So the same Greek is used of the same thing, Lu 14:28, 33, "intending (Greek, 'wishing') to build a tower counteth the cost.". It has been pointed out that the writer of Revelation may well have been thinking of Ephesus when he wrote that haunting passage which describes the merchandise of men: "The cargo of gold, silver, jewels and pearls, fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet, all kinds of scented wood, all articles of ivory, all articles of costly wood, bronze, iron and marble, cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves, that is, human souls" ( Revelation 18:12-13). Job, tell me, have you been beyond the gates of death, do you know what it's about? 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 . The prophets and apostles did not speak from themselves, but what they received of the Lord that they delivered unto us. And the word of God comes and it brings a balance, it brings a correction, it brings a correct perspective.It's profitable. Paul's life: one of faith. repentance from dead works and of faith toward God. What does 2 Timothy 3:13 mean? And he embraced Christianity, but he was probably standing there in Lystra when the people in the city stoned Paul until they thought he was dead and dragged him out of the city. There are still Church dignitaries whose main thought is their own dignity; but the Christian is the follower of him who was meek and lowly in heart. Fear and timidity will keep us from using the gifts God gives. "The cloke," then says he, "that I left at Troas with Carpus, when thou comest, bring with thee, and the books," not only the clothing, but even that which he is to read, "especially the parchments;" what he was going to write on, probably. It can sometimes have the meaning of loyalty, or true religion. They just are irritated by your love and by your patience and by your goodness because they feel guilty. This is a very striking word. The man who has exhausted the normal pleasures of life and still unsated, will seek his thrill in pleasures which are abnormal. Thus he comforts Timothy at the same time that he admonishes him. We have the practice and treatment of true Christians: they live godly in Jesus Christ--this is their practice; and they shall suffer persecution--this is the usage they must expect in this world. Men will be ungovernable in their desires (akrates, G193) . The closing chapter (2 Timothy 4:1-22) then gives his solemn charge, and at the same time his own expression of what was before him. I believe God intended that you should enjoy life.There is nothing wrong with having pleasure. This he had known most extensively, but it was closed; no longer had he before him any prospect of having to fight the battles of the church of God. "Trucebreakers". I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers," what singular language this from Paul! There is slander enough in many a church to make the recording angel weep as he records it. Noah escaped? In vain shall we endeavor to detach Christ from his cross; for it may be said to be natural that the world should hate Christ even in his members. Without natural affection ( 2 Timothy 3:3 ). And the word perfect of course is always that of completeness. A great many certainly flatter themselves that they are thus favoured; but the cases are uncommon where it is more than pretence. Next he comes to a more personal need. There is love. 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. In it we find the duties, the qualities and the experiences of an apostle. We live in a fallen world, and there are many challenges that face the believer who has not only trusted Christ for salvation, but is also ready and willing to deny self, take up his cross, follow Christs example, and say without compromise Thy will, not mine, be done.The newbornbaby Christian has to grow in grace and mature in the faith over an unspecified periodof time, to reach this level of maturity in his faith, while other who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ may slip in and out of carnality and worldliness for many years, stunting their growth and even regressing in their faith back to spiritual infancy.Many, if not all believers, are called to become mature in the faith by walking in spirit and truth and living godly, Christ-centred lives, but few are willing to exchange the cosy blessings of early Christian infancy, for the difficulties that inevitably follow the mature believer. 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. In the days between the Old and the New Testaments many Jewish books were written which expanded the Old Testament stories. [Note: Knight, p. Men will be lovers of their own selves ( 2 Timothy 3:2 ). In the end not a book was burned; the brigand left the colporteur and went off into the darkness with the books. It may be that, since we are only human, we cannot live entirely without differences with our fellow-men, but to perpetuate these differences is one of the worst--and also one of the commonest--of all sins. for instruction in righteousness ( 2 Timothy 3:16 ): And righteousness is just actually the act of being right or doing right or living right. Now are you going to, you know, take the word of Jesus? He was driven from Antioch in Pisidia ( Acts 13:50); he had to flee from Iconium to avoid lynching ( Acts 14:5-6); in Lystra he was stoned and left for dead ( Acts 14:19). Paul regarded these as man-made things; but the great books for a man's soul were the God-inspired ones which tradition and the experience of men had sanctified. Man can do it but not God. Here we come back to where we started; such men place their own wishes in the centre of life. There is no godliness (Greek, "piously") or piety out of Christ. Pride always begets insult. For "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks" ( Matthew 12:34 ). 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. Death and resurrection, then, are thus put before this servant of God; the more remarkably, because the point here is a practical and not a doctrinal question. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. The coming of the Lord will in no way manifest the faithfulness of the servant; His appearing will. We must note that Paul here makes a distinction. The man who is huperephanos ( G5244) , said Theophrastus, has a kind of contempt for everyone except himself. 