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Well, please turn with me in
your Bibles to 2 Timothy 3. 2 Timothy 3. In 2 Timothy 3, specifically
in verses 1 to 9, the apostle Paul tells Timothy, or calls
Timothy to faithfulness in perilous times. So our focus will be on
verses 1 to 9, but I'll read the chapter and then we'll pray,
and then we'll look at the section. in consideration. So beginning
in chapter 3 at verse 1, 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. Well, let us pray. Our Father
in heaven, we thank You for Your Word, and we pray now for Your
Spirit to direct us. And God, as we see this particular
passage, there is certainly a warning here for the church as church. And God, help us to take it to
heart. Help us to understand it's not just external threats
to the peace and the safety of the church, but within the church,
the professing church, there is internal threat as well. So
guide us now, Father, as we consider this and gird us up and strengthen
us and put us on guard and help us, God in heaven, to go forward
in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit.
And we ask this through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. Well,
if you go back for just a moment in 2 Timothy chapter 2, the apostle
Paul instructs Timothy on how he is to deal with difficult
people. And if you look specifically at verse 23, he says, But avoid
foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife.
And 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 the man of God must not be
quarrelsome. The man of God must be patient.
The man of God must assume that posture of instruction and teaching
in order that he might win some to the Lord Jesus Christ. So
in verses, at the end of chapter two, Paul counsels or exhorts
Timothy that he needs to be patient in dealing with difficult people.
But in chapter 3 at verses 1 to 9, he shifts direction. He says,
when these difficult people double down, when they exhibit that
they're not true Christians, when they're the kinds of people
that are disruptive, or the kinds of people that are destructive,
with reference to the church, have no truck with them. In other
words, you are to avoid them. And that is an interesting thing
about this passage. He is describing, he is doing
something that he does in other portions of Scripture. Take Romans
1 for instance. In Romans chapter 1 at verses
28 to 32, there is what's called a vice list. A list of vices
that are engaged in by a particular people group. Well, in Romans
chapter 1, it is the heathen, it is the pagan, it is those
outside of God's special revelation. The difference here is that we're
in the professing church. If you look specifically at chapter
3, verse 5, he says they have a form of godliness. So this
isn't the heathen, it isn't the pagan, it isn't Islamic believers. Rather, it is professing Christians
in the context of the local church that the Apostle Paul tells Timothy
he has or is to have nothing to do with. So in many respects,
it is a helpful antidote to the church of our generation going
forward. We ought to pay heed to this
and we ought to take it seriously so that we don't fall prey to
the various sins that Paul highlights in this particular section. So
in the first place, I want to look at the recognition of the
danger in verse 1. Secondly, the description of
the danger in verses 2 to 5a. Thirdly, the exhortation to avoid
the danger in verses 5b to 8. And then finally, the encouragement
in spite of the danger. So though there is this danger,
we must not forget Matthew 16. Jesus promises that I will build
my church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
The gates of Hades is certainly going to try, that defensive
mechanism of the kingdom of darkness is going to try and destroy and
to engage in destruction, but it will never succeed because
of King Jesus enthroned at the right hand of God Most High.
So let's look first at the recognition of the danger. If one of the
brothers could turn on the fans up top, that would be most helpful.
If you're too cold, I apologize, but I think air, or I'm of the
mindset of C.H. Spurgeon. He said, the next best
thing to grace in the heart is oxygen in the brain. And if we
have stale air, there is a tendency to nod off, and I don't want
that to happen. So first of all, notice the recognition
of the danger in verse one. He says, but know this. Know
this, Timothy. It's not always going to be rosy.
It's not always going to be blessed. It's not always going to be wonderful
and easy in the context of the local church. You need to understand
this reality. It's not just a matter of feeding
the sheep. It must also be a matter of identifying
and driving off the wolves. Know this, Timothy, for your
well-being and for the well-being of the flock. Not only do you
need to know this for yourself, but again, for himself and the
flock, faithful pastors not only tend to the sheep, but they also
drive off the wolves. If they don't do that, then the
sheep will be ravaged. And then notice that he says
that in the last days perilous times will come. Now that reference
to last days is a bit of theological nomenclature which simply indicates
the time frame between the first and the second coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ. He is not telling Timothy about
something way distant to Timothy. He's not saying that in the future,
past the 21st century, in this block of time identified as the
last days, these sorts of things will obtain. We know that cannot
be the case because specifically in verse five, Paul tells Timothy
having a form of godliness, but denying its power and from such
people turn away. If this was future for Timothy,
if the last days had not arrived, then this would be meaningless.
