3without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God<\/p>\n
We have seen that Paul, in 2 Timothy chapter 3, is warning us of coming perilous times. Maybe another way of putting it is “terrible times.” And we have seen that these are the last days; therefore, they must be the perilous times predicted. And we need to be aware of it. We have seen that when we talk about “perilous times,” the idea is you should expect difficulties, you should expect troubles, you should expect stressful times. And we saw that basically that has been true in looking at what we are going through currently.<\/p>\n
I think one can also say it differently. there is a broad term in the New Testament broad enough to say the last days began with the birth of the Church. So that any attention paid to the last days of biblical prophecy includes today. We should be able to discern when the last days are. are conditions today like the Bible described would be the last days? So, the things that are listed here by paul are to help us know we are in the last days.<\/p>\n
You know, there are some brethren who are looking forward to everything growing better and better until at last this present age ripens into a millennium. Unfortunately, like Spurgeon says, they will not be able to sustain such hopes, for Scripture gives them no solid basis to rest upon apart from the second advent of the Lord when it happens.<\/p>\n
“The world is more likely to sink into Pandemonium than to rise into millennium.” Spurgeon<\/p>\n
So, what will be the human condition? We saw that men will be “lovers of themselves” . This love of self obviously is a depravity of a kind. also “lovers of money” like we saw again, if you are a lover of yourself, you are likely to love money. Then Disobedient, if you are selfish, you will not want anybody controlling you, and that will lead to anarchy.<\/p>\n
Then of course, being unthankful is one of the marks of people who feel entitled. Then there is Lacking self-control, no wonder you end up in drugs and immoral sex and all kinds of other things, because you are controlled by pleasure rather than you managing it.<\/p>\n
I saw a quote from the 1990s, the Los Angeles Times is said to have published an article about a Michelle, who was a successful writer and editor. She feared the day her husband might discover her secret stash of credit cards, her secret post office box, or the other tricks she used to hide how much money she spent shopping for herself.<\/p>\n
“I make as much money as my husband. If I want a $500 suit from Ann Taylor, I deserve it and don’t want to be hassled about it, so the easiest thing to do is lie.”<\/p>\n
One year, when her husband forced her to destroy one of her credit cards, Michelle went out and got a new one without telling him.<\/p>\n
Another woman explained more: “You know, men don’t just understand that shopping is our drug of choice.”<\/p>\n
So she agrees shopping is an addiction. But it’s a way also of admitting that some months her salary goes exclusively to paying the minimum balance on their credit card, so therefore trouble continues. She goes to show how lacking in self control she is<\/p>\n
“Walking through the door of South Coast Plaza is like walking through the gates of heaven. God made car trunks for women to hide shopping bags in.”<\/p>\n
ANOTHER young professional IS SAID TO HAVE explained,<\/p>\n
“Shopping is my recreation; it’s my way of pampering myself. When you walk into a mall and you see all the stores, it’s like something takes over and you get caught up in it.”<\/p>\n
Can you imagine this? This woman is not drunk with alcohol or drugs, just addicted to the whole issue of shopping. But men also have their own addiction problems: cruelty, brutality etc. Of course, we have to agree it’s nothing new in the world but things have got worse.<\/p>\n
5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.<\/p>\n
But Paul wrote by inspiration of the Holy Spirit that the last days will be marked particularly by brutality. A newspaper article in 1990 described how a man was accused of murdering his roommate after the two disagreed over the brand of beer. The accused man brought home a bear called one name , and the murdered man wanted him to bring home another beer. As he poured the beer down the kitchen sink, he was stabbed by his disappointed friend to death. Can you imagine that level of killing, and the reason for killing?it os addition to brutality<\/p>\n
You see, this attitude marks our current age. Have you heard of advertising slogans like:<\/p>\n
“Nothing is taboo,”<\/p>\n
“Break all the rules,”<\/p>\n
“To know no boundaries,”<\/p>\n
“Relax, no rules here”?<\/p>\n
All that is encouraging our lack of discipline.<\/p>\n
But the worst thing , like we saw, is that some of the addicted ones are in church. Paul says they have a “form of godliness but denying the power.” of course in a self-obsessed world, people feel very free to have whatever they choose rather than be controlled by biblical requirements. So they want a form of godliness but not the real thing. they don’t know the powerfrom submitting to God, and that is going to be a problem.<\/p>\n
