Danger Ahead
Text: 2 Timothy 3:1-9
(READ 2 Timothy 3:1-9)
I hope you all understand that this is a warning, given by the Apostle Paul to a young pastor named Timothy. And make no mistake, it is a warning to him. Now we can view warnings in one of two ways… we can hear them, and see them, and be like, “Oh, this person is trying to manipulate me, or scare me, or keep from doing something I want to do…”. Or we can see it as a grace of sorts… a kind of mercy and kindness… for our good.
So if you’re driving down the highway and you see a sign that says, “Warning! Bridge Out Ahead.” You understand that heeding that warning is for your good right?!? That sign is a warning, but it is meant to protect you and prepare you for what lies ahead. So that you can act accordingly.
The Bible has a lot of these… and even Jesus gave warnings about things. In Matthew 18, He said, “Woe to them who would cause one of these little ones to sin… it would be better for them to have a millstone tied around his neck and drowned in the sea.” In Matthew 16, He said, “Beware the teachings of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” He even finished His Sermon on the Mount with two warnings – “Beware false prophets!” And, “Don’t build your house on the sand.”
So we should understand that Jesus gives us warnings out of His love for us. He is the Good Shepherd, and those warnings are Him acting in that role, calling His sheep away from danger, and trouble. And so too, here in our text, we have Paul, who also has a shepherd’s heart, teaching a young shepherd, and giving a warning, inspired by the Holy Spirit.
So, let’s look at that first verse…. It starts with a command, and urging… Paul says, “UNDERSTAND THIS.” Paul wants Timothy, and us who are reading this. To understand something. Not just give it a wink and go on with ourselves. But to grasp it, and act accordingly as we do. To not only hear his warning, but to heed it.
And so, he says we need to understand something… and here’s what we need to understand. “That in the last days there will come times of difficulty.”
Now, Paul and Timothy were in the early part of the last days, and I would say we are in the latter part of the last days. You all understand, that according to Scripture, the “Last Days” began at Pentecost right? That’s what Peter says in his Pentecost sermon. That the signs they were seeing was the pouring out of the Spirit, because of the last days. And you all understand, that this was the pouring… not the flowing stream… the pour. You pour out something and that’s it. 1 Corinthians 13:8 tells us very plainly, “As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease, as for the word of knowledge, it will pass away. But love never fails.”
Hebrews 1:1-2, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son…”.
We don’t need those things, we have the full revelation of God, in Christ, given to us in Scripture. If you are a mature Christian, you don’t need those things, and probably shouldn’t even desire them… In-fact Paul tell us in 1 Corinthians 14:22, “Tongues are a sign for unbelievers…”.
So, we are in the last days according to God’s Word… we’ve been in them for almost 2000 years. And so this warning is applicable to us as believers in those last days. And Paul says, “In these days, there will come times of difficulty.”
Now the next question we should ask is – WHY?
Why will these be times of difficulty? Well look at verses 2 through 5.
It will be difficult for God’s people because those who are not God’s people love themselves and the world, and money, and are proud and arrogant, and abusive. Kids will disobey parents, people will be ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. They will have an appearance of godliness, but deny its power.
Pretty accurate description of where we find ourselves today right?
We live in a time of spiritual minimalism… Where we have just enough of the Christian faith and just enough of the Christian influence to seem, or appear godly, but the truth is, those things to many people are just an accessory. An add on. They could go on without it if pressed to do so. Their lives are occupied with all sorts of pursuits and priorities rather than what the Bible lays out for us as what a true follower of Jesus looks like.
You all see that… we all have seen it. And you all have seen what Scripture says, that following Jesus is something that fills your whole life, and occupies the whole person, and lays ahold of you in such a way that without Him you are undone.
I think of Hosea 4. I won’t turn there, but you should read it sometime. It’s terrifying. The people are unfaithful to God, they don’t love God, they don’t know anything about God. And God puts the initial blame on the priests because they didn’t teach and disciple, and then the people because they didn’t want to be taught or discipled. And because God’s Word, and God’s glory wasn’t being taken forth, darkness was filling the void.
That’s similar to what Paul is saying to Timothy here in our text. Darkness is increasing, because the light is not going to go forward.
And it’s very interesting the way Paul words this in the original Greek… Verse 1 he says, “In the last days there will COME times of difficulty.” That’s the Greek phrase “enistemi chalepos kairos”… it’s almost like an eagle swooping out of the air on a rabbit. Slamming into it and crushing it to the ground under its talons. So Paul is saying, “In the last days, times of difficulty will pounce upon the people, suddenly, and viciously.” There will be some who profess Jesus, but their lives betray that profession and show that they really don’t know Jesus at all… They are some way connected and attached to the Christian religion, but their lives and conduct, and thoughts, and desires are for the world… and then for the actual Christians, there will be times of difficulty because those are people that we love and care about, and have relationships with. Those are people who we thought were part of us, and who we desperately wanted to be part of us… and our sticking to holiness, and to truth, and to God’s Word, and God’s ways, is going to put a rift between us and them…
It’s going to be difficult times because Christians will be tempted to fall in with those folks. The devil will whisper in your ear… “So and so professes Christ… but they live like that… it’s ok if you do as well.” Or he’ll say, “If you rock the boat, you’ll lose your friendship, your relationship, you won’t be a good witness if you call out their sin and their unbelieving lifestyle.”
Which in reality, makes you no witness at all.
