Men will be treacherous. It may flourish for a time, but when it is exposed to the light of truth it is bound to shrivel and die. 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. So he's referring to the Old Testament Scriptures, those which Timothy knew from the child and he called them the "holy scriptures," which they are, "and they are able to make you wise unto salvation through the faith which is in Christ Jesus." 3:6-7 For from among these there come those who enter into houses, and take captive foolish women, laden with sins and driven by varied desires, ready to listen to any teacher but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth. A man may embrace some absurd opinion, and call it religion; he may adopt some mode of dress irresistibly ludicrous, from the mere love of singularity, and may call it "conscience;" or he may be boorish in his manners, and uncivil in his deportment, outraging all the laws of social life, and may call this "deadness to the world;" and for these, and similar things, he may be contemned, ridiculed, and despised. Copyright Statement These files are public domain. Luke recorded the very words spoken on the mission field long ago, "Through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22); and, in the words of White, "Consistency in the life of Christ must necessarily be always opposed by the world. "Men of corrupt minds. But they will not get much further, for their folly will be as clear to all as that of those ancient impostors. Yet. You know the persecutions that I experienced, but the Lord delivered me out of them all. Real teaching is always born of real experience. His connection with the church, but "of the seed of David," the fulfiller of the promises, and object of the prophecies. What a blessing. In the midst of all, he is told to bring the cloak that he left at Troas with Carpus, and the books, but especially the parchments. In Jesus' name I pray, AMEN. (This book is used for definition of Greek words. Men will be ungovernable in their desires (akrates, G193) . To many a man and woman has a little bit of dress done no small injury, just because they think it is too little for the Spirit of God to direct them in. In 2 Timothy 3:9, he says that that apostasy would not always continue; but would be at some time arrested, and so arrested as to show to all men the . It is able to make us wise to salvation; that is, it is a sure guide in our way to eternal life. Men will refuse to recognize even the ultimate decencies of life. (iv) The Scriptures are of use for correction. Robertson, Archibald Thomas. The emphasis of so many people is just on being beautiful, lovers of themselves. Living here almost in a Sodom-Gomorrah atmosphere and environment. If you can read and buy the first verse of the Bible, you should have no problem with the rest of the Bible. There was the road from the south which centred the trade of the Maeander valley in Ephesus. These things may be expected in the best times, and under the most favorable circumstances; and it is known that a large part of the history of the world, in its relation to the church, is nothing more than a history of persecution. This was to touch the right chord in his heart. It is to be supposed that the younger labourer cowered somewhat, unwilling to incur the odious charge, so easily made but hard to refute, of setting himself up and taking the place of some great one. It means to follow a person physically, to stick by him through thick and thin. The strange characteristic of ingratitude is that it is the most hurting of all sins because it is the blindest. "If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work.". And that quality of conquering endurance is necessary, because persecution is an essential part of the experience of an apostle. Once Agesilaus, the Sparta king, was asked, "What shall we teach our boys?" fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, [and then] lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God ( 2 Timothy 3:3-4 ); The pleasuremania of the United States. (2.) When we know the afflictions of good people but in part, they are a temptation to us to decline that cause which they suffer for; when we know only the hardships they undergo for Christ, we may be ready to say, "We will renounce that cause that is likely to cost us so dear in the owning of it;" but when we fully know the afflictions, not only how they suffer, but how they are supported and comforted under their sufferings, then, instead of being discouraged, we shall be animated by them, especially considering that we are told before that we must count upon such things (2 Timothy 3:12; 2 Timothy 3:12): All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution: not always alike; at that time those who professed the faith of Christ were more exposed to persecution than at other times; but at all times, more or less, those who will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. The age of children is the learning age; and those who would get true learning must get it out of the scriptures. He lit the fire, and then he asked if he might read a little from each book before he dropped it in the flames. At the same time there is not the smallest slight of the only and abiding standard. If they contradict the teaching of the Bible, they are to be refused. My wife and I eat out quite a bit. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. They were violent and dangerous. And so Paul is warning Timothy of certain things that will be transpiring in the last days. A. M. Chirgwin in The Bible in World Evangelism tells the story of a ward sister in a children's hospital in England. If Timothy would adhere to the truth as he had been taught it, this would arm him against the snares and insinuations of seducers. All you can say is that they are "without natural affection".God has put in our heart a certain natural love as a parent for a child. The word here is makrothumia ( G3115) ; and makrothumia, as the Greeks used it, usually meant patience with people. In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. Irenaeus draws a vivid picture of the methods of just such a teacher in his day. God wants you to be complete. There is instinctively, I think, within persons that love of a parent for a child or an adult for the child because we realize the helplessness of a child, the dependency that they have. godly, Godfearingly. In this picture which Paul draws he is thinking in terms familiar to the Jews. 