Just look at the level of immorality today. I read of an old married woman who wrote to a columnist to justify adultery. She writes,<\/p>\n
“He is also married. We meet once a week at a motel for three hours of heaven. My husband knows nothing about this and neither does my lover’s wife. Sex with my husband is even better now; it’s not as though I am denying my husband anything. I teach a class at church every week, but for some reason, I feel no guilt.”<\/p>\n
Those are the people described as: they have a form of religion, but they don’t know its power. and that can be quite a problem in church today.<\/p>\n
So, we have seen up to verse 5, the list of things that show how corrupt we shall become. Then in verse 6 Paul says:<\/p>\n
“They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over gullible women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth.<\/p>\n
These are the people who have a form of godliness but they deny the power thereof. And I think that’s a terrible position to be in. Why be in church? You know, once they are in that kind of thing, one of the marks the verse is telling us is: they are these people who “creep into households.””Creep.” You know, it needs to be understood that you are creeping into households, maybe having left your wife, maybe having left a very stable family.<\/p>\n
You know, we are in a terrible world. But you see, some of the evils are done out there. But now, in this immorality, you are bringing it right home. And in the process, you are picking a woman and making her captive.<\/p>\n
But not all women will be captive only the gullible ones. These are people that are part of this depravity that Paul is talking about. And if you are a woman in that category, then there will be a man who wants to creep and hold you captive because he can see you are gullible; you can very easily be cheated. And when somebody says, “Hey, you are wearing a good dress,” then you go follow him.<\/p>\n
Not too long ago, a Russian guy visiting africa put some camera on his glasses, so as he is talking to you, he is recording you. And he was able to get many African women just by saying, “You look beautiful. Can I buy you a drink?” or “Can we go home?” And of course, the guess is that maybe they thought he has money. He was young, and it’s terrible to imagine how many women he was able to trick into going to his room.<\/p>\n
You know, if you are really like this, do you need any more proof that you are a captive? The kind of captive that Paul meant that people can so easily grab you and take you. You need to ask yourself: if somebody promises you some quick pleasure, will you just follow him? You have no discipline. My friend, you need to go through this list of how the last days will look like and ask yourself: Are you there? Are you the gullible man or the gullible woman?<\/p>\n
Paul speaks here of women rather than men, for they are more liable to be taken in by such imposters. But that doesn’t mean that men cannot end up there. And it’s a terrible thing that many women when you see single women, some of them who are dodged, and cheated by men’\u2014they just wanted sex, not children, not marriage. So as soon as the girl gets pregnant, they run away. Unfortunately, you would have assumed if the mothers are like that, their daughters will run away from it. But sometimes you see generation upon generation of single mothers as a sign that these are all gullible.<\/p>\n
5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.<\/p>\n
A Christian should not be gullible. Self-control is fruit of the spirit. Of course, the reason you are moving away is because of your own personal lust. The outsider is actually specializing in your lust. And remember, lust is part of what will happen in the last days. Of course, there are various types of lust, but it’s what will be used; that’s what makes you gullible. And you are likely to easily follow the person. And he will do to you what nobody thought you can agree to be done to you as educated, as beautiful as you are.<\/p>\n
Can you then see why that type of a person may be never “learning”? He is in church, he is getting lesson after lesson, he should be learning. Information he has, but with the lust within him, he is never able to come to the real knowledge of truth. That’s part of the spirit of the last days. And you need to ask yourself: Is that what describes you ? you can preach a sermon on it, you can help many people, but you are led away by your various lusts. And the lust may be lust of money, lust of sex there are many lusts. But the lust is not external; it’s yours. If you are not able to surrender it to God, you will discover yourself doing things… you will be embarrassed to tell your grandchildren.<\/p>\n