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. In those days trade tended to flow down river valleys; Ephesus was at the mouth of the River Cayster, and commanded the trade of one of the richest hinterlands in all Asia Minor. Promotions are withheld, invitations are denied, and a snickering unpopularity are the daily portion of many precious souls working in a hostile, atheistic environment. It seems to me, I confess, that if there were simplicity of faith, the Lord would give one eyes to see some at least that call upon the Lord out of a pure heart. 2 Timothy Greeting. by George Whitefield. Men can be savage in rebuke and savage in pitiless action. "Men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God." He knew what care God had taken of him: Notwithstanding out of them all the Lord delivered me; as he never failed his cause, so his God never failed him. The apostle well knew that the God who had brought these glorious truths to man, the God that had manifested His grace, had given a witness of their reality in the man from whom he had learned them; and this was meant to have an enduring effect on the conscience and heart of Timothy. At the same time he shows also his sense of the kindness of a particular individual and his family. Don't start trying to cut out certain stories because they don't fit your scheme because you have a little hard, you have a hard time sort of believing that. Negative and positive illustrations 3:8-13. Look at our attitudes towards morality. Heavenly Father, thank You for the privilege of being one with Christ, positioned in Him, and clothed in His righteousness. So God's word, scripture given for inspiration, by the inspiration of God and is profitable.Of course, this morning we pointed out that the inspiration of the Bible is proved by internal evidences, such as its total accuracy with known facts of science, when it happened to cover scientific subjects. (4) Let those who have never been persecuted in any way, inquire whether it is not an evidence that they have no religion. Irenaeus draws a vivid picture of the methods of just such a teacher in his day. In all life there is nothing so creative of really productive effort as a clear consciousness of a purpose. How is it that you could be deceived, Jesus? Each of the chapters are done individually. As Shakespeare had it: "Good name in man and woman, dear my lord. Regardless of the persecution, it is our duty to live in such a way that the world will know that we are Christians. No matter what the reasons or excuses for joining with them, "turn away.". At the end of each reading, the brigand said: "That's a good book; we won't burn that one; give it to me." Anosios does not so much mean that men will break the written laws; it means that they will offend against the unwritten laws which are part and parcel of the essence of life. 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. The moment a man makes his own will the centre of life, divine and human relationships are destroyed, obedience to God and charity to men both become impossible. Don't start messing with it. 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. The term "godly" (eusebos) means "piously" (Thayer 262-2-2153). "Perilous times shall come." Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. (See notes Matthew 5:10, 11, 12) Look what they did to Jesus, and Jesus said, "If they persecuted me, they're going to persecute you" ( John 15:20 ). It may well be that the greatest handicap to Christianity is not the scarlet sinner but the sleek devotee of an unimpeachable orthodoxy and a dignified convention, who is horrified when it is suggested that real religion is a dynamic power which changes a man's personal life. In the last days This often means the days of the Messiah, and is sometimes extended in its signification to the destruction of Jerusalem, as this was properly the last days of the Jewish state. The cause of this is the present confusion, and accordingly the apostle brings a picture of it before Timothy's mind. It is the sign of a man of honour that he pays his debts; and for every man there is a debt to God and there are debts to his fellow-men, which he must remember and repay. We should not be any more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive,Ephesians 4:14. Paul goes on to list the things in which Timothy has been his disciple; and the interest of that list is that it consists of the strands out of which the life and work of an apostle are woven. There was the great trade route from the Euphrates valley which came by way of Colosse and Laodicea and poured the wealth of the east into the lap of Ephesus. Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary. It is a duty in the present state of confusion to use scriptural means; and here we have our warrant, as in the epistles we find more. 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. 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. McLean, Virginia: MacDonald Publishing Company, n.d. Wuest, Kenneth S. Wuests Word Studies From the Greek New Testament. Article Images Copyright 2023 Getty Images unless otherwise indicated. But [Paul said] they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as [Jannes and Jambres] also were ( 2 Timothy 3:9 ). Noah, the earth was really flooded? The latter gains a following only by turning away from the truth of God (13). But the sin of the man who is arrogant is in his heart. The insult which comes from anger is bad but it is forgivable, for it is launched in the heat of the moment; but the cold insult which comes from arrogant pride is an ugly and an unforgivable thing. Those who deceive others do but deceive themselves; those who draw others into error run themselves into more and more mistakes, and they will find it so at last, to their cost. How Daniels Prophecy of 70 Weeks Connects to the End Times. Proud member The volume of the book, the Old Testament, it's all about Jesus Christ. The cause of the perilous times are found in the things that people will be doing, and at the top of the list. 