Now you get out your, you know, your green and blue pens and for the inspired ones, we'll underline those with blue and we'll use red, maybe, to underline those that are not inspired, you know and, and so here I am, I'm the authority.Well, the next liberal comes along and he says, Well, no, no, no, he was wrong on that one. 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. But they will not get much further, for their folly will be as clear to all as that of those ancient impostors. Yea, and all that would live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. In short, let us know that we are Christians on this condition, that we shall be liable to many tribulations and various contests. It is undoubtedly true at all times, and will ever be, that they who are devoted Christians - who live as the Saviour did - and who carry out his principles always, will experience some form of persecution. 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. 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. (2.) And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully." He opened out the pages to make it burn more easily. But they do enshrine the permanent truth that some time there must come the consummation when evil meets God in head-on collision and there comes the final triumph of God. Indeed it may be well to remark here, that we never read of Timothy appointing bishops or elders. E. F. Brown has pointed out the danger of what he calls "intellectual curiosity without moral earnestness." 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. Synonyms of the New Testament. And so Paul is warning Timothy of certain things that will be transpiring in the last days. He blames the Jews who searched them, because they failed to learn the lesson which they were intended to convey. In that large heart which weighed so justly and with single eye, there was a deepening feeling as to all that he saw around him; there was a realizing of the importance of things of which he had said not a word before. Braggart has an interesting derivation. 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. And this, I apprehend, is the reason. Now what is it that Timothy had so fully known in Paul? Timothy was from Lystra. "[21] See also under 1Thessalonians 3:3. I'm afraid that that is also true of us. Yes, and everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. VERSION, NIV Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. The Gnostic insinuators would teach these doctrines to impressionable women. The prophets and apostles did not speak from themselves, but what they received of the Lord that they delivered unto us. 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. Some of you here are victims of broken covenants. Paul completes the story of the things in which Timothy has shared, and must share, with him, by speaking of the experiences of an apostle; and he prefaces that list of experiences by setting down the quality of endurance. Not only did he become a Christian; he devoted the rest of his life to the distribution of the Scriptures in the forgotten villages of northern Chile. I have many scriptures that I don't understand yet. Paul refers to his own experiences to illustrate the truth that the person who whole-heartedly follows God must expect persecution. The disorder might be so great that we might make mistakes in our anxiety; but "The Lord knoweth them that are his." As I read the things that are happening in our modern-cultured Orange County, as I read the reports from the social department on the child abuse, I just shake my head in disbelief because a person could not possibly do these things unless they were without natural affection. There was a certain heretic called Marcus who dealt in magic. It was a part of his lot. That the scripture has various uses, and answers divers ends and purposes: It is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction of all errors in judgment and practice, and for instruction in righteousness. For all scripture is given by inspiration of God ( 2 Timothy 3:16 ), Not as some would lead you to believe, some scriptures are given by inspiration of God. "True," said the other, "but he kicked it to a goal." The age of children is the learning age; and those who would get true learning must get it out of the scriptures. At "that day" will be the display of whatever has been endured, as well as done, for the Lord's sake. The Greek word (prodotes, G4273) means nothing less than a traitor. [2.] There will always be those who have their own twisted ideas of the Christian faith, and who wish to win others to their mistaken beliefs. They had been long accustomed to the truth, and alas! On the other hand, if a soul confesses the name of the Lord, he must have done with iniquity. For "all scripture is given by inspiration of God. How are we to walk so as to please the Lord when disorder reigns, claiming to be the only true order? For "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks" ( Matthew 12:34 ). In the Jewish pictures of these last terrible times we get exactly the same kind of picture as we get here. The Holy Spirit would make it to be most practical and precious. "Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia. But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes. [2.] He was one that needed to lean on an arm stronger than his own. Don't expect the world to applaud when you speak out against evil. Only in the New Testament have we any picture of Jesus, any account of his life and any record of his teaching. And they were able to imitate the workings of God up to a point and then they came to the place where they were backed down by Moses, but "men of corrupt minds, they are reprobate concerning the faith. And the word of God comes and it brings a balance, it brings a correction, it brings a correct perspective.It's profitable. The best way to overcome and to banish the false is to live in such a way that the loveliness and the graciousness of the truth is plain for all to see. In a measure, no doubt, the truth is in Christendom, and only there; for one cannot look for the truth in Judaism or heathenism now. See also 1 Timothy 4:7; 1 Timothy 6:11, and on godliness, 1 Timothy 2:2. She had never tried the Bible, for a friend had convinced her by subtle arguments that it could not be true. Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. Why does the world hate Christians? For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, and led away with divers lusts, ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth ( 2 Timothy 3:5-7 ). Now are you going to, you know, take the word of Jesus? And a less confession than this God never permitted the church to accept; nor in fact in Jerusalem itself was less ever accepted than the naming the name of the Lord. 