All you need is to see a TV program promising certain things, and you will soon be out of your house to wherever it is being advertised. You end up doing useless things and spending money that you don’t have, then you end up in serious debt, and you end up in jail. You know, what happens is, truths get compromised. Because each person becomes like the center of truth, so anybody has his own truth. And the “true truth” is no longer what is being followed. When you come to the level where you think you can define truth that truth is not what the Scriptures say, truth is not what God says’ that you can define your own truth, we are in chaos.<\/p>\n
Because God has a truth, and that truth, you can’t compromise with it without hurting yourself. That’s why you will be “ever learning,” but if you redefine it to mean you can interpret it your own way, you will never be helped by what you are actually learning. Do you understand then why there are many, many people who are teaching in Bible school, but they live rotten lives? They have PhDs in the Bible; they can explain to you in detail.<\/p>\n
One of my best preachers and teachers is somebody who taught me a little theology. just before we left campus 50 years ago, I attended what was called the “Bible Evening Institute.” And teacher would come to campus , I think, twice or so a week to teach us Bible. And he was a fantastic teacher. Was I not in shock when many years later I went for a course in Britain, 1980s, only to be told that he now is a homosexual? How !!But he knows and taught why it was wrong ‘\u2014now you understand the meaning of learning the truth, knowing the truth, yet never truly learning. May that not be your experience. They hear the truth, but they don’t live by that truth because they redefine the truth.<\/p>\n
6 They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over gullible women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires,<\/p>\n
Isn’t that why the Bible is encouraging us to think and clearly ask ourselves: Are we going to follow our instincts or are we going to follow God’s Word?<\/p>\n
Somebody called Clarke says,<\/p>\n
“They have no more grace now than they had several years ago, though hearing all the while and perhaps not wickedly departing from the Lord. They do not meditate, they do not think, they do not reduce what they hear to practice. Therefore, even under the preaching of an apostle, they could not become wise to salvation.”<\/p>\n
So that’s something you need to ask yourself: Is that really describing you? “Are you gullible?” is the first question in verse 6. Therefore, anybody can gain control of you. And then you end up yourself loaded down with many sins, and yet it is somebody who has led you into sinfulness because of your lust. Or in verse 7: Are you this type that is exposed to God’s Word, “ever learning,” but you don’t come to knowledge of the “true truth”? I think that’s something you need to ask yourself.<\/p>\n
But verse 8 talks about somebody who is an example of this. And I guess that Timothy must have known about him. Jannes and Jambres’\u2014they are in the Old Testament. so Timothy is assumed to have read about them. They resisted Moses in the Old Testament. And according to Paul, we are having these people who are gullible and leading others to sin, similar to the old testament ones.<\/p>\n
These Jannes and Jambres, though they were not named for us in the Exodus account, these two men are the Egyptian magicians who opposed Moses before Pharaoh in Exodus 7:8-13. So a commentator tells me. And they were able to work real miracles. Not mere parlor tricks, but actual miracles. Of course, they were using demonic powers, but they were able to compete with Moses. When Moses cast down his rod, they also cast theirs, and both of them became serpents. And of course, that went on for some time before Pharaoh. Eventually, they could not match miracle for miracle what God was doing through Moses. But they gave him a run for his money.<\/p>\n
You know, they had an ability to actually do a miracle. And that’s one of the things we need to know in these last days: that there will be many people, one leg is in the church, the other leg is in the demonic world. They are talking of power from the spirit of the ancestors and they are following what the ancestors say. And sometimes they tell you something and it turns out to be true. And sometimes they tell you, “If you don’t do this, this will happen,” and it happens. They have limited power. That’s what we are learning from these last days. These people who do miracles will be back.<\/p>\n
So if you really are running after miracles, you will end up following these people. And you can find this message also in Revelation 13:13 or in 2 Thessalonians 2:9. You know, you need to be very careful. God is still today doing miracles, but don’t run for any miracles. Let God give you the miracle Himself. When you ask God for something, He can do it the natural way or do it miraculously. The choice is His. You must very carefully think about any miracle you see. Don’t assume it’s from God. It might be from elsewhere.<\/p>\n