But the fact that Paul tells Timothy that these kinds of things
will be seen in the last days. And when you see these kinds
of things in the last days, you need to withdraw from them. You
need to separate yourself from them. You don't need to continue
to go on this mission of patient and mercy in terms of trying
to win them back. No, you're not to have anything
to do with that. So, with reference to that frame
or time frame of the last days, it's referred to often in the
prophets in the latter days or in the last days. And in the
hands of the prophets, it's referring to the time of Messiah. It's
referring to the time of the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, in the
hands of the New Testament authors, it does the same thing. Christ
has come in the first coming. Christ will come again in the
second coming. That time frame is referred to
as the last days. Timothy was in it and Paul says
in the last days, the kinds of things that he is warning about
will be present in the context of the church. Again, it's a
warning that meant something for Timothy because Timothy too
was also in the last days and needed this such that he would
not be caught off guard. And then notice, in terms of
the general description, he says that in the last days perilous
times will come. The ESV has times of difficulty,
the NIV has terrible times. All are good translations. and
all underscore or highlight that reality. Until we get to the
new Jerusalem, until we get into heaven, there will always be
hardship, there will always be affliction, there will always
be trial and difficulty that make up this present world. We
can go through great seasons in the context of the church,
but those seasons don't obtain indefinitely. There is this ebb
and flow within the Christian life as individuals, and there
is an ebb and flow with reference to the Christian life in terms
of churchmanship. And we see that in the New Testament
documents, we see that in the history of the church, and we
see that experientially in our own generation, in our own time
frame. Now notice, secondly, the description
of the danger in verses 2 to 5a. Verse 2, for men, that's
the danger. Men, ungodly, unrighteous, unholy
men. He will further describe them
by way of 17 adjectives and then two contrasts. But you need to focus on this
reality. For men. The problems facing
the church are not the environment. The problems facing the church
are not disease. The problems facing the church
are not catastrophe. But the problems facing the church
in this context are sinful men. John Calvin writes, 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. So as we ponder this passage,
brethren, we need to take seriously not only the external threat,
not only an encroaching state, not only those who would try
to do harm to the people of God, but we need to understand the
internal threat. I think I've showed you before
that that was something that the kings of Judah had to contend
with. They not only had to battle the Philistines, they not only
had to deal with exterior external enemies, but they also had division
and problems inside. And more often than not, it would
be the king himself that would be a threat to the internal function
of the kingdom of Jesus Christ on earth. Now, with reference
to the specific sins, notice what he says. I'm just going
to categorize them instead of going through each and every
one of these particular references. Notice first the sin of pride.
The sin of pride. Pride is a horrible thing. And
in three instances, Paul highlights pride in these men that are a
plague in the context of the professing church. He refers
to them as boasters, he refers to them as proud, he refers to
them as headstrong. If you go back for just a moment
to the book of Proverbs, Proverbs chapter 6 specifically, you see what Yahweh thinks concerning
the sin of pride. And in Proverbs 6, 16, we read,
these six things Yahweh hates, yea, seven are an abomination
to him. A proud look, a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans,
feet that are swift and running to evil, a false witness who
speaks lies, and one who sows discord among brethren. Notice
a proud look. God abhors such. God despises
and disdains such. In this passage, God abominates
pride. And with reference to the danger
facing the church in terms of the internal threat of those
who have a form of godliness but deny its power, Pride is
at the top of the list in terms of what characterizes them. They
are boasters, they are proud, they are headstrong. We need
to take heed to that. Not perhaps so that we are the
actual danger that is envisaged by the apostle, but we're not
supposed to be proud. We're supposed to be a humble
people. God resists the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. And that is something that we
need to sort of imbibe with reference to our Christian faith. Secondly,
these ones lack goodness. They lack goodness. Again, I'm
categorizing a couple in one particular heading. So the sin
of pride, number one. Second, the lack of goodness.
And Paul refers to it in this way. They are unthankful and
they are despisers of good. Look what unthankfulness or a
lack of thankfulness is characteristic of. Turn back to chapter 1 in
the book of Romans. Romans chapter 1 gives an overarching
sort of indictment concerning the sin of the heathen and then
gets into the specific vice list. But with reference to that overarching
sin that is indicative of the heathen, notice in verse 18,
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness
and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. Now, Paul is going to follow
that motif. The problem that is indicative
of the heathen is that they are ungodly and unrighteous. The
unrighteousness will be spelled out in the vice list in verses
28 to 32. That is the act of, that is the
particular instances of sin. But the ungodliness comes first,
and he starts there. Notice in verse 19. Because what
may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it
to them. For since the creation of the
world is invisible, attributes are clearly seen, being understood
by the things that are made, even as eternal power and Godhead,
so that they are without excuse. Now notice, verse 21, because
although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor
were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their
foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became
fools and changed the glory of the incorruptible God, into an
image made like corruptible man and birds and four-footed animals
and creeping things. So there's your ungodliness.
It is what man thinks about God first that then drives his response
in terms of action. And that's the particular makeup
or the way that Paul proceeds there in Romans 1. But that is
intriguing in verse 21, because although they knew God, they
did not glorify him as God, nor were thankful. That is a mark
of the depraved. That is a mark of the unconverted. That is a mark of those who do
not know God. The Catechism, the Heidelberg,
goes in that threefold category—guilt, grace, gratitude, when we receive
the grace of God, when we are freed from our sins, when we
pass from darkness into life, what then is the reflex action? It is to thank and praise God
Almighty. But with reference to these ones
that are a threat to the church, they are unthankful men. And
not only are they unthankful men, they are despisers of good. In other words, Christians are
to be lovers of good, not despisers of good, and yet these sorts
will find their way into the professing church such that the
people of God need to be on guard. Now, always when I preach something
like this, I try to caution us or encourage us not to raise
an eyebrow at the fellow sitting next to us. Is this the potential
threat? Is this the guy that Paul was
talking about? Is this the person that needs
to be outed? Is this the person I need to
report to the eldership? Brethren, this ain't 1984, and
you ain't spies. If someone engages in wickedness,
obviously, rack them out. But let us not proceed in terms
of a suspicion of our brothers and our sisters. But when persons
manifest these types of traits consistently, not once in a while,
because I think we'll all find ourselves spoken to at some point
in this particular passage of Scripture. But when persons manifest
this, when it's characteristic of them or indicative of them,
then we need to be on our guard. We need to be on the lookout.