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. Of course it was infinitely higher, it is needless to say, in the Master; but the servant was as closely as possible following in His steps. It was not then an indifferent matter to God. They were never meant to be anything else but visions; we do violence to Jewish and to early Christian thought if we take them with a crude literalness. There was a state of things coming when it would be impossible to have local charges chosen according to the full sanction which they had in apostolic days. He had fought the good fight of faith. In between there was The Day of the Lord, a day when God would personally intervene and shatter the world in order to remake it. It is the ability not to lose patience when people are foolish, not to grow irritable when they seem unteachable. Now I'm not about to say God was wrong. And many shall be stirred up in anger to injure many; And they shall rouse up armies in order to shed blood. It is needful to exercise judgment now. I reply, it is not always in one way that Satan persecutes the servants of Christ. 9 But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was. "Lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God.". But after giving the characteristics and traits of the godly man, Jesus then in the final Beatitudes said, "Blessed are ye, when men shall persecute you, and revile you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake" ( Matthew 5:11 ). The apostle's life was very exemplary for three things: for his doctrine, which was according to the will of God; for his life, which was agreeable to his doctrine; and for his persecutions and sufferings. This time he was a Christian minister, and it was to the reading of the books that he attributed his change. How appropriate that "trucebreakers" is for this day. It is our duty to use our minds and set them adventuring; but the test must ever be agreement with the teaching of Jesus Christ as the Scriptures present it to us. Then the apostle puts before them a blessed model of that which he had before his own soul. This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come ( 2 Timothy 3:1 ). Given the right conditions, such oppositions would be just as deadly as the great Roman persecutions. All who will show their religion in their conversation, who will not only be godly, but live godly, let them expect persecution, especially when they are resolute in it. If we consult the scripture, which was given by inspiration of God, and follow its directions, we shall be made men of God, perfect, and thoroughly furnished to every good work. I must do so, if I own Him only in the indispensable truth of His Lordship if I own Him simply as the One that has authority over my soul. In living in such a manner, persecution will come; but the Lord will deliver the faithful. Timothy's job, for the sake of the future, involves more preservation than innovation. And a hundred and fifty men can board it and they can submerge and go under the North Pole under the arctic ice. 1:15; 4:9-12, 16) and facing imminent execution, Paul wrote to Timothy, urging him to hasten to Rome for one last visit with the apostle ( 4:9, 21 ). Two men were talking of a great satirist who had been filled with moral earnestness. And this, I apprehend, is the reason. And man has prepared a great fish and they powered it with atomic engines. If anyone proposes to introduce into his life a loyalty which surpasses all earthly loyalties, there are bound to be clashes. They claimed that their children learned the law even from their swaddling clothes and drank it in with their mother's milk. First and foremost he has an aim in life. Thus we have everything cared for here; the state of confusion is clearly depicted, as it then was beginning, and as results have proved yet more. It would not be accordant with the mind of God. There is that in the scripture which suits every case. Moreover, as soon as zeal for God is manifested by a believer, it kindles the rage of all ungodly men; and, although they have not a drawn sword, yet they vomit out their venom, either by murmuring, or by slander, or by raising a disturbance, or by other methods. I watch very little, but with horror and dismay, the deterioration of a man who probably at one time had a legitimate ministry, but I've seen the gradual erosion of this person on television just right before my eyes. It denotes a savagery which has neither sensitiveness nor sympathy. And as we pointed out, the danger always of saying some scriptures, not all scriptures, is the loss of authority. The braggart is a swaggering creature, who tries to bluster his way into power and eminence. VERSION, NIV Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. He would not have him to be spreading doubtful opinions; but what he had heard from the apostle himself he need not scruple to give out freely. 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. If what be claims for scripture is true of the Old Testament, how much truer it is of the still more precious words of the New. The fact remains that the only place in all the world where we get a first-hand account of that person and of his teaching is in the New Testament. "The Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus; for he oft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain; but, when. Verse 2 Timothy 3:1. I've got a file up here that says, Wait for further information. Matthew 10:22-23; Luke 21:12; John 15:20; Acts 14:22; 1 Thessalonians 3:4). Surely if it is an urgent call to convey what we know of Christ and the truth to those that know nothing, it is a great privilege to help to contribute a greater knowledge of the truth to those that know little. At first these magicians were able to match the wonders which Moses and Aaron did, but in the end they were defeated and discredited. It was the common lot of all who endeavored to serve their Redeemer faithfully; and Timothy himself, therefore, must not hope to escape from it. 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. Rather he must "labour before he partake of the fruits." But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived ( 2 Timothy 3:13 ). (2) they who are persecuted for their opinions, should consider that this may be one evidence that they have the spirit of Christ, and are his true friends. It is used in Matthew 8:28 to describe the two Gergesene demoniacs who met Jesus among the tombs. At the same time there is the carrying on his full notice of everything found here below that would be a source of comfort to one who anticipated the ruin of Christendom. Edited by David Platt, Daniel L. Akin, and Tony Merida, this new commentary series, projected to be 48 volumes, takes a Christ-centered approach to expositing each book of the Bible. So from his earliest childhood Timothy had known the sacred writings. 