In the first part of this chapter 2 Timothy 3:1-8, Paul reminds Timothy of the great apostasy which was to be expected in the church, and states some of the characteristics of it. You can you see what's happened even in the last twenty-five years. If a man's goods are stolen, he can set to and build up his fortunes again; but if his good name is taken away, irreparable damage has been done. It will be getting better a little further down the road, but evil days are going to wax worse and worse, until the Lord takes His church out and then God judges the world for its unrighteousness and ungodliness. (8) Using the boldness God gives, don't be ashamed of the imprisoned apostle. They're profitable for doctrine. In the terrible times men will be so set on self that even the closest ties will be nothing to them. Matthew 10:22-23; Luke 21:12; John 15:20; Acts 14:22; 1 Thessalonians 3:4). Men will be thankless (acharistos, G884) . There is love. He must study the Scriptures to make himself useful to God and to his fellow-men. He read them and never rested until he obtained the rest of the Bible. Every one who is of the truth hears my voice.' In other words, it's not going to get better for awhile. And suddenly, of course, their tears were changed because Paul began to breathe and move and he stood up and he said, Let's go back in and preach some more. Traitors . The cause of the perilous times are found in the things that people will be doing, and at the top of the list. When the Lord was entering on His ministry He says, "Woman, what have I to do with thee?" It is the ability to accept the folly, the perversity, the blindness, the ingratitude of men and still to remain gracious, and still to toil on. The Christian, the minister, is the man of God. Now you get out your, you know, your green and blue pens and for the inspired ones, we'll underline those with blue and we'll use red, maybe, to underline those that are not inspired, you know and, and so here I am, I'm the authority.Well, the next liberal comes along and he says, Well, no, no, no, he was wrong on that one. It's instructing you on the right kind of life. It is no accident that the first of these qualities will be a life that is centred in self. We've just experienced a tremendous demonstration of that in the Los Angeles basin in the last couple of weeks. And they were able to imitate the workings of God up to a point and then they came to the place where they were backed down by Moses, but "men of corrupt minds, they are reprobate concerning the faith. How gracious of the Lord to point out the path for the saint, separate from that which grieves the Lord, yet enjoying all that He sees good for us of the privileges of Christianity! . For "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks" ( Matthew 12:34 ). Get Your Bible Minute in Your Inbox Every Morning, Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus All that live according to the will of God revealed in his word; and to the glory of God, as the end of all their actions; and which the grace of God in the Gospel, and in their own hearts, teaches them; and who have the principles of a godly life from Christ, and derive the fresh supplies of grace and life from him, to maintain it; in whom their life is hid, and who live by faith upon him; all such that live, and that will live so, are desirous of living after this manner; in whom God has wrought in them both to will and to do, and are concerned when it is otherwise with them: these. SEDUCTION IN THE NAME OF RELIGION ( 2 Timothy 3:6-7 ). Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. The whole idea is that of thoroughly fitting you as an instrument that God can use. Not so the apostle Paul. This is unfortunate, since his works contain priceless gems of information that are found nowhere except in the ancient writings of the Jews. Such is the meaning of purging himself. For God hath not given us the spirit of fear" (it was what Timothy was manifesting), "but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Wow, watch out now because Jesus bought it. He read the twenty-third psalm from one; the story of the Good Samaritan from another; from another the Sermon on the Mount; from another 1 Corinthians 13:1-13. When our Lord was pleased to take upon himself the form of a servant, and to go about preaching the kingdom of God; he took all opportunities in public, and more especially in private, to caution his disciples against . Why not baptize at once every soul around? It is Paul's charge that such people are "willing to learn from anyone, and yet never able to come to a knowledge of the truth." Even an unbeliever is acting unfairly unless he tries to read it. Given the right conditions, such oppositions would be just as deadly as the great Roman persecutions. Barnes' Notes. 