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. He must study the Scriptures to make himself useful to God and to his fellow-men. The alazon ( G213) was a mountebank who wandered the country with medicines and spells and methods of exorcism which, he claimed, were panaceas for all diseases. "The foundation of God standeth sure [or, the firm foundation of God standeth], having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. But let not a man who will do this, suppose that he has any claim to be numbered among the martyrs, or even entitled to the Christian name. Man can do it but not God. It is used in Plutarch to describe what we would call an ugly wound. Be assured, that if you do not bring the Spirit of God into these matters, perhaps your cloak, perhaps a book, will become a snare to you. 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. "She then makes the effort to reward Marcus, not only by the gift of her possessions (in which way he has collected a very large fortune), but also by yielding up to him her person, desiring in every way to be united to him, that she may become altogether one with him." And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men." It is interesting that the Scriptures in many places speak of the last days and in every case where the Scriptures speak of the last days, you find that it is an apt description of the day and the age in which we live. There is love. 2 Timothy 3:12-17 - Bible Gateway He must take care of the manner in which he strives. He must maintain this confidence, knowing that the Scriptures are divinely given and that they are Gods means of instructing people in right belief and right living. Here is one of the most terrible pictures in the New Testament of what a godless world would be like, with the terrible qualities of godlessness set out in a ghastly series. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived ( 2 Timothy 3:13 ). Oh, yeah, I like that one. As we know, there may be over it all a certain form of godliness, but underneath it is really wickedness. If, in any manner, or in any way, he is subjected to disadvantage on account of his religious opinions, and deprived of any immunities and rights to which he would be otherwise entitled, this is persecution. In living in such a manner, persecution will come; but the Lord will deliver the faithful. The fact is that God loves to make His children mutually dependent; and if we are only humble, there are very few saints from whom we may not derive some good, though not always in the same way. 3:10-13 The more fully we know the doctrine of Christ, as taught by the apostles, the more closely we shall cleave to it. Those who would learn the things of God, and be assured of them, must know the Holy Scriptures, for they are the Divine revelation. Whose will is to live, or who are bent on living. To the Greek it was anosios ( G462) to refuse burial to the dead; it was anosios ( G462) for a brother to marry a sister, or a son a mother. The result would often be either that the woman broke off married relationships with her husband in order to live the ascetic life, or that she gave the lower instincts full play and abandoned herself to promiscuous relationships. 2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; I mean, people will have had it with the unrighteousness of the world. We must remember that Timothy's work lay in Ephesus, perhaps the greatest market in the ancient world. In these terrible days men would be braggarts and arrogant. Therefore, isolation is never desirable, though it may be sometimes necessary. (2Baruch 27). The age of children is the age to learn; and those who would get true learning, must get it out of the Scriptures. Who steals my purse steals trash; 'tis something, nothing; 'Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands: Many men and women, who would never dream of stealing, think nothing--even find pleasure--in passing on a story which ruins someone else's good name, without even trying to find out whether or not it is true. 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 come up a hundred days later and be deposited at a port. They had been long accustomed to the truth, and alas! live godly in Christ(Ga 2:20; Php 1:21). The world really doesn't admire true Christian traits. And you will find as God's word becomes a very part of your life and you begin to be guided by the word of God, that God will begin to use you in very exciting ways. The early Church lived in an age when the time was waxing late; they expected the Second Coming at any moment. Some of you are separated not by your own desire or wish, but because someone was a trucebreaker. Now these seem to many very difficult indeed to combine. "Lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God.". But continue thou in the things which you have learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; and that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through the faith which is in Christ Jesus ( 2 Timothy 3:14-15 ). Timothy fully knew what was the great thing that Paul had in view, both in his preaching and in his conversation: "Thou hast known my purpose, what I drive at, how far it is from any worldly, carnal, secular design, and how sincerely I aim at the glory of God and the good of the souls of men." The essence of Christianity is not the enthronement but