Notice in the third place, they are disobedient to parents. Verse
two, for men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money,
boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents. That
makes it in the vice list in Romans chapter one as well. It
is a problem amongst the heathen and it is a problem amongst the
professing church. And you might think that disobedience
to parents isn't that big of a deal. No, it is a big deal
because it exhibits a problem with authority. And in God's
world, God has established authority. God the Lord calls us to be subordinate
to our parents. God the Lord calls us to be subordinate
to civil authority. God the Lord calls us to be subordinate
to ecclesiastical authority. That is God's way for life in
this world. And then notice, fourthly, the
practice of slander. They are slanderers. Literally,
they are devils. Back in chapter 2 at verse 26,
and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of
the devil. The same language is used with
reference to slanderer. The heart of the idea of Satan
is one who accuses. one who speaks ill, one who misrepresents,
one who lies, one who deceives. As well, we have this lack of
self-control amongst these professors who have a form of godliness,
but they deny its power. Again, all of these things at
some point, or in some way, are true of us. I don't think any
of us can say, I'm always obedient to civil authority. I'm always
obedient to my parental authority. I've never said an ill thing.
I've never had an issue. I've never had a problem. No,
it finds us at some point as we move our way through this
list, especially that first one. Who of us could raise their hand?
Please don't even do this. Don't even conceive of doing
this. Oh, yeah, I'm pretty humble. I'm just the most humble person.
Actually do it, because you're evidencing that you're really
not what you are suggesting to the rest of us you are. So all
of this finds us at some point, but again, we're looking at men,
the kind of men that prey on gullible women, the kind of men
that are akin to Janus and Jambres, those magicians that tried to
dupe the Egyptians and the Israelites back in Exodus 7 and Exodus chapter
9. So these are persons with a lack
of self-control. And then another thing that Paul
says is that they engage in the act of treason. Notice in verse
4, they are traitors. They are traitors. Later, this
particular term was used in Christian writings to refer to those who
blasphemed and those who engaged in apostasy. So as you move through
this particular list, pride, a lack of goodness, disobedience
to parents, practice of slander, the lack of self-control, and
the act of treason, it's not a pretty picture that the Apostle
paints concerning the kinds of people that are in local churches. that are in the houses of God,
that are in and among the people of God. Remember, he tells Timothy
to withdraw from such, avoid such, have no truck with such
men. And I think in terms of an overarching
approach to these things, Andy Hamilton, the fellow that we
pray for on Wednesday night, that sort of link to Myanmar,
I heard a sermon he preached many, many, many years ago, and
he referred to three prevailing philosophies that this vice list
produces. Three prevailing philosophies
that confront us in the here and now. In the first place,
he said that this passage contains secular humanism. Notice that
these are lovers of themselves. Verse 2, for men will be lovers
of themselves. That is secular humanism. when
man is the measure of all things, especially one particular man,
the man I look at when I'm shaving. That sort of self-love is indicative
of a prevailing philosophy that is rampant in society today,
and we would be fools not to see its way into the church of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Secondly, materialistic idolatry. Notice in verse 2, men will be
lovers of themselves and lovers of money. Again, brethren, with
reference to money, money, as the scripture says, is not the
root of all kinds of evil. The love of money is the root
of all kinds of evil. It's not money. Money is a tool. Money is just a thing. It's how
the human heart approaches the money. If we use it as a tool,
if we use it to pay our mortgage, if we use it to buy food, If
we use it to engage in acts of charity and those sorts of things,
money is a good tool. But when men become lovers of
it, when men can't get enough of it, when men betray this idea
of a materialistic idolatry, they want stuff. Perhaps you've
seen the bumper sticker, he who dies with the most toys wins. That is not accurate. That is
not biblical. Jesus says, what shall it profit
a man if he gains the whole world, but he loses his soul? So materialistic
idolatry is rampant. Again, not just out there, but
within the professing church. And then notice something else
that these ones love. In verse 4. It says, lovers of
pleasure rather than lovers of God. This is hedonistic sensuality. Hedonism is that philosophical
aim wherein the hedonist wants his pleasure. He wants his flesh
pampered. He wants all the stuff and all
the accouterments and all the good things that this world has
to offer because he enjoys that. It's not so that he can be benevolent.
It's not so that he can give. It's not so that he can help.
It's not so that he can engage in acts of charity and whatnot.
It's so that he can spend it on his own lusts and on his own
desires. Now, having said all these things,
in terms of these three prevailing philosophies, go back for just
a moment to 1 Timothy 4. I want you to see that Paul is
not a Gnostic. Paul is not condemning the physical. Paul is not suggesting that somehow
having anything is necessarily wicked. It is necessarily sinful. Paul is not a Gnostic. And basically,
Gnosticism was probably a second century phenomena that affected
the church. I mean, the seeds of it are present
even in the first century church, as we see in several comments,
especially by John in 1 John. But the Gnostics taught that
the physical was bad. The physical was bad. That the
body was bad. That there was no... That's why
the preaching of the resurrection was revolutionary. Because for
the Greek and the Gnostic, the thought of the physical body
being resurrected was just nuts. The idea that that was the way
it was supposed to be was contradictory in terms of all that they thought.
So this idea that the physical is bad, all that matters is the
soul, well, it led to a whole host of heresies. And Paul was
not a Gnostic. Paul preached the resurrection
of the dead, and Paul preached the right use of the creature.
In other words, as image bearers, God has given us dominion over
the animals such that we can eat them. God, as a good and
benevolent creator, has given us marriage, for instance. Gnosticism
can be seen, at least in some sense, in Roman Catholicism.
