- Salutation 1:1–2
- Faithful Service 1:3–18
- Fan the flame 1:3–7
- Don't be afraid 1:8–14
- Examples of faithful and unfaithful service 1:15–18
- Exhortations to discipleship 2:1–26
- Making disciples 2:1–13
- Picture of Discipleship 2:1–2
- Characteristics of Disciple-Makers
- The examples of Jesus and Paul 2:8–10
- Importance of Faithfulness 2:11–13
- Serving as Disciples 2:14–26
- Handling the word 2:14–18
- Being an example to others 2:19–21
- Living as a disciple 2:22–26
- Directions concerning the last days 3:1–4:8
- Characteristics of the last days 3:1–7
- Warnings about false teachers 3:8-9
- Conduct of a disciple in the last days 3:10-17
- Example of Timothy the disciple following Paul 3:10-13
- Importance of the word of God for disciples 3:11-17
- …. To be completed …. 4:1-8
- Concluding personal instructions and information 4:9–22
- This is an interesting section because it is part of Paul's last words, why?
- Paul really felt it was near and wanted Timothy to be ready
- I don't think things had quite reached this level or otherwise Paul would not have needed to describe it to Timothy
- APPLICATION: Of course, the Holy Spirit was really leaving it for us so that we could be watchful and not discouraged when we saw it happening
- The last days typically refer to the days preceding the rapture. Technically, we have been in the last days since Jesus' resurrection. Paul lists 19 specific characteristics of this time
- Below is a list from Constable (2003):
- 3:2 People would be:
- (1) self-centered and narcissistic (Gr. philautoi),
- (2) lovers of money (philargyroi, cf. 1 Tim. 3:3, 8),
- (3) boastful of their own importance (alazones), and [seen in the culture of the so-called elites of today who believe they know what is best for us-twm]
- (4) proud, arrogant in attitude (hyperephanoi).
- They would be (5) abusive toward others (blasphemoi), [civil discourse is completely gone in any of our political debates-twm]
- (6) unresponsive to parental discipline, [rebellion against authority always implies rebellion against God-twm]
- (7) ungrateful, unthankful, unappreciative (acharistoi), and [characteristics of selfishness-twm]
- (8) impure, unholy (anosioi). [this sounds like a rejection of God-twm]
- 3:3 Furthermore, they would be:
- (9) heartless, callous, hateful (astorgoi),
- (10) unforgiving (aspondoi) and consequently irreconcilable, and
- (11) slanderous of others (diaboloi), speaking with malicious gossip.
- They would be (12) lacking in self-control (akrateis),
- (13) brutal, brutish, uncivilized (anemeroi), and
- (14) antagonistic toward whatever is good (aphilagathoi). [there really is a hatred of good; and especially God-given commands (marriage, two sexes, sexuality, etc)-twm]
- 3:4 They would also be:
- (15) disposed toward betrayal, treacherous (prodotai), and [there is no longer any doubt in my mind that elections are full of fraud-twm]
- (16) headstrong, reckless (propeteis).
- They would be (17) conceited (tetyphomenoi), puffed up with pride, wrapped in a mist of self-delusion, and
- (18) devoted to personal pleasure (philedonoi) rather than to God (philotheoi). [they elevate themselves above God, their desires and pleasures-twm]
- 3:5 Finally
- they would (19) make a pretense of being religious but deny the source of true spiritual power (i.e., God’s Word)
- APPLICATION:
- Once again, the key to avoiding this slide is an absolute passion and regular intake of the word of God
- First of all, Paul is not talking about all women. He uses a diminutive form, weak or small, women to make it clear that these were different than women in general. What characterized these women?
- Women who were spiritually weak, had little education, had more time on their hands, and appreciated any attention
- Struggled with various passions and sins (could be the men or the women)
- The teachers (?)
- They were always learning but yet never seem to comprehend the truth of God
- False teachers were able to captivate such women with their teaching
- Affects the spiritual family as a whole
- Paul reaches back to the Exodus to describe the type of men
- Jannes and Jambres are not mentioned by name in the OT
- The names are familiar names in Jewish tradition as sorcerers who opposed Moses (Exo 7:11; 9:11)
- In a certain sense, the sorcerers were partly successful in duplicating Moses' miracles, but after a while, they could not replicate the miracles
- Ultimately the couldn't even stand before Moses because of the boils on their feet
- So, what conclusions can we draw from these men?
- They actually oppose biblical truth (God's word)
- They are not believers but are accepted in the church (the large tree that the birds rest in)
- See Matt 13 (the sower, the mustard seed, and the leaven)
- Birds took away the word of God
- The Birds build nests in the church
- The leaven spreads all through the flour (beware the leaven (teaching) of the pharisees)
- They are corrupt in mind
- They are disqualified regarding the faith (not believers)
- At some point, they will be exposed
- The word of God protects us from false teaching and transforms our mind so that the world cannot mold us
Outline (my edits
to Constable's original outline)
<STOP HERE>
2 Timothy 3:1–5 (ESV) —
1 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of
difficulty. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money,
proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal,
not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers
of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the
appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.
2 Timothy 3:6–9 (ESV) —
6 For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak
women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, 7 always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.
8 Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these
men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding
the faith. 9 But they will not get very far, for their folly
will be plain to all, as was that of those two men.
APPLICATION:
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