2 Timothy 3. We'll be reading verses 1 through 9. And Paul is just kind of addressing Timothy about his duties and what he should be doing, and now he goes on. Let's hear the Word of God. But realize this, that in the last days, difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, Brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. Holding to a form of godliness, they have denied its power. Avoid such men as these. For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women, weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, always learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Just as Janus and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also opposed the truth. Men of depraved mind, rejected in regard to the faith. But they will not make further progress, for their folly will be obvious to all. Just as John was and John was, folly also was." There's a sermon outline you can use. Contrasts are also very helpful for us to see the true light of a particular situation. And just to illustrate that, you need to go into a dark room sometime and hold up a piece of cloth and then shine a flashlight on it and nothing else. And that piece of cloth will seem white and very bright. But it's only as you would put another piece of cloth next to it and shine the light on both of them that the true colors will appear. Because when you do that, you'll be able to see that one of those pieces of cloth is actually gray, although it appeared white because it was the only thing reflecting the light, and the other is indeed white. And as you put the two side by side, as you shine the light on them, you can see the contrast. And what you thought was white before, really isn't white at all. The difference can be seen in the contrast. And that is often used in scripture to show the difference. And God often speaks in terms of contrasts. Whether it be between the narrow way and the wide way that leads to destruction, or in terms of good versus evil, light versus darkness, we have in Scripture numerous contrasts. And it shouldn't surprise us. If you're thinking of what's going on in the world, there's a spiritual warfare going on, and you have two opposing forces. Two sides that are at odds. Two sides that think differently, that act differently. And so it shouldn't surprise us that there's a true and there's a false. And when it gets down to it, there'll be true and false religions, and true and false teachers. And the question is, how do you decide? How do you know who are the true teachers, who are the false teachers? How do you know if some teaching is right or isn't? Well, one of the main purposes we've been given the Scriptures, the Bible, is so that we might know that it's been laid out there for us to read and to understand truth from error. And especially as you go through the New Testament letters, there's a high emphasis on true and false teaching. between true religion and false religion. And so, as we go through 2 Timothy, and you go back to 1 Timothy, Paul, but it's really God who's speaking through Paul, has been addressing Timothy. And as he's going to carry on the ministry, as Paul knows he's going to die shortly, he brings Timothy back again and again. to the true and to the false. And if you read through, it's sort of like a ping pong game. He first addresses the false teachers. Here's what they do. Now Timothy, here's what you do. The false teachers, they do this. Timothy, do that. Back and forth. Back and forth. Making clear the difference. So that Timothy will understand and so that we will understand the difference. between the true and the false. And so, this is really the last time Paul addresses the false teachers. And as if he puts them under a microscope, looks at them in great detail, so that Timothy will have his final words, and that we would have these final words from God about the false teachers. Who they are, and what they're doing. This passage teaches us about the false teachers, this close-up view. For the first point, if you look, you can see their moral conduct. If you notice closely what they're doing, you can see their morality, as you look at verses 2 and 4. We're given a list, and it's very detailed. There are 18 different vices that are mentioned. Now these are really vices that reflect a prevailing pagan influence. There are things like breaking the Sabbath, which would be the Jewish influence of thinking. And it's quite a list. And how to summarize. We really don't have time to take a look at them, but if you look at the first two, and the last two, There's one key word that's mentioned, and it's the word love. They're lovers of self, lovers of money, lovers of pleasure, and not lovers of God. And so their basic problem is their heart. Their basic problem is what motivates them, and it's misdirected. What is the object of their affections? What is it that controls their thinking? Their use of their time and their energies. And at the very top of the list is love for their selves. All those other sins that are mentioned really flow from having this rest directed love of self, pride of self, looking to itself. It's a starting point from which all the rest of the sins that are mentioned come forth. We might compare it to physically. You know, when a person has a bad heart and it's not pumping the blood properly, what happens? Well, there's a host of other problems. The lungs can't do their job the right way and begin filling up with liquid. The brain doesn't get enough blood to it. And our mental faculties begin to be troubling. In this passage, this description ends with lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. Notice that. Lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. They've substituted for God pleasure. That's what's important to them. their preferences to here and now, and what gives them pleasure. Well, sadly, this list is all too realistic description of mankind separate from God. Of men and women falling after their own desires or going their own way. And we can see that. that this misdirected love comes from their basic nature. As you look at verse 8, men of depraved mind rejected in regard to the faith. Their minds, their