the obliteration of self. He went home and found the fire was out. Acts 13:50; Acts 14:5-6,Acts 14:19; Acts 16:1-2). The woman, thrilled to the heart, does so and is deluded into thinking that she can prophesy. That will = Who will live ( ) to desire, to want to, to wish. Theophylact called this kind of pride akropolis (compare G206 and G4172) kakon ( G2556) , the citadel of evils. "Beloved, consider it not strange concerning the fiery trials which are to try you, as though some strange thing has happened to you" ( 1 Peter 4:12 ). Men will be inflated with conceit (tetuphomenos, G5187) . What Paul is thinking of here is more than faithlessness in friendship--although that in all truth is wounding enough--he is thinking of those who to pay back an old score would inform against the Christians to the Roman government. These twin qualities of the braggart and the arrogant man inevitably result in love of insult (blasphemia, G988) . 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. (3.) This is the right thing to do. You have no authority.So if I tell you that some scriptures are not really inspired of God, then I become the authority, not the Bible anymore, because you can't just read the whole Bible and trust it because not all of it is inspired. 2 Timothy 3:12 - KING JAMES BIBLE ONLINE Few choose to leave behind the elementary teaching about Christ, and press on into maturity.Sadly many believers, although saved by grace through faith in Christ, refuse to move past the elementary principles of the Christian life. Persons sometimes say it does not matter who taught; but God does not treat the matter so lightly. Men will be lovers of their own selves ( 2 Timothy 3:2 ). It is a divine revelation, which we may depend upon as infallibly true. It follows from this: (1) That they who make a profession of religion, should come prepared to be persecuted. "Blessed is he who will come in the name of the Lord" ( Psalms 118:26 ). 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. 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. 2 Timothy 3 Bible Commentary - Matthew Henry (concise) - Christianity Now, it is doubtless as true as it ever was, that a man who will live as the Saviour did, will, like him, be subjected to some such injury or disadvantage. 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. And man has prepared a great fish and they powered it with atomic engines. Only in the New Testament have we any picture of Jesus, any account of his life and any record of his teaching. 12And all who wish to live a godly life (186) Having mentioned his own persecutions, he likewise adds now, that nothing has happened to him which does not await all the godly. It is an immense blessing that we have the truth not only in a book, but in a practical shape, the truth that comes out of the heart and from the lips of living men of God. ii. Consider of whom thou hast learned them; not of evil men and seducers, but good men, who had themselves experienced the power of the truths they taught thee, and been ready to suffer for them, and thereby would give the fullest evidence of their belief of these truths." Besides that, persecutions today are manifested much more indirectly. 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. 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 I don't know exactly yet what He said but when I find out I know He's going to be right. It may well be a proof of Timothy's courage and consecration that he had seen very clearly what could happen to an apostle and had yet not hesitated to cast in his lot with Paul. 442.]. Perilous Times 2 Timothy 3:1. Now though it is infallible, inerrant and inspired, I did make a mistake in my message this morning on the speed of Arcturus; it's twelve thousand miles a second, I think I said twelve million. Friday evenings, you know, everybody out looking for their weekend companion, incontinent, no sexual restraints. They love pleasure more than they love God; that's the indictment. James encourages us by explaining that those who persevere under trial, on the journey to maturity, will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him, and He exhorts us to consider it all joy, when we encounter various trials.There is an urgency in this final letter thatPaul wrote before his death, to remind us that ALL who live godly lives in Christ will certainly suffer persecution. The deterioration, rapid deterioration so that a mother has to worry when she sends her little child to school because she doesn't know what some kinky character might do, exposing themselves to that beautiful little child or even worse. 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! It is beautiful to trace this double working and current of the apostle that is, what is imperishable, above and beyond nature; and, along with this, the utmost value put on everything that he would own in those naturally bound up with him those of either family that feared God. 2 Timothy 3:12 - Concordant Commentary on the New Testament by A. E. Knoch The one was suited to upset the young, the other to beguile the old. A man may embrace some absurd opinion, and call it religion; he may adopt some mode of dress irresistibly ludicrous, from the mere love of singularity, and may call it conscience; or he may be boorish in his manners, and uncivil in his deportment, outraging all the laws of social life, and may call this deadness to the world; and for these, and similar things, he may be contemned, ridiculed, and despised. After considering his own life, Paul speaks of others desiring to live godly lives as he has done, a life of piety toward God that will always be opposed by the world. "Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all" ( Psalms 34:19 ). Why? He nourishes an all-consuming, all-pervading pride; and in his heart there is a little altar where he bows down before himself. You may be able to deceive people for a while, but