1 Paul, a an apostle of Christ Jesus b by the will of God according to c the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus,. The words that finally decided me were those in John 18:37: 'For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. "It shone and glowed with truth," she said, "and my whole being responded to it. "I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers, with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day, greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears." There are those who shrink from helping on others in order to the work and doctrine of the Lord. (iv) The Scriptures are of use for correction. Storge is the word used especially of family love, the love of child for parent and parent for child. Good. (2 Timothy 2:1.) (187) And he says this, partly that believers may prepare themselves for submitting to this condition, and partly that good men may not view him with suspicion on account of the persecutions which he endures from wicked persons; as it frequently happens that the distresses to which men are subjected lead to unfavorable opinions concerning them; for he whom men regard with aversion is immediately declared by the common people to be hated by God. Now this is not given to us in the Scriptures but there are other, what are known as apocryphal books, in which these two fellows are named. And there's such a complete, total absence of love. The first is the moral character of the source or channel whence Timothy had derived what he knew. "True," said the other, "but he kicked it to a goal." (2.) It was not then an indifferent matter to God. One only meets Satan when traveling in an opposite direction! The final condemnation of these people is that they retain the outward form of religion but deny its power. "And God prepared a great fish and it swallowed Jonah" ( Jonah 1:17 ). Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. (4.) There is the idea of menace and of danger in this word. By this general statement, therefore, Paul classes himself with the children of God, and, at the same time, exhorts all the children of God to prepare for enduring persecutions; for, if this condition is laid down for all who wish to live a godly life in Christ, they who wish to be exempt from persecutions must necessarily renounce Christ. There was to be a final show-down with the forces of evil. As I read the things that are happening in our modern-cultured Orange County, as I read the reports from the social department on the child abuse, I just shake my head in disbelief because a person could not possibly do these things unless they were without natural affection. Thus he comforts Timothy at the same time that he admonishes him. The adjective used is philautos, which means self-loving. Love of self is the basic sin, from which all others flow. The Jews divided all time into this present age and the age to come. Any conversion which makes a man think of nothing but the fact that he has been saved is no true conversion. These were graces that Paul was eminent for, and Timothy knew it. How many people who have stood before God and have pledged for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until death do us part; and yet again, the high divorce rate. He is the man who is guilty of the "sin of the high heart." He speaks of "all God-inspired scripture." A. M. Chirgwin has story after story of how the Scriptures came by chance into the hands of men and changed their lives. It is in terms of these last days that Paul is thinking in this passage. It is said that, after hearing an evangelical sermon, Lord Melbourne once remarked: "Things have come to a pretty pass when religion is allowed to invade the sphere of private life." In the last days perilous times will come: The word translated perilous has the idea of troubles, difficulty, and stressful situations. In 2 Timothy 3:13 he meant that evil becomes more intensive as time goes on. The strange characteristic of ingratitude is that it is the most hurting of all sins because it is the blindest. Paul said to Timothy. The doctrine that he preached. and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution ( 2 Timothy 3:12 ). Certain of the temporary persecution, he is equally certain of the ultimate glory. And a servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle toward all, apt to teach, forbearing, in meekness correcting those that oppose, if perhaps God may give them repentance for acknowledgment of the truth, and they may for his will wake up out of the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him." The age of children is the learning age; and those who would get true learning must get it out of the scriptures. Xenophon tells us how Cyrus, the Persian king, defined the alazon ( G213) : "The name alazon ( G213) seems to apply to those who pretend that they are richer than they are or braver than they are, and to those who promise to do what they cannot do, and that, too, when it is evident that they do this only for the sake of getting something or making some gain" (Xenophon: Cyropoedia, 2, 2, 12). 2 Timothy 3:12 New International Version 12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, Read full chapter 2 Timothy 3:12 in all English translations 2 Timothy 2 2 Timothy 4 New International Version (NIV) "Knowing especially the firm foundation upon which thou hast built, namely, that of the scripture (2 Timothy 3:15; 2 Timothy 3:15): That from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures.". For him the light of eternity already shone strongly on present things, instead of taking him completely out of them. Lear's words remain true: "How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is. shall suffer persecution; it is the will of God, and the appointment of heaven; Christ has foretold it, that so it shall be; and he the head has suffered it himself, and it is necessary that his members should, that they may be conformed unto him; it is the way Christ himself went to glory, and through many tribulations his people must enter the kingdom; and this is the common lot and certain case of all the saints, in