. Our Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for the clarity