Maybe it’s a psych, some demonic guy somewhere who is seducing you by the miracles he is doing. Isn’t that then similar, especially when they do it from the church angle? Isn’t that what Paul is calling in 2 Corinthians 11:14-15 the masquerade as “angels of light”? These are people in the church, but they are not using biblical ways… they are not using the power of the Holy Spirit. Can you see then, with that kind of power, you say you are a Christian, they will resist you. They do not know the truth. The truth they have’\u2014exactly like Jannes did not want the truth as told by Moses, when they knew that their demonic powers could do something similar.<\/p>\n
7 always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth. 8 Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these teachers oppose the truth. They are men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected. 9 But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone.<\/p>\n
So, keep reminding yourself: the demonic world has power. It’s only Christ, who is the Creator of even those fallen angels, who has more of it. So, let’s be clear. They have power, they can do miracles, but they have a limit. They have a limitation, just like Jannes and Jambres. They finally had to admit to Pharaoh, “Uh-uh, now, this one now we can’t manage. This is the finger of God; we really can’t cope with it.” And it finally was clear: they knew there is a God, despite having given Moses a run for his money.<\/p>\n
So, demonic powers have limits.<\/p>\n
Even in these last days, don’t get drawn by the miracles that people are doing. And don’t get frightened’\u2014like Moses could have been frightened, but he knew this God had taught him, and he stuck with God’s Word until finally God came through for him. Isn’t that wonderful in these perilous times, when the demonic world is everywhere? Isn’t it wonderful to know that God is on the winning side? And we should know that He will win.<\/p>\n
So, in these last days, the demonic spirits are there, but Christ is also there. And He is stronger than those spirits. This is the wonderful truth that we need to follow. We don’t have to be slaves to the demonic, to ancestral spirits and their instructions, their threat about curses. There is hope in trusting in Jesus.<\/p>\n
I like what the late John Stott, writes, and I quote:<\/p>\n
“What is remarkable about this analogy, however, is not that the false teachers are likened to the Egyptian magicians, but that Paul is thereby likening himself to Moses.”<\/p>\n
If Moses is the one on God’s side, then you as a Christian young man or woman are on God’s side. And as Moses won, you are also going to win. That’s really what the Word of God wants you to understand.<\/p>\n
In verse 8,paul adds .. “Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses,” but they will not get very far. They are limited.<\/p>\n
In verse 9, “As in the case of those men, their folly”‘\u2014the folly of these demonic miracle workers’\u2014”will be clear to everyone.” They will be exposed. They will be certainly exposed.<\/p>\n
In verse 10, Paul is saying:<\/p>\n
“You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecutions, sufferings’\u2014what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them<\/p>\n
In other words, you are from the list of those people in last days. Look at your teacher. I mean, Paul, Timothy is being told, look at the teacher. And ask yourself: Don’t you have a good example in him? I think it will be important that you understand that the faithfulness of God in keeping His Word is what should hold you to the truth. Similarly, you being faithful in keeping God’s Word assures you that you are relating with Him. And therefore, whatever opposition you face, you are on the winning side.<\/p>\n
My prayer is that as you look at your own life, you see: “You, however, know all about teachings.” That you know you are not like them, these people in trouble. That’s why he is addressing Timothy: “You, you are different. Don’t start fearing them; don’t start copying them.” You have seen he has described all these people that are there in the last days and the way they mess up people. But you, Timothy, you are not that type. You cannot be messed up if you stay in the Lord. You are not ruled by those kind of things.<\/p>\n
You have carefully followed’\u2014Timothy is being told’\u2014a better, better, better advice, rather than following the spirit of his age. So, it means you have to carefully follow God’s Word. Not just happen to follow. Timothy is being told: “You have carefully followed” what Paul is teaching.<\/p>\n
Haven’t you seen what paul has taught you in doctrine? It’s important to understand doctrine’\u2014what God’s Word is teaching.<\/p>\n
But also, Look at their manner of life. it will be important that you look at the example of the “manner of life” of the apostles. That’s why the Bible is written to us, that we watch examples. Like Paul is; this time he is in prison, but he is still serving the Lord.<\/p>\n