This idea that we can't marry if we're priests because that
will somehow disturb the order and we can't do good work as
priests. No, that is not biblical. And
if you look at 1 Timothy 4 at verse 1, Paul identifies this
kind of thinking with the doctrine of demons. Verse 1, now the Spirit
expressly says that in latter times, and again, latter times,
last days, the time frame between the first and second advent.
Now, the Spirit expressly says that in latter times, some will
depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and
doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their
own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and
commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received
with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For
every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused
if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is sanctified by the word
of God in prayer." The problem with the guys in 2 Timothy 3
is not that they use the creature, it's that they abuse the creature
and they misuse it. In fact, turn to 1 Timothy chapter
6. 1 Timothy chapter 6 at verse 17, command those who are rich
in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain
riches, but in the living God who gives us richly all things
to enjoy. Let them do good, that they be
rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share. storing
up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come that they
may lay hold on eternal life. Paul doesn't say, command those
who are rich to give away all their money. Command those who
are rich to get orange sheets and cover themselves and bang
tambourines at the airport. That's not what he is saying.
The creature is not bad if we use it moderately, if we use
it responsibly, if we use it in a manner consistent with God's
Word. But the creature is bad, or rather, this creature is bad
when we misuse those things that God provides. So secular humanism,
materialistic idolatry, and hedonistic sensuality. And again, look at
verse 5. Having a form of godliness but
denying its power. The apostle is dealing with a
situation that obtains in the local church. He is dealing,
again, not with Islam, not with Jehovah's Witnesses, not with
the Mormons, not with the persons outside the context of the church.
This isn't a warning against the heathen. It isn't a warning
against the encroaching state. It isn't a warning against the
beast of revelation. It is a warning for the people
of God, for the pastors of God, to take heed with reference to
the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. John 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. And Gordon Clark says, undoubtedly,
pagan persecutions are perilous times, but internal subversion
is also perilous and perhaps more so. Again, I don't bring
this message tonight to say, I got a list and some of you
are on it, so be careful. I hope that in the last six months
and in the last 15 months, we have been taking notes. We have
been making observations. We have been looking at the church
and how she's to function in this particular society. And
if we as a church are marked by these kinds of sins, then
we will not prosper. We will not progress. We do not
deserve to, but rather we deserve to have Ichabod written over
our church. With reference to our own status
before a holy God, we need to take heed as we proceed in this
present evil world to make sure, as far as we are able, that we
strive, by God's grace, to maintain faithful biblical churchmanship
in this world that we find ourselves. Now notice, thirdly, the exhortation
to avoid the danger. Verse 5b is the warning. Notice, very simply, having a
form of godliness but denying its power and from such people
turn away. Turn back to Romans chapter 16.
Just so you can see, this isn't an isolated case. We often hear,
well, you're Christians, you need to put up with everything.
You're Christians, you need to suffer along with everybody. We already saw Timothy as the
man of God is not to be quarrelsome at the end of chapter two. He
is to patiently dialogue with those who oppose, hopefully in
the sense that God will grant them repentance so that they
may escape the bondage of being held by the devil. But when it
comes to patterns, When it comes to characterization, when it
comes to an orientation that is marked as Paul has identified,
the only logical answer is to withdraw from such a person. Notice in Romans 16, verse 17,
now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and
offenses contrary to the doctrine which you learned and avoid them. You see, again, brethren, we
are to be a long-suffering. We are to be a bearing and a
forbearing people. But that has its limitations. If we do not deal with sin, and
I'm not talking about the garden variety sin that each and every
one of us commits on a daily basis, but those grave sins or
those repetitive sins or those sorts of sins, that are calculated
to do harm and destruction in the context of the church of
the Lord Jesus Christ. We are not to bear long with
that. Titus chapter 3, same emphasis. Titus chapter 3, verse 9. But avoid foolish disputes, genealogies,
contentions, and strivings about the law, for they are unprofitable
and useless. That is so contrary today. We
would get the counsel, oh no, you just need to have Bible studies
with everybody who disagrees. No. Every time a Jehovah's Witness
comes to my door, I don't feel the need to restudy the deity
of Jesus Christ. That's settled. The wheel is
made. I am not going to try and refashion
it or reformulate it. Brethren, you simply hold your
ground, you simply stand fast, and you simply be faithful. Not
in the sense where you ultimately compromise, because that's what
typically happens. And then notice in verse 10,
"...reject a divisive man after the first and second admonition,
knowing that such a person is warped and sinning, being self-condemned."
Paul would be booted out of most churches today. Paul would be
booted out of any university. Are you telling me, Paul, that
there's actually warped people out there? Absolutely, positively,
there are. How else do you explain the state
of affairs, not only outside the church, but within the church?
How do you explain woke pastors? How do you explain pastors capitulating
to the prevailing philosophies of this generation? How do you
explain it except that warpness is found in their heads? And
this is an issue wherein they should repent and forsake that
garbage or leave their pulpits, because wokeness is killing not
only Western civilization, but it's taking the church right
down with it. And if we don't stand fast, and
if we don't hold the line, We're going to get caught up in it
too, because it's a horrific... Well, hopefully we're a bit brighter
than that. I mean, sorry, I don't even want
to go there. But back to our particular text.