ultimately, it's going to catch up, even as it did with Jannes. As individuals, we should sometimes ask ourselves: what is our aim in life? Second Timothy 3:12-13 "Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being. They still, you know, pay their respects. Seeking the Gospel in Malachi, the Last Book of the Old Testament. And they shall be dispersed among the Gentiles. Get out your pen and take out the red, put the blue one. Only Luke is with me." "My God shall supply all of your needs" ( Philippians 4:19 ). The word is anemeros ( G434) and would be more fittingly applied to a wild beast than to a human being. In the last days there would come times which would menace the very existence of the Christian Church and of goodness itself, a kind of last tremendous assault of evil before its final defeat. It denotes a savagery which has neither sensitiveness nor sympathy. How are we to walk so as to please the Lord when disorder reigns, claiming to be the only true order? Here we find the perilous times fairly brought before us. Thank You that Your grace is sufficient for any attack that the evil enemy of my soul can throw at me, and that nothing can ever separate me from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work." God said it.They are profitable. When a man's language becomes filthy, obscene and crude, it shows that there's something wrong with him. (8) Using the boldness God gives, don't be ashamed of the imprisoned apostle. At the end of each reading, the brigand said: "That's a good book; we won't burn that one; give it to me." What is the excellency of the scripture. YEA, AND - an additional consideration. If your God is big enough to create the heavens and the earth, no problem, but you see, we stumble on the very first verse. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. And many shall be stirred up in anger to injure many; And they shall rouse up armies in order to shed blood. It is not "the commandment," as of authority, but "according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus." Men would be headlong in words and action. It is the sign of a supremely decadent civilization when youth loses all respect for age and fails to recognize the unpayable debt and the basic duty it owes to those who gave it life. Well, Jesus has and He told us what to, what it's about in Luke, the sixteenth chapter. I'm just saying, Hey, I am stupid and I lack an understanding. (4.) This shows in a clearer light the difference between the true teacher and the false. They thought that eternal life lay in the letter, not in Him of whom the letter testified. In simple fairness, no man seeking for the truth has any right to neglect the reading of the Bible. The first is the moral character of the source or channel whence Timothy had derived what he knew. Again, it is startling. In other words, it's not going to get better for awhile. 2. menin the professing Church. The braggart is a swaggering creature, who tries to bluster his way into power and eminence. They just are irritated by your love and by your patience and by your goodness because they feel guilty. Do you have a hard time with that? I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing." They will be inflated with a sense of their own importance. It should be considered as one of the proper qualifications for membership in the church, to be willing to bear persecution, and to resolve not to shrink from any duty in order to avoid it. But this is not what the Bible teaches. In Greek writings these two words often went together; and they are both picturesque. [Note: Knight, p. I have many scriptures that I don't understand yet. Socrates skid that they were to be found in every walk of life but were worst of all in politics. Noah escaped? I believe that God intended you to have pleasure, but when it comes before God, it means that it has become your God and it makes a very poor God to worship or serve. Vincent, Marvin R., D.D. And he was probably in the company of those that were standing around, sort of crying, as they saw Paul's limp body on the ground. He knew that he had suffered ill for doing well (2 Timothy 3:11; 2 Timothy 3:11): "Thou hast fully known the persecutions and afflictions that came unto me" (he mentions those only which happened to him while Timothy was with him, at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra); "and therefore let it be no surprise to thee if thou suffer hard things, it is no more than I have endured before." Not so the apostle Paul. In the former epistle, Timothy was told how to behave in the house of God, as yet in order; but now we are told how to behave in such a state of things as the present disorder. He warns Timothy of the fatal end of seducers, as a reason why he should stick closely to the truth as it is in Jesus: But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, c., 2 Timothy 3:13; 2 Timothy 3:13. E. F. Brown has pointed out the danger of what he calls "intellectual curiosity without moral earnestness." It's instructing us in righteousness. "Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 5. Article Images Copyright 2023 Getty Images unless otherwise indicated. What am I to believe about man? Observe, (1.) Two men were talking of a great satirist who had been filled with moral earnestness. The scriptures are able to make us truly wise, wise for our souls and another world. In the days between the Old and the New Testaments many Jewish books were written which expanded the Old Testament stories. Blasphemia is the word which is transliterated into English as blasphemy. Such is the perversity of sin. All rights reserved. They claimed that the law was so imprinted on the heart and mind of a Jewish child that he would sooner forget his own name than he would forget it. Any conversion which makes a man think of nothing but the fact that he has been saved is no true conversion.
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