But also look at their “purpose, faith, longsuffering.” All these will be important. When you do them and you follow them, then you shouldn’t fear all these demonic things that are happening around you. Carefully follow God’s Word, and you’ll not be bothered about the immorality around you or the demonology about you, because you know you are on the winning side, finally.<\/p>\n
But we all begin by doctrine. Do you just enjoy calling yourself a Christian, or do you follow the teachings of Christ? Paul taught and lived what he had learned of Christ. How you live your life must be on the basis of what Christ taught. Therefore, your manner of life matters. It’s not enough to just know God’s Word. The way you live will show us whether your manner of life is similar. Paul is setting an example, and you as a Christian many years later are supposed to do the same.<\/p>\n
But it’s not just the fact that he followed the doctrine. he has a “manner of life” consistent with that doctrine. But he lived for a purpose. He did not run around like an aimless, headless chicken. He had a clear purpose of why he’s alive. Paul’s life had a purpose. No wonder he could be in prison and still be at peace, because he knows prison is advancing the purpose for which he was alive.<\/p>\n
10 You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, 11 persecutions, sufferings’\u2014what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. 12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.<\/p>\n
What about people who have no direction? One moment they are going this way, the other moment they are going that way. My friend, you will soon enter the trap of these last days’ evil people. You will be gullible, like we saw earlier. But if you take doctrine, take the purpose of Paul, and live for your own clear purpose, things will be different. And you know, once you have clarity of that, then you’ll have faith, longsuffering, and love.<\/p>\n
You see, “faith” talks about not walking by sight. You don’t do exactly what others are doing. You trust in God. But “longsuffering” is referring to whenever your Christian life has irritations and challenges; you stick with it. Maybe when you talk about “love,” it’s that when you love the people you are serving and the God who has sent you to serve them, you’ll be able to stand whatever challenges are there, and you’ll not be tempted to follow the easy way and join this crooked generation.<\/p>\n
So can you see then? It all begins with proper doctrine. And once that is sorted out, then it will not be surprising that you have perseverance. It will not be surprising that you face afflictions and persecutions. It will not be surprising that you face afflictions with strength. You’ll not feel like God has abandoned you because of the challenges you are facing. Because if the doctrine is right, then you know the book of Job’\u2014Job is not suffering because of evil people; Job was a righteous man. That’s why you go through your persecutions and afflictions and persevere: because you know doctrine, you know the Word of God’\u0080\u00a6. You remain at peace<\/p>\n
May the Lord help us to truly be people who give ourselves and surrender ourselves to God. Let’s be clear. I don’t think you can be a Christian and not experience some level of persecution. Maybe not as Paul went through, but people around you’\u2014your own relatives’\u2014are uncomfortable with your faith. And they’ll try to discourage you from following God over various issues. Paul summarizes by saying:<\/p>\n
“In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,” (2 Timothy 3:12 NIV)<\/p>\n
Not some’\u2014but all of them. They will suffer persecution. And my prayer is that we also will be ready and courageous to withstand whatever God allows our way.<\/p>\n
Just look at verse 10 again.<\/p>\n
“You, you, brother, sister, however, know all about my teaching” (doctrine, that is). “My manner, my way of life” (Paul’s way of life). “My purpose. My faith. My patience. My love. My endurance. You know even my persecutions. And you know my sufferings.”<\/p>\n
Timothy is being told: “Don’t you remember the kind of things that happened to me in Antioch, in Iconium, and Lystra? The persecution I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them.”<\/p>\n
May the Lord help us to actually understand the meaning of that. Because Paul is saying, “I’m not giving you a theory. You know the truth. You know what I’ve actually gone through myself.” So, I think it will be important that you to also understand.<\/p>\n
14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God[a] may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.<\/p>\n