Notice, then Paul explains. He gives the warning, verse 5b,
and then he sort of teases this out in verses 6 and 7. Notice
his explanation with reference to these kinds of men. Verse
6, four of this sort. Now, Paul probably had particular
persons in his mind. He doesn't reveal them. He does,
however, reveal certain persons that did him harm. At the end,
in chapter 4, he refers to Alexander the coppersmith, who did me much
harm. And then he says, may the Lord
repay him. Again, brethren, that's just
not the way we function. We're too nice for that. We're
too delicate for that. The brethren or the people were
storming the beaches of Normandy 77 years ago on this day, and
now we need to have safe spaces because we get offended about
everything. Brethren, if biblical revelation
offends us, the problem isn't biblical revelation. The problem
is you and I. And we need to repent, and our
minds need to be aligned with what Scripture says. So the Apostle
Paul knows names, and at times names names. Here he doesn't,
but he describes their methodology. So not only characteristically
do they look like that, not only philosophically do they imbibe
these things, but look at how these men practice. Four of this
sort are those who creep." That's an intriguing word, isn't it?
If you go to Jude for just a moment, we referred to Jude 3 this morning,
but if you go down just a little bit, Jude 4, for certain men
have crept in unnoticed who long ago were marked out for this
condemnation, ungodly men who turn the grace of our God into
lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.
They have to creep. See, if you're upright and you're
a faithful servant of Christ and you hold fast to the Word
of God, you don't have to slither around. You don't have to hide.
You don't have to creep around. But when you're one of these
guys, you have to. And they will do it in order
to gain a hearing. So the wicked men work by deception
in order to capture those who they see. That's what he says.
For of this sort are those who creep into households, and then
notice what they do. They not only creep, but they
also capture. And they make captives of gullible
women loaded down with sins. Paul is not condemning, Paul
is not indicting all women. There is a subset of women identified
by Paul here as gullible women. And these gullible women are
the ones that these false teachers prey upon. And that in and of
itself is disgusting. That in and of itself is pathetic. That in and of itself shows just
how weaselly these men are. They don't go to men. They don't
go to non-gullible women. They find the gullible women
in the context of the local church, and they knock on their door,
and they slither in, and they drink coffee, and they lead them
astray. This is a reality. This is a
danger. You know, unfortunately, it's
happening even from pulpits today, where they're leading not just
gullible women, but gullible men down a path of heresy, down
a path of rejecting good Bible doctrine. Notice the specific
target and view, gullible women. George Knight says 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 he is not intending to describe women in general.
And then notice how he goes on to describe them. They're gullible
women loaded down with sins. I mean, again, these aren't your
healthy, you know, not that we should extricate them or not
deal with them. The idea is that gullible women
are taught real good doctrine so that they move from a place
of gullibility to stability. And then they're not prey for
these kinds of wolves in sheep's clothing. But then also notice
what it says. They're loaded down with sins,
led away by various lusts. And then this statement in verse
seven, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge
of the truth. That statement is so perceptive. That statement
is so descriptive of a class, not just of gullible women, but
I fear of gullible men, gullible people out there, always learning
but never coming to a knowledge of the truth. Why is that? They
go from Dan to Beersheba. They go from everywhere in Scripture,
but there is nothing guarding them down. There is no tethering.
There's no doctrinal foundation. There's no stability. They are
the kinds of people that are tossed to and fro. by every wind
of doctrine. We saw this morning, Ephesians
4, one of the purposes for Christ giving gifts to men is for the
equipping of the saints, for the work of ministry, for all
those things specified and stipulated so that the church can come to
a mature man, so that she is not tossed to and fro by every
wind of doctrine. That these men prey on those
type of women underscore just how wicked those men are. And
with reference to Paul's words here, this is not something confined
to the first century, but this is something that goes on even
today. And then notice he makes this
comparison with Janus and Jambres in verse 8. Now, as Janus and
Jambres resisted Moses, Now, the magicians at the time of
Moses and Pharaoh are not named, but pagan authors and even Jewish
authors referred to the magicians by the names of Janus and Jambres.
Obviously, the Apostle Paul was privy to that information, whether
through a Jewish author or through a pagan author, and so he just
refers to that in that particular way. But note this comparison.
Now, as Janus and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist
the truth. Think about that for a moment.
These are men in the context of the local church. These are
men in the context of the local church that probably see themselves,
that I dare say most likely see themselves, as persons who ought
to teach. Because these men visit the gullible
women, they creep in, and they say, hey, gullible women, let's
have a Bible study so I can lead you down the road of heresy,
so I can extort you for money, so I can do all kinds of nefarious
things. These are the kinds of people,
unfortunately, that find their way into the church of the Lord
Jesus Christ. See why church discipline was
identified as a mark of the church by the reformers at the time
of the Reformation? If you leave these kinds of guys
in the church and you don't discipline them, You don't take seriously
Titus 3 and reject a factious man. What do you think is going
to happen? Do you think his impurity is
going to vanish and he's going to get holy and upright and godly?
God is gracious and he can do that to be sure, but more often
than not, his impurity, his heresy, his wickedness will spread like
gangrene. That's one of the purposes behind
discipline. Yes, for the glory of God. Yes,
for the restoration of the discipline. But yes, for the purity and protection
of the church. James says, pure and undefiled
religion in the sight of God the Father is this, to visit
widows and orphans in their distress and to keep oneself unspotted
from the world. You see, we think we're so holy,
we're going to go ooze that holiness on the world, and they're going
to get converted. That's probably not going to
happen. What most likely happens is that their unholiness oozes
on us and affects us. And that's why James says, to
keep oneself unspotted from the world. Now, I'm going to make
an admission here that is painful. But when I was growing up, men...