thinking, their hearts are depraved. They're thinking along the wrong way. They don't have a clear-mindedness when it comes to spirituality, spiritual truth, to be able to see right and wrong, to see what is good and what is evil. They don't have that ability. You can compare it to looking at an object in water. And as you're looking down at it at an angle, you see it, then you grab for it, and what happens? You miss. Because your view is distorted. Where the moral view of reality is distorted. So, they may be seeking after certain things that is distorted. They can't really tell truth from error. True righteousness from a false righteousness. And we look around today and what do we see? Even in churches, there's much confusion about what is righteous and what is unrighteous. You have churches supporting abortion, de-marriage, euthanasia, and things like that. And it says that ultimately, such ones are rejected when it comes to the faith. Really, it's the word unapproved. And that's the opposite of what Timothy was to do. He was to be an approved workman that knew the standards, who knew what God wanted, who proved true to that. These are tested, and they fail. They do not have genuine faith. And it points us, really then, to the solution for the sins that are listed in verses 2-4 as we see. You know, people who were... You know, disobedient to parents, and all the rest that's in that list. How do we solve that? As we look at a society that's given itself over to wanton pleasure and that sort of thing, how do we solve it? It ultimately comes back to Jesus Christ. That the solution is the Gospel. The love of self. is caused by a mind that is centered on itself, can only be fixed as we abandon that, as we would trust in Jesus Christ. Now you can enact laws that can do some good against pornography or whatever it is, but it really doesn't change the heart. It's as the gospel shows to people that they're changed on the inside. Well, consider the parallel to today. We've gone through the Bane Boomers, to the Me Generation, to what's been called Generation X. And you think about how they're viewed in books and TV and movies. Isn't it true that they're lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God? I look at that list and I think of What do the talk shows on TV talk about? How do the celebrities, whether it be movie stars or sports celebrities, how do they live their lives? What do they do with their free time? How do they behave? But even getting more personal, what does your neighbor do? What does your co-worker do? Because many, too many, would be described in these terms. Well, you would look at this description and think these people would have no interest in religion. That's not part of their lives. But the second point is that we can look and see that far from that being true, that they are involved in religious activity. Verse 5. holding the right religion, but they are religious. They have a spiritual hunger that they try, in some way, to meet. And that will be true of virtually everybody you'll meet. They may not embrace Christianity, they may not embrace the truth, but they'll be spiritually looking for something. And verse 5 says, they hold to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power. It's easy to have religion without power, to have outward forms, to be pursuing some sort of religious experience. And I can think of many of them that have have endless spiritual discussions, learn all sorts of religious trivia, write letters to the editor about it. And others maybe are very much involved in coming and involved in worship and going through certain rites, but it's all outward appearance. It reminds me of those, you know, Western with this, you know, they film it and it's a street scene and there's, you know, two gunfighters shooting it up on the street and you have this, you know, this village, town pictured in the background and there's the drugstore and the blacksmith and the bank. But behind them there's nothing. There's just two by fours holding up these false fronts. And if you try to go into the bank, you can't. Because it's set. There's no reality to it. Well, today, much religion is just sort of an empty shell. And it seems that more that we've gotten away from biblical Christianity, more there's that spiritual hunger that looks for ways to manifest itself. And so there's all sorts of interest in the supernatural from psychics and medians and ghosts and all the rest. But they're getting away from truth and plurality. And the further we get away, The stranger and stranger it is. And so on TV, it isn't that there isn't any religion on there. It's just that there's no Christianity. There's all sorts of supernatural. ESP and all that. It shows up as if it were true. Or B, what's lacking is there's no power. And of course, the power that the Christian has comes from the Holy Spirit. The reality of changed lives is due to the reality of the Holy Spirit, that when a person receives Christ, the Holy Spirit comes in and supernaturally works within that person. They're changed on the inside. Their desires, their emotions, their wills are changed. And too many just have religion on the outside without the changed heart, without the Holy Spirit at work. And true religion embraces not only the form, not only do you tend to worship, Will you attend with a changed heart? You're directed by the Holy Spirit to worship in spirit and in truth. Is the gospel able to change lives? And the pastor in the home congregation gave a very straightforward answer. No! He didn't think so. That if you have a problem with alcohol, But with pornography or whatever, the gospel could not change your life. The visiting pastor heard that and was really struck by the situation. Because the fellow pastor held to a form of godliness, but he was denying its power. And it didn't surprise him that a short time later, he left the pastorate. And rightly so. He did not believe its basic message. He could be involved in all sorts of religious activity, plan a seminar, bring in a special speaker, and all the rest. And yet, at the heart of it was unbelief. Well, the third point we need to see is that there is an effect on