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. Oh, Jesus, you mean you believe that story? "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." Only Luke is with me." And a hundred and fifty men can board it and they can submerge and go under the North Pole under the arctic ice. It is perfectly true--as we have so often said--that Christianity is not founded on a printed book but on a living person. Verse 4. Would you find it easier if it, if the account said, And a submarine surfaced and the captain got out on deck and, you know, they hauled Jonah in and they submerged again and headed towards Joppa and let him off the port. 10 million Ukrainians without power because of Russia. And indeed the world easily wears that mask of religion which depends on itself; but the piety which flourishes directly from, is very hateful, as it was to the old Jews, so to the modern Christians, who are without any token of good, Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers. Such offence can and does happen yet. What am I to believe about angels or the future? 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. Possibly he did appoint them; but there is no scriptural proof of it. (v) Paul makes a final point. The coming of the Lord will in no way manifest the faithfulness of the servant; His appearing will. I think the next major event, Revelation 4:1 . ", Persecution = The essence of persecution consists in subjecting a person to injury or disadvantage on account of his [beliefs].. 2. THE DUTIES AND THE QUALITIES OF AN APOSTLE ( 2 Timothy 3:10-13 ). He says: "Open thy mouth, speak whatsoever occurs to thee, and thou shalt prophesy." Jewish thought had one basic conception. Persecution and hardships will come, but of two things Paul is sure. "No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life" (he must be unencumbered, and undivided in his object); "that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. Man can do it but not God. The Jehovah Witnesses seeking to develop their doctrine concerning hell and that it is a place of oblivion, no consciousness, no awareness. It is easy for a professed Christian to avoid persecution, if he yields every point in which religion is opposed to the world. The scriptures are profitable to establish the foundation of my beliefs. The Christian leader will never lack his opponents. 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. He said that one isn't inspired; obviously inspired. Each one of these words in the Greek is an interesting word study. Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. There is peril when men assess prosperity by material things. . And they shall be dispersed among the Gentiles. And how profitable is the word of God to us today! "Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Godly = adv. This chapter has a vivid description of the great apostasy (2 Timothy 3:1-9), signs of which were already present, an appeal to Paul's own inspiring and inspired example (2 Timothy 3:10-15), and one of the most impressive paragraphs in all the Bible with reference to the inspiration of the Holy Scriptures (2 Timothy 3:16,17).For more extensive discussion of the apostasy, the man of . He went home and found the fire was out. 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. As teachers we should sometimes ask ourselves: what am I trying to do with these people whom I teach? He might even seem to be humble; but in his secret heart there is contempt for everyone else. In his own neighbourhood he had seen Paul suffer because of his devotion to Christ (10-12; cf. 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. Then the apostle puts before them a blessed model of that which he had before his own soul. That is to say, they go through all the correct movements and maintain all the external forms of religion; but they know nothing of Christianity as a dynamic power which changes the lives of men. Proud member That's proper and you should have that desire. And there came that place where, hey, Moses performed a miracle of God and they backed away. So you have to be careful when you start chipping it away at one side because the whole thing will come down on you. When a man's language becomes filthy, obscene and crude, it shows that there's something wrong with him. He said, Who is this? You may be able to deceive people for a while, but ultimately, it's going to catch up, even as it did with Jannes. But we have also been supplied with many precious promises which reassure us that His grace is sufficient, His strength is perfected in our weakness, that suffering for Christ's sake is a privilege for the child of God, and that no amount of trials, tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, or the sword, is able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.May we grasp this truth in His strength, and remember that in this world we will have tribulation but that if we fellowship in the suffering of Christ, we will also be glorified with Him Who loved us so much that He died for us, that we might live for Him forever. It was only to be expected that certain women would not know how to use their new liberty. 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. For, if we do not believe their truth and goodness, they will do us no good. A man has sunk far when he finds even the presence of good people something which he would only wish to avoid. It's instructing us in righteousness. Negative and positive illustrations 3:8-13. To take pains and to endure are requisite even in what pertains to this life. thoroughly furnished unto all good works ( 2 Timothy 3:17 ). that will, &c.Greek, "all whose will is to live," &c. So far should persecution be from being a stumbling-block to Timothy, he should consider it a mark of the pious. 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 ). 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. This present age was altogether evil; and the age to come would be the golden age of God. I believe God intended that you should enjoy life.There is nothing wrong with having pleasure. Noah, the earth was really flooded? 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." He flung the New Testament on it. (2 Timothy 2:1.) We have already seen how secluded the life of the respectable Greek woman was, how she was brought up under the strictest supervision, how she was not allowed "to see anything, to hear anything, or to ask any questions," how she never appeared, even on a shopping expedition, alone on the streets, how she was never allowed even to appear at a public meeting. Still the man has become crude, blasphemous, ranting and raving, a disgrace to Jesus Christ who said, "By this sign shall men know that you are my disciples, that you love one another" ( John 13:34 ). [1.] 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. Do you have a hard time with that? C. Description of His Present Resource 2 Timothy 3:13-17. false accusers, incontinent ( 2 Timothy 3:3 ). Assuredly he would rejoice to scare Timothy from the field of serving Christ, and would shrink from no means to secure it. 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. She had been finding life, as she herself said, futile and meaningless. 