I probably shouldn't go down that road. Actually, white pants
on men. I don't think I've ever seen
anybody here wear white pants. I mean white. White is the sun
pants. The idea is that when you go
out with those pants, you don't make mud piles white. Typically,
the mud piles make the white pants muddy. And that's the emphasis
in Scripture, in the book of Haggai. They ask questions concerning
that very thing. Is holiness contagious? No, it's
not, but unholiness is, and you need to guard against it. When
churches allow this kind of thing to happen, churches are destroyed. They are devastated. They are
decimated. We must stay the course. We must hold the line. We must
stand fast. We must imbibe the truth of God's
holy word. And so with reference to these
men, Paul likens them to these magicians who resisted Moses. So do these also resist the truth. And then notice, men of corrupt
minds disapprove concerning the faith. So the false teachers
resist the truth. The false teachers give evidence
of having corrupt minds. Now the idea here primarily isn't
ethical. Though their ethics are terrible,
it is intellectual corruption. Their minds are off. Look back
at 1 Timothy chapter 6 again. Look at what he says in verse
20. Oh, Timothy, guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding
the profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is
falsely called knowledge. By professing it, some have strayed
concerning the faith. Grace be with you. Amen. You
see, the very last statement in 1 Timothy is a warning to
Timothy to hold fast, to stay the course, to persevere, to
not give an inch. And understand, Timothy, you
need to guard what was committed to your trust. You need to avoid
the profane and idle babblings. and the contradictions of what
is falsely called knowledge. By professing it, some have strayed
concerning the faith. So Paul is dealing with that
same subset here in 2 Timothy 3. He likens them to the magicians
who resisted Moses. So do these also resist the truth. They are men of corrupt minds,
disapproved concerning the faith. Their doctrine and conduct invalidates
their claim with reference to a confession of faith. In other
words, we are saved by grace through faith. And that not of
ourselves, it is the gift of God, lest any of us should boast.
But when we make that good confession, when there is genuine saving
faith, there will be fruit, there will be consequences, there will
be effects. And we will see that. It will
be tangible. It won't be, perhaps, what we
want. It won't be, perhaps, what we expect. It won't be, perhaps,
what it will be in 20 or 30 years from now. But there will always
be some sort of fruit from a valid confession of faith in our Lord
Jesus. When you get a completely messed
up man like this, his confession of faith is not valid. It is
not legit. It is not accurate. I'm not suggesting
it's works plus faith. I am telling you that when you
have genuine saving faith, the natural reflex on the heart of
the blood-bought child of God is to issue forth and conduct
consistent with that gospel of His salvation. But then Paul
ends on an encouraging note. I mean, that's a pretty discouraging
section, isn't it? Timothy, these are the kinds
of guys that are gonna show up at your church. Timothy, these
are the kinds of guys that are gonna be guided by this sort
of philosophy. These are the sorts of guys that
are gonna try to prey on the gullible women in your church
and take them off and have a Bible study with them. But don't go
to the path or don't go to that end thought that they're gonna
win. Notice in verse nine. but they will progress no further,
for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was."
I take the, as theirs also was, as a reference to Janus and Jambres. What happened to Janus and Jambres?
Their rod was eaten by Aaron's rod. They were not able to duplicate
the plague of hail. I thought that Pharaoh should
have asked them to stop the plague of hail. That would have been
a whole lot better and a more excellent display of their ability,
but they were simply called to duplicate it. And then with reference
to the plague of boils, the text is very specific. The magicians
themselves were covered with boils. They could not resist
Moses and have everything go well for them. People in the
professing church cannot resist the truth and have everything
go well for them. They will either, A, destroy
the church, or B, by God, will be destroyed. I don't mean they're
going to die right in front of everybody and have worms cover
them, but they will be stopped. And that's Paul's encouragement.
And we need to understand that as well. But they will progress
no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs
also was. So we need to have vigilance,
this text calls us to, but we need to guard against despair.
We need to guard against a fear and trepidation that is simply
unbiblical. We have Christ. We have his word. We have the sure promise of Matthew
16. He will build his church and the gates of Hades shall
not prevail against it. By way of contrast, notice Paul's
direction in verse 10. But you have carefully followed
my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, long-suffering,
love, perseverance. So for all the knuckleheads that
he describes in verses 1 to 9 or 1 to 8, there is nevertheless
the Timothys, the Tituses, the Jameses, the faithful ministers
that actually carry out their role in terms of preaching and
teaching. So be vigilant to be sure, but
don't despair. Don't fear. Don't think that
the church is going to lose. Don't think that the church is
going to be stopped. Don't think that the church is
ultimately going to be thwarted. God's redemptive plan concerning
this earth is a great multitude that no man can number, from
every tribe, every tongue, every people, every nation. The Lord
Christ is enthroned at the right hand of the Father, where He
has promised to build His church, and where He has promised as
well that the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
So vigilance, yes, but fear and despair, no, don't do that. Don't fall prey to that. Some
Christians have this utterly bleak outlook. It's only going
to get worse and worse and worse and worse and worse. That's not
scriptural, brethren. In fact, dropping down just a
little bit, notice what he goes on to say. Verse 12, yes, all
who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.
And then he says, but evil men and imposters will grow worse
and worse, deceiving and being deceived. They're going to do
these things, but it doesn't say they're going to win. They're
going to engage in this kind of activity, but they're not
going to triumph. They're going to attempt to thwart
the advancement of Christ's church, but they're going to lose ultimately.