others. When false teaching goes on, it does affect others, and we see that in verses 6 and 9. We can first see who the audience is in verse 4, it's described as weak women, weighed down with sins, let on various impulses. And keep in mind, in that day, women had very limited opportunities to be educated, to have a lot of social interaction. And so they would be in a very vulnerable position. And there was, then is now, a spiritual hunger, a religious hunger, a wanting something more, to find a greater reality. And so they would be looking for that. And these fall teachers, come in, and they literally worm their way in. They creep in under false pretenses. And they train, but they train in the wrong way. They're training those that they meet, especially the women, to feed their curiosity. rather than bringing the freedom of the gospel to them. Such teachers have the ability to sway others. And that's not new. Paul goes on to point that out. As you look at verses 8 and 9, he goes back to Egypt, to Moses coming before Pharaoh, and Janus and Jambres, two magicians. were not given their names in Scripture, but early on, tradition held that those were their names. And you might recall how they were able to imitate Moses for a little while, but it got to the point where they couldn't do what Moses could do. And it became evident that Moses was much greater. And Aaron was much greater than what they could do. It stands as an example of those who resist the truth. They can deceive for a while, but in the end, this deception came to light in the fact they could not do what Moses did. Well, it's an indication that we should be expecting opposition. If Moses faced opposition, if Jesus Christ Himself faced opposition, if Paul the Apostle faced opposition, if Timothy faced it, we should as well. I received a phone call a while ago, and I won't go into all the details, but the woman was angry. She's trying to quote scripture. But it's almost irrational. I was trying to say, well, let me read exactly what that says. But she didn't want that. She didn't want the truth. So the problem still exists. We can see it for the TV evangelists. We can see it in how you look around at society and tolerance and what is expected and what's being mean-spirited. If you say no to somebody, you're being mean-spirited and all the rest. Well, thirdly, we can see the outcome of such teaching in verse 7. Always learning, never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Why is that? Because it is a set body of truth that God has given. And it can be learned, it can be understood. But if you reject that, you never Find the truth. You're always looking around, trying to find it. You can be involved in religious activity, yet you don't find God's truth. Instead of the freedom of the gospel, you remain weighed down with sin and with guilt. It talks here about being held captive. And just as in war, you'd be taken captive and would be held prisoner in the spiritual war. You're taken captive. You want freedom, but you can't find it. You're hungry spiritually, but you don't find it. Well, the fourth point is really our application. What is our response to such men and women? First is an awareness, verse one. But realize this, that in these last days, difficult times will come. Now, the last days, if you look at scripture, is the interval between Christ's first coming to a second coming. So they started in about 30 A.D., and they've lasted until today, and we don't know how long they're going to last. It's the era in which we live. And when he says, realize this, he's saying, mark this down in your minds. Make a mental note of this. This is what would characterize our situation. There's going to be opposition to the truth. Because the truth is very humbling. It causes us as men and women to recognize that we can't do it. We need Jesus Christ to do it. And that opposition is not just going to be a passing thing. At times, it will be fierce. And that shouldn't surprise us. It might be dangerous. There are places in this world where you can be thrown in prison for being a Christian. There are campuses where you'll be mocked for what you believe and miniculed and the rest. We need to be prepared. It may be difficult at times to be a Christian. And then second, we need to be aware. Aware that ultimately the false teachers will fail. Verse 9. They will not make further progress, for their folly will be obvious to all. And this is our hope. God has promised that they will only succeed to a certain way. Like the Egyptian magicians, they were only able to go a certain way, and then God distinguished between the true and the false. And you could go back through and look at church history, and there have been a number of false teachers that have arisen. And basically, They're footnotes in church history. We remember the great men of faith, Augustine, Luther, Calvin. Very few of us remember any of those who would be opposed. There was Pelagius and there was, hmm, that's about all I can remember. Their teaching is limited. Their success is limited. Ultimately, the truth wins out. And so we can have optimism and hope, encouragement, as we realize that God will cause His truth to prevail. Whatever the most recent fad is in theology, a hundred or two hundred years from now, no one will remember it. But the gospel of Jesus Christ will remain unchanged. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, Give you thanks for this Word that points us to the contrast between the true and the false. The false teaches in what they do, the way they live, how it begins with who they are on the inside, and then shows in terms of very specific things that they do that are contrary to you and what your desires are. Help us to be aware, to be able to discern. when someone is not teaching the way of truth in the right way, to avoid such ones. But then to be strengthened and comforted as we know that your truth will prevail, that their progress will become evident, that the implications of what they teach and the following involved will be seen. And so that your truth will stand in greater and greater contrast to that which is in error. We pray these things in Christ's name. Amen.