one shape or another; for though all do not suffer confiscation of goods, beating, scourging, imprisonment, or a violent death; yet all are more or less afflicted and distressed by wicked men, and are subject to their reproaches and revilings, which are a branch of persecution; and that for professing Christ, and living a godly life in him and under his influence: and since such suffer as Christians, and not as evildoers; and this is the common condition of the people of God, in this world, it should not be thought strange, but be cheerfully endured; to encourage to which is the apostle's view in this passage. Men will be lovers of their own selves ( 2 Timothy 3:2 ). When we are tempted to do so, we should hear again the voice of our blessed Lord saying on the Cross: "Father, forgive them.". It was a kindred error, though in an opposite direction, to that which false teachers sought to infuse among the Thessalonians: there that the day of the Lord was come, producing panic; here that the resurrection was past, leading, to ease. And then again "the husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits." And when you lose authority you have anarchy. And those who wish to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted; while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceived themselves and deceiving others. The early Church lived in an age when the time was waxing late; they expected the Second Coming at any moment. [2.] Such is the perversity of sin. We must remember that the scripture of which Paul is writing is the Old Testament; as yet the New Testament had not come into being. Not only did he become a Christian; he devoted the rest of his life to the distribution of the Scriptures in the forgotten villages of northern Chile. The Holy Spirit would make it to be most practical and precious. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:2, "But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every mans conscience in the sight of God." And then Jesus will come and establish God's righteous kingdom, but by then, those that will remain will be saying, Oh, God help us. Activity of service was no longer before him. The essence of Christianity is not the enthronement but the obliteration of self. On his mother's side Timothy was a Jew, although his father had been a Greek ( Acts 16:1); and it is clear that it was his mother who had brought him up. The sister was persuaded to read a copy of St. John. The Gnostic heretics taught, either that, since matter is altogether evil, a rigid asceticism must be practiced and all the things of the body as far as possible eliminated, or that it does not matter what we do with the body and its desires can be indulged in to the limit because they do not matter. Once Agesilaus, the Sparta king, was asked, "What shall we teach our boys?" And the comfort is that, if prepared to cleave to the will of the Lord alone, we shall have, through His grace, fellowship with the true-hearted. It can never cease to be a Christian's duty to maintain the unity of the Spirit; but it is not maintaining the unity of the Spirit to couple with the name of the Lord that which is fleshly and sinful. Boy, I'll tell you, I don't know. Now these seem to many very difficult indeed to combine. To report dead links, typos, or html errors or suggestions about making these resources more useful use the convenient, Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament, International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Et tous ceux aussi qui veulent vivre en la crainte de Dieu, Que rien ne luy est advenu que tous fideles ne doyvent aussi attendre. (2Baruch 27). by George Whitefield. That is where you become thoroughly equipped to do the work that God has designed and ordained for you. There can come a time in a man's life when the company of good people and the presence of good things is simply an embarrassment. It is a divine revelation, which we may depend upon as infallibly true. It is to be remembered that a man may lose his soul far more easily in prosperity than in adversity; and he is on the way to losing his soul when he assesses the value of life by the number of things which he possesses. (2 Timothy 1:1.) Love of self is the basic sin, from with all others flow. And a hundred and fifty men can board it and they can submerge and go under the North Pole under the arctic ice. This is the right thing to do. If Timothy would adhere to the truth as he had been taught it, this would arm him against the snares and insinuations of seducers. The volume of the book, the Old Testament, it's all about Jesus Christ. You're a stranger. I've never found that in one of those little Bible promise books, I mean, promise things yet. "Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all" ( Psalms 34:19 ). And so Paul, you know, how I've lived; my faith, my longsuffering, my love, my patience, and the persecutions and afflictions that came to me. He directs him to keep close to a good education, and particularly to what he had learned out of the holy scriptures (2 Timothy 3:14; 2 Timothy 3:15): Continue thou in the things which thou hast learned. and then shall we find the benefit and advantage designed thereby, and shall at last attain the happiness therein promised and assured to us. Commentary on 2 Timothy 3:14-17. In his own neighbourhood he had seen Paul suffer because of his devotion to Christ (10-12; cf.
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