So vigilance, yes. Despair, no. Calvin ends by saying,
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. That's what Calvin comments here,
and I think he's right on. Now, in conclusion, just a few
thoughts. And again, I want to suggest that we need to be cautious.
On the one hand, with reference to ourselves. On the other hand,
we ought not to be proud or arrogant or boastful. Oh yeah, we're doing
great. In the first place, there will always be external enemies.
There will be encroaching state. I'm not going to get into all
that right now. You've heard my thoughts on that over the
last six months. But with reference to the encroaching
state, Revelation 13 is probably the best picture of that. Of
course, the Old Covenant, the history of Israel, is a wonderful
depiction of that as well. Of course, the prophet Daniel
in Babylon is a wonderful picture of that as well. This idea that
the state will always stay in its lane, that the state will
never try to hurt the church, that the state will always respect
the right for the church to exist and move and have her being,
is simply unbiblical. The beast of revelation, as I
said, whatever eschatological bent you have, whatever position
you adopt, as far as I know, most commentators from every
millennial position all agree, at least in this, that the beast
from the sea is a political entity. That the beast from the sea is
a political entity. Again, I'm not suggesting that
is what we are seeing now. In fact, you know me, I wouldn't
suggest that because I'm what's called a preterist. But with
reference to the reality, will there be an encroaching state?
Yes, the Bible tells us that. But this passage is not concerned
with that. This passage is concerned with
the church. The words of Peter concerning
the church in 1 Peter 4, 17. He says, For the time has come
for judgment to begin at the house of God. And if it begins
with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey
the gospel of God? See, Peter recognizes this as
he prepares the church for trial, for hardship, for suffering,
for difficulty. He suggests, or rather he stipulates,
that judgment must begin with the house of God. Revelation
chapter 2 and 3, the letters to the seven churches in Asia
Minor. There is commendation, you've done good in this, but
there's condemnation as well. So the Lord Christ, from the
right hand of the Father, by the Spirit, to the messenger
of those churches, tells them to get their house in order.
Tells them to correct the heresy that is rampant in those churches.
To correct the conduct or the misconduct that is rampant in
those churches. So the reality is, is the Bible
speaks not only to the external threat facing the church, but
as well to the internal. Now I want you to turn to one
passage, a passage that I think is one of the most terrifying
passages in all of the Bible. You can turn to the prophet Ezekiel.
Ezekiel chapter 9. Ezekiel chapter 9 I think underscores
this point, that we need to get our house in order. I won't read the whole passage.
I'll just try to give you the gist of it. It's a vision. Actually, I will read the whole
passage. Notice the vision. Chapter 9, verse 1. Then he called
out in my hearing with a loud voice, saying, let those who
have charge over the city draw near, each with a deadly weapon
in his hand. And suddenly six men came from
the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with
his battle axe in his hand. One man among them was clothed
with linen and had a writer's ink horn at his side. they went
in and stood beside the bronze altar. Now this context, specifically
chapters 8 to 11, is the withdrawal of, or the departure of, the
glory of God from the temple. As the chapters proceed, in this
brief section of chapters 8 to 11, you see the glory of God
withdrawing from the temple, okay? And we see that specifically
in verse 3. Now the glory of the God of Israel
had gone up from the cherub, where it had been, to the threshold
of the temple. And he called to the man clothed
with linen, who had the writer's inkorn at his side. And the Lord
said to him, go through the midst of the city, through the midst
of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who
sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it. To the
others, he said in my hearing, go after him through the city
and kill. Do not let your eyes spare nor
have any pity. Utterly slay old and young men,
maidens and little children and women, but do not come near anyone
on whom is the mark. Now note the next phrase, and
begin at my sanctuary. So what's the point? The point
is simple. Amongst the covenant people of
Israel, in the city of Jerusalem, where the temple is, there is
gross immorality, there is gross heresy, there is idolatry, there
is wickedness. That's why the glory of Yahweh
is departing from the temple, because they have made a mess
of things. And in that context, God dispatches
these men to go out, or the one man with the rider's incorn,
to go out and mark the foreheads of those who sigh and cry over
the abominations in the land. In other words, those who actually
care about the condition of Zion. And then the men with the battle
axes are to follow up. And anybody who did not bear
that mark on their forehead were to be executed. What's the point? The Church of Christ must agonize
over the state of the Church of Christ. The Church of Christ
must feel, keenly, the abominations within her and seek, by the grace
of God, to deal with it. In other words, the Church of
the living God is a place where God is to be honored, where God
is to be glorified, where God is to be revered. And when we
are in sin or when we embrace heresy, those things don't happen. And so in this instance, the
command was to purge Israel. Start at my sanctuary. Judgment must begin at the house
of God. Brethren, we've got problems
in this country, not just with the government. We've got problems
in this country with the churches. And we need to pray for the churches.
We need to encourage people in churches. We need to seek, by
God's grace, to inculcate good churchmanship. We need to demand
good doctrine. We need to demand good preaching. We need to demand the reality
that churchmanship is most essential in this present age. We're not
supposed to, and we were never designed to live apart from the
church. We are to be in fellowship. We are to be with one another.
