Theological term
Confessional Standards
3 sermons · All terms
The Call to Faithfulness in Perilous Times
Paul's warning to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:1–9 identifies the gravest threat facing the church as not external persecution but internal corruption — men with a form of godliness who deny its power. The passage is expounded under four headings: the recognition of danger in the last days, the description of godless men marked by secular humanism, materialistic idolatry, and hedonism, the exhortation to avoid such men entirely, and the encouragement that their folly will be exposed as surely as that of Jannes and Jambres before Moses. The sermon calls believers to know the foundational doctrines of Christianity, to conduct themselves worthy of the gospel, and to discriminate carefully about who is permitted to teach — while resting in the confidence that Christ will build his church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
The Warning Concerning Perilous Times
Paul's warning in 2 Timothy 3:1–9 locates 'perilous times' not in some distant future crisis but in the present age — the entire span between Christ's first and second advents — and identifies the danger as false teachers operating within the visible church. The sermon works through four considerations: the need to recognise the danger, a detailed description of apostate character (seventeen vices rooted in self-love), the command to avoid such men, and an encouragement that their folly will ultimately be exposed. Pastors and church members alike are called to combine sound doctrinal knowledge with the discernment and resolve to identify and turn away from heresy, trusting that Christ is building his church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
The Solid Foundation of God
The apostle Paul's charge to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:16–19 to shun profane and idle babblings confronts the church with two realities: the devastating spread of doctrinal heresy and the unshakeable solidity of God's foundation. Paul names Hymenaeus and Philetus as concrete examples of men who, by denying the future bodily resurrection, not only increase in ungodliness themselves but overthrow the faith of others — a danger compared to gangrene consuming a body. Against this alarm, verse 19 supplies a double seal of comfort: the doctrine of election (the Lord knows those who are His) and the doctrine of sanctification (those who name Christ depart from iniquity), grounding the confidence that no heretical assault can ultimately destroy what God has established. The sermon applies these truths by calling the church both to vigilant doctrinal discipline and to fearless trust in God's sovereign preservation of His people.