Have you heard of Christians being persecuted? There are many, especially in Muslim countries. What they are going through’\u2014missionaries in the area we call the 10-40 longitude… we call it the “10\/40 window.” Many missionaries are there, but they are dying there. They are suffering. And it can happen’\u2014whether in China, in Muslim countries, in Russia, but even in the West. Now in the west people are suffering because of standing with the Bible. They want the Bible changed. If you say what the bible says: it says you cannot be homosexual; you will suffer for it. Some people have been put in jail.<\/p>\n
So you can see Paul is right when he says, “Yes, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” And we need to be ready for it. Of course, you will not suffer alone. Christ is going to be with you. And sometimes you can’t tell the reason why you are having to suffer the kind of opposition. Sometimes it doesn’t make sense at all. Might that be the meaning of what the Gospel of John 3:19 is saying?<\/p>\n
“This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.” (John 3:19 NIV)<\/p>\n
Are you then surprised why it happened? And you know, Paul knew’\u2014Timothy knows the story of the missionary journey that passed through Antioch, Iconium, Lystra. We can read all this in the book of Acts also. But Timothy already knew it. He is being told: “Do you remember what I went through in Antioch, in Iconium and Lystra?”<\/p>\n
You know at Antioch, if you go back to the book of Acts, Paul was kicked out of the city for preaching the Gospel. That’s in Acts chapter 13. Only to move from there and go to Iconium. And there Paul almost executed by stoning. From there, in Acts 14, he moves over to Lystra where he was exactly stoned and left for dead. But you know something? Paul testifies: out of every one of those towns, he came out alive. “Out of them all, the Lord delivered me,” Paul is saying.<\/p>\n
And this is so that he encourages Timothy later: “You may face challenging times, but the God who helped me will also help you.” You know, as he is writing this, he is writing it from prison. And he himself doesn’t know whether they are going to come for him and execute him. But he has a testimony of a God who has walked with him. Persecution was not going to stop Paul from following hard after whatever Jesus Christ taught. And he did so, we are told, right into death.<\/p>\n
So today, since you have heard that in these last days you will have similar challenges, we need to be ready for whatever thing that comes. And so ‘\u2014”don’t conform to this world,” as Romans chapter 12 says. But by not conforming, you will suffer for it. Sometimes just quiet persecution, but sometimes it will be open. Not just people looking down on you or insulting you, but sometimes they will hurt you.<\/p>\n
You know, these people who are persecuting you’\u2014like 1 Peter 4:4 is saying:<\/p>\n
“They are surprised that you do not join them in their reckless, wild living, and they heap abuse on you.”<\/p>\n
Haven’t you heard what they say about you when you truly stand for Christ? In fact, if you are working in industry, in places where people are not Christians or they are nominal Christians, and you have never had a rough time at any time in the last 5-10 years, you need to ask yourself: Are you really, strictly speaking, working by the dictates of the Gospel? If live biblically , you will not invite them; they will just come. Because they wonder: “Who are you to act differently from us?”<\/p>\n
So if you don’t want people to think strange about you, like the book of Peter is saying, you have to comply’\u2014to conform. Romans 12 is saying: “Do not conform… be transformed.” You will be rejected when you refuse to conform. You will be regarded as an outcast if you refuse to conform. But following Jesus Christ means you are totally committed to serving Him all the days of your life. So may the Lord help us that we may trust Him fully.<\/p>\n
So whether in persecution, whether other suffering, like happened to Paul, may the Lord help us. But I still repeat verse 12.<\/p>\n
“In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”<\/p>\n
How come you expect your clansmen are happy with you?unless you participate in clan sacrifices despite the book of Hebrews saying the blood of Jesus is final, never to be repeated?<\/p>\n
Remember, “while evildoers and impostors,” we are told, “will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.” You see, that’s really what we have to remind ourselves. The days are not going to get better; they will get worse. And if you don’t walk with Christ, then you hand yourself over to this deception. And it’s not right. May the Lord give us the courage to stand by His Word, irrespective of what we face.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Day 1 2 Timothy 3 3without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God We have seen that Paul, in 2 Timothy chapter 3, is warning us of coming perilous times. Maybe another way of putting it is “terrible times.” […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-263490","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-john-meditations"],"yoast_head":"\n