The assembly must assemble. The congregation must congregate. And when we do that, we're to
encourage one another and exhort one another daily while it is
called today, according to the exhortation in Hebrews 3, lest
we be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. This is a chilling and
terrifying depiction of the reality that God takes seriously the
purity of His house. And when it's impure, we ought
to expect that God will purge, that God will deal, and that
God will chastise. Calvin says, therefore, When
we see on one side the name of God trodden as it were underfoot
and all justice violated, we see on the other side the Church
of God miserable and cruelly affected. If we smile in security
by this very thing, we sufficiently show that we have nothing in
common with God, and in vain we call Him Father. We need to
get this message. It's not just the world that's
the problem. At times, it's us as well. And with reference to us specifically,
we need to imbibe the Scripture. We need to hold fast doctrinal
truth. And we need, by God's grace and
the empowerment of the Spirit, to put those things into practice
and to seek to be faithful. In terms of church members, You
need to know the truth. You need to understand the faith.
You need to understand Christianity. You must strive to let your conduct
be worthy of the gospel. And the people of God in the
church of God must be discriminating with reference to the preachers
that ultimately stand in pulpits. I mean, come on, brethren! It ought not to be the case that
deniers of the Trinity are some of the most popular preachers
in America. It should not be the case that
a man can't give a basic description of the doctrine of justification
by faith. R.C. Sproul's organization did
this well. I don't know if they still do,
but they would go to these big Christian conferences, and guys
would stand outside, and when the conferees would come out,
they'd ask him, what is justification? And no one could answer the question.
Well, maybe before you go to these conferences, you go to
Sunday school and learn what justification is. We've had people
visit our church, this is going back years ago, guys that were
biblical studies majors at Trinity Western University that didn't
know whether they were Calvinists or Arminians. Again, go back
to Sunday school and learn your ABCs before you'll ever take
up a pulpit in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm not
suggesting it can only be the best and brightest, but I am
suggesting it mustn't be the most stupid among us that find
their way into pulpits. It is absolutely shocking the
sorts of drivel that is passing for Christian preaching today.
And that's not only on them, but it's on the people as well.
It's on the people that say, well, he's a nice guy. Well,
he likes to have coffee. Well, we go golfing together.
You can do all of that. Just don't let him preach. He
can engage in all of that as a faithful churchman. But don't
let him near a pulpit. If a man can't preach, if a man
can't teach, as wonderful as he may be, as virtuous as he
may be, as godly as he may be, he is not supposed to be an elder
in Christ's church. We know this. We would never
take our car to a guy who likes to have coffee with us, to a
guy who's super friendly, and to a guy who doesn't know anything
about mechanics and say, oh, go ahead and try fixing it. We
wouldn't do that as mechanics. We certainly wouldn't go to a
guy who wants to work on our brain with sharp surgical instruments,
who's got a shaky hand. I'm sorry, brethren, he may be
the nicest guy on the face of the earth, but if he's got a
bit of the shake, I don't want him rooting around my brain with
a sharp instrument. We see it everywhere else, and
yet in the church, what passes for preaching is embarrassing
at best and ought to be dealt with in terms of what the people
of God are expecting. As well, with reference to pastors,
with reference to elders in churches, they need to guard against both
the external threat and the internal threat. And they guard against
both, interestingly enough, the same way. They guard against
both by the Bible and theology, by preaching and by teaching. Calvin again says, Paul informs
him that the church will be subject to terrible diseases, which will
require in the pastors uncommon fidelity, diligence, watchfulness,
prudence, and unwearied constancy, as if he enjoined Timothy to
prepare for arduous and deeply anxious contests which awaited
him. Again, Gordon Clark, I quoted
the first part a few minutes ago. Undoubtedly, pagan persecutions
are perilous times, but internal subversion is also perilous and
perhaps more so. The duty of a pastor, therefore,
the duty of a synod or general assembly, he's a Presbyterian,
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. In other words, there is something
that we can do to guard against the external threats and to guard
against the internal threats. And Paul will sign off this great
epistle, which was his last. We should all feel a real deep
connection to 2 Timothy. I probably sound like a charismatic
now. But 2 Timothy is the last letter that the apostle Paul
wrote. It is the swan song, as it were. And the last formal command that
he gives to Timothy as pastor is to preach the word. Why is
that? Because there will be these kinds
of men in perilous times coming to do great harm to the people
of God. There will be beasts like we
see in the book of Revelation. There will be threats, external
and internal. So what does the church do to
combat this? Preach the word, Timothy. Be
ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, and exhort
with all longsuffering and teaching. That's the job, that's the task,
that's the calling. Timothy, get about it, find other
men and train them to do likewise and send them out so that we
can propagate this glorious gospel of the blessed God and make disciples
and make churches so that we can teach the people of God to
observe all that the Lord Jesus has commanded. And we have this
blessed promise that, lo, He is with us always, even to the
end of the age. Let us pray. Our Father in heaven,
we thank you for your word and we thank you for these warnings,
these exhortations, this call to faithfulness in perilous times. Give us wisdom as we proceed
and give us grace, Lord God in heaven, to sigh and cry over
the abominations that occur. in the church and in our land
to be sure, and give us grace to pray, to stand in the gap
as it were, and give us grace as people of God in this community
to shine as lights, and give us grace to hold forth that word
of truth. And again, we pray for our brother
Mike in Surrey, we pray for our brother Ryan, we pray for all
of the brothers in this in this country that are faithfully ministering
the word of truth, that you would uphold them, that you would strengthen
them, that you would encourage them, and that you would cause
them to know the nearness of God as their good. Every time
they step into the pulpit, every time they step into their study,
every time they get on their face before you in prayer, May
it be the case, Lord God Most High, that you would send revival,
that you would awaken those who are dead in their trespasses
and sins, and that you would give us that blessed time of
blessing from on high, from the presence of the Lord God Most
High. May we see it through your grace and for your glory. And
we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. We'll close with a brief
time of meditation.