Or rather, I should say, no witness of Christ. It makes you a witness for the world. You see, we’re all bearing witness one way or another. We’re either bearing witness to Jesus, or to the world. We’re all saying, “This is the way, the truth and the life.” But there are some who are saying that about the world, and worldliness…
That’s what Paul means when he says, “They have the appearance of godliness, but deny its power.” He’s saying, “If you profess Christ, but go on living in sin, and practicing sin, and living like the rest of the world. You are denying the power of God to change you, and make you a new creation. You are denying the One who buys the believer and raises them up to newness of life.” He’s saying, “You’re denying that old things pass away and all things are being made new.”
He’s saying, “You’re denying Jesus ability and sufficiency to change you and save you.”
He’s saying, “You’re denying the Gospel, and the One who the Gospel is about.”
And what does Paul tell us to do with that? Avoid them!
Now this is super practical advice here.
Why are we told to avoid them?
Well, lets think about it… These people are lovers of self and lovers of money, they’re proud, arrogant and abusive, they are heartless, unappeasable, they slander and lie, they’re brutal and treacherous. You can read the list… and when you get around them, and you’re living holy, and not falling into their trap – that’s how they’re going to be toward you.
They’ll be your buddy as long as you’re not calling out their sin, as long as you’re not being a witness for Christ and truth… but you start saying things like, “Hey that’s sinful… don’t do that.” And guess what happens? They’ll be abusive toward you. They’ll slander you. They’ll be brutal and treacherous toward you.
And not only that… look at verses 6 & 7 (READ).
This is not a dig on women… There are weak men too… TOO MANY weak men. But what Paul is saying is that these kinds of false teachers specifically prey upon women. They specifically target them.
We are told to avoid them!
We’re told to avoid them because what they do and what they teach is like a virus… it seeps into everything. Their influence is everywhere. If you go back to chapter 2:17, Paul says their teaching spreads like gangrene. Now this isn’t saying, isolate yourselves and go into hiding. It’s saying, continue to be a witness, continue to be faithful, and faithfully let your light shine. We are to be in the world… BUT NOT OF THE WORLD. So that’s what Paul is saying, “Don’t be of the world!” Don’t get involved in the sinful activities and lifestyles they engage in. DO share the Gospel with them, but don’t pour into them unless you see fruit. Don’t pretend that you can listen and engage with false teachers, because some of what they’re saying is ok or interesting, or insightful, or because it pulls on your emotions, because a little leaven leavens the whole lump. Don’t be a poor steward of the resources God has given you, time, talents, finances, ability, compassion, and give all of those resources to pigs who will just trample them underfoot.
DO share the Gospel with them, pray for them, but don’t consider them a brother or sister in Christ until you see the fruit of repentance. Even if they profess with their mouths… because their hearts may still be far from Jesus. Don’t pour into them, or listen to them, or give them credence if their teaching doesn’t line up with sound doctrine. I guess, if I could summarize it… what Paul is saying is – If you know that person is a false teacher, avoid them – totally – don’t play games. If that person has heard the Gospel, understands the Gospel and is still living a life of sin and open rebellion, having been told the truth and been made aware of the truth, don’t waste your time, wipe the dust from your feet and go plant in fertile ground. Paul is saying, “Learn the lesson that Jesus taught about the fig tree.”
These will be times of difficulty because of what Paul told Timothy in his first letter. Turn with me real quickly to 1 Timothy 4:1-2 (READ). So again… latter times… last days. And Paul says those times are difficult because there will be people who walk away from the faith, because they devoted themselves to deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons that come through insincere liars whose consciences are seared. And let me just say this – if you are knowingly and willingly teaching false doctrine to God’s people – your conscience is seared. That’s exactly the kind of person a demon is looking to use. Someone who is a lover of self, and a lover of money, and a lover of pleasure… because they’ll offer that in exchange for you telling the lie.
And those things go together. There will be those who walk away from the faith, because they devoted themselves to deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons, instead of avoiding them as Paul instructs in 2nd Timothy. The depart because they devote themselves to TBN – God’s your “sugar daddy”, He’s at your beck and call, He jumps when you tell Him to. He’s whole purpose is to bless you and make you wealthy, healthy, and happy in this life… all you got to do is send in a “love offering” – the bigger the offering, the more it moves God. And when that doesn’t happen, those people who devoted themselves to those demonic teachings, don’t get mad at the false teacher, they get mad at God.
They’re mad at God, because they chose to believe a lie.
That’s our world today Church – Perilous, dangerous, difficult times for God’s people.
Where we have people who have a form of godliness but deny it’s power. Who soften the Gospel, who soften the Biblical truths, and exchange the truth of God for a lie. Who promote ungodliness under the guise of tolerance and love. They’ll tell you it’s ok to intermingle God and demons, God and mammon, God and the world. And that’s all part of the devils plan. He’s done that since the beginning. We see it way back in Genesis, when the sons of God looked upon the daughters of men and saw that they were fair. And they intermingle in an attempt to mess up, or at least delay God’s plan to bring about the Savior. All of the worldly schemes are designed to get us to continue on the wide path, the wrong path, instead of being narrowly focused on Jesus and following Him.
And all throughout the New Testament, God puts up big flashing warning signs that say “DANGER! BRIDGE OUT AHEAD!” If you keep on this path, you’ll be destroyed.
And all throughout Scripture we see people ignore those signs, thinking that they know better.
Let’s Pray