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. Paul goes on to other qualities of an apostle. And that is precisely what Christianity demands that a man should do. Note, It is not enough to learn that which is good, but we must continue in it, and persevere in it unto the end. Observe, (1.) 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. Paul contrasts the conduct of Timothy, his loyal disciple, with the conduct of the heretics who were doing their utmost to wreck the Church. There is a type of person who is eager to discuss every new theory, who is always to be found deeply involved in the latest fashionable religious movement, but who is quite unwilling to accept the day-to-day discipline--even drudgery--of living the Christian life. It begets a contempt of men which can issue in hurting actions and in wounding words. C. Description of His Present Resource 2 Timothy 3:13-17. Everything today is, you know, for the body beautiful. Is it knowledge, or is it life, that we are trying to transmit? The scriptures are profitable to establish the foundation of my beliefs. There is nothing that more shows God than His ability to combine that which is eternal with care for the smallest things of this life. At Ephesus some of the greatest roads in the world met. You're a stranger. 3:2-5 For men will live a life that is centred in self; they will be lovers of money, braggarts, arrogant, lovers of insult, disobedient to their parents, thankless, regardless even of the ultimate decencies of life, without human affection, implacable in hatred, revelling in slander, ungovernable in their passions, savage, not knowing what the love of good is, treacherous, headlong in word and action, inflated with pride, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. Men will be disobedient to their parents. All God-inspired scripture is useful for teaching, for the conviction of error, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work. Activity of service was no longer before him. Paul "the aged," as he says, was just about to leave this world. They will not only deceive others, but their sins and other deceivers will deceive them increasingly too. No man is saved unless he is on fire to save his fellow-men. This shows in a clearer light the difference between the true teacher and the false. He lit the fire, and then he asked if he might read a little from each book before he dropped it in the flames. But when dying upon the cross, He calls to John to behold His mother. 2. Had the Lord Jesus not sent him? The Platonic Definitions defined the corresponding noun (alazoneia, G212) as: "The claim to good things which a man does not really possess." Timothy, again, winced under trials, too sensitive to slights, disappointments, and the manifold griefs that came upon him. 1. This might deter a sensitive saint from his duty. In the second chapter he turns to another theme, he instructs and exhorts Timothy as to communicating (not authority, or status, or gift, but) truth to others. for reproof, for correction ( 2 Timothy 3:16 ), And how often the word of God has brought correction to my course of life. The one was suited to upset the young, the other to beguile the old. The scripture is a perfect rule of faith and practice, and was designed for the man of God, the minister as well as the Christian who is devoted to God, for it is profitable for doctrine, &c. Things were so bad that Tacitus could say: "He who had no foe was betrayed by his friend." 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. Men would be headlong in words and action. 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. The absence of persecution, in any active sense, from the lives of most Christians of this era is generally due to the watered-down version of their Christianity and not to any subsidence of the savage hatred of the darkness for the light. 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 This I cannot but consider as a proof of want of faith. He might even seem to be humble; but in his secret heart there is contempt for everyone else. Quite a promise, isn't it? Here is the essential conclusion. There was the road from north Asia Minor and from Galatia which came in via Sardis. What am I to believe about angels or the future? 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. When a man's language becomes filthy, obscene and crude, it shows that there's something wrong with him. The reason is manifest: they themselves savour of the things of men, and not of God. Many and many a time we would be saved from hurting ourselves and from wounding other people, if we would only stop to think. Accordingly, in much grief of heart, the apostle writes to his tried and trembling child in the faith, and seeks to strengthen him, above all things not to be discouraged, and to make up his mind to endure hard things. 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. In his own neighbourhood he had seen Paul suffer because of his devotion to Christ (10-12; cf. There might be a mixture of timid shrinking from pain and shame. Help me totake this verse seriously, that I will suffer persecution if I live godly in Jesus Christ. But of one thing Paul was sure--the days of the deceivers were numbered. "Reprobate concerning the faith.". In the light of this warning from the Saviour, no Christian should be surprised at persecution. Rather than a verse-by-verse approach, the authors have crafted chapters that explain and apply key passages in their assigned Bible books. One day they said to Jesus, Show us a sign. Now you'd think that the world would treat a person like that very cordially. Have you ever seen an age when people were more conscious of their own selves? This world is in rebellion against God. Then the apostle brings out most important directions for the days that were then coming in, but now come, and more. 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.