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. Activity of service was no longer before him. Verse 1. Why cannot a man be as simple now as in apostolic times? he was in Rome, he sought me out very diligently, and found me." Jesus said, "You do search the scriptures: because in them you think you have life; but actually, they are testifying of me" ( John 5:39 ). "He kicked the world about," said one, "as if it had been a football." If we would know the holy scriptures, we must read and search them daily, as the noble Bereans did, Acts 17:11. It is Paul's conviction that the real follower of Christ cannot escape persecution. It is used by ancient writers on astrology to describe what we would call a threatening conjunction of the heavenly bodies. One day a visitor came to the ward and left a supply of gospels. Timothy, again, winced under trials, too sensitive to slights, disappointments, and the manifold griefs that came upon him. They should remember that, in this respect, they are treated as the Master was, and are in the goodly company of the prophets, apostles, and martyrs; for they were all persecuted. They're profitable. (4) Let those who have never been persecuted in any way, inquire whether it is not an evidence that they have no religion. 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. It is a great happiness to know the certainty of the things wherein we have been instructed (Luke 1:4); not only to know what the truths are, but to know that they are of undoubted certainty. Yet. 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. All rights reserved. Living here almost in a Sodom-Gomorrah atmosphere and environment. The word of God is the foundation for doctrine. Then he points out the two principal guards for the faithful, in such a perilous state. Introduction; 2 Timothy 1 Commentary; The man who is anosios ( G462) offends against the fundamental decencies of life. "The foundation of God standeth sure [or, the firm foundation of God standeth], having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. Oh God, I want you to use my life. It was thus Paul treated the proud reasonings and speculations of man; withal briefly touching on those that had gone entirely astray Hymenaeus and Philetus. Men will be treacherous. 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. That's just fable. Paul contrasts the conduct of Timothy, his loyal disciple, with the conduct of the heretics who were doing their utmost to wreck the Church. They must not lie by us neglected, seldom or never looked into. for reproof, for correction ( 2 Timothy 3:16 ), And how often the word of God has brought correction to my course of life. Just to go line upon line, precept upon precept, plodding right straight through the word of God. He nourishes an all-consuming, all-pervading pride; and in his heart there is a little altar where he bows down before himself. Paul said, you know, what kind of a life I've lived. His answer was: "That which will be most useful to them when they are men." Quite a promise, isn't it? They will be inflated with a sense of their own importance. Look at our attitudes towards morality. And that's what creates the problem all the way through. 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. But this is not what the Bible teaches. He who feeds his mind on cheap literature can in the end find nothing in the great masterpieces. Each of the chapters are done individually. Yet. The qualities he lists are not qualifications in the sense that anyone who fulfils these requirements is an elder (for such a person may not have the elder-shepherd qualities outlined above). There was no despising natural links or spiritual here, far from it. The study of the Scriptures trains a man in righteousness until he is equipped for every good work. All that will live godly So opposite to the spirit and practice of the world is the whole of Christianity, that he who gives himself entirely up to God, making the Holy Scriptures the rule of his words and actions, will be less or more reviled and persecuted. 4. God takes care of His people, and ensures them a blessed end. 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 . Whose will is to live, or who are bent on living. Yet most people today have never heard of John Gill. I am not at liberty of course to leave Christendom, I dare not get out of the great house at all; indeed I cannot (at any rate without becoming an apostate) leave the house of God, however bad its state may be. The latter gains a following only by turning away from the truth of God (13). (4.) The thing that amazes me is that he can attract people who will support him. Rather they are minimum requirements that otherwise suitable people must fulfil if the church is to recognize them as elders or deacons. Real teaching is always born of real experience. So I listened to that voice, and heard the truth, and found my Saviour.". "But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. The final condemnation of these people is that they retain the outward form of religion but deny its power. Paul's life contrasted with the world. Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines; for it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace,Hebrews 13:9. 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. 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. Have you ever seen an age when people were more conscious of their own selves? And those who wish to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted; while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceived themselves and deceiving others. Verse 2 Timothy 3:4. Practical Bible study on 2 Timothy 1. He says that in them difficult times would set in. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men." Why? In these terrible days men will be slanderers. 3 f I thank God g whom I serve, as did my ancestors, h with a clear conscience, as I remember you i . YEA, AND - an additional consideration. The adjective used is philautos ( G5367) , which means self-loving. In English we usually associate it with insult against God, but in Greek it means insult against man and God alike. 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. The Greek verb kratein ( G2902) means to control. Amidst all the stories one fact stands out--Jannes and Jambres became legendary figures typifying all those who opposed the purposes of God and the work of his true leaders. That the scripture was given by inspiration of God appears from the majesty of its style,--from the truth, purity, and sublimity, of the doctrines contained in it,--from the harmony of its several parts,--from its power and efficacy on the minds of multitudes that converse with it,--from the accomplishment of many prophecies relating to things beyond all human foresight,--and from the uncontrollable miracles that were wrought in proof of its divine original: God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will,Hebrews 2:4. The kind of guys that went around selling snake oil or cure-alls, deceiving, defrauding people. We've just experienced a tremendous demonstration of that in the Los Angeles basin in the last couple of weeks. She had waded through book after book and laboured with philosophy after philosophy in an attempt to find satisfaction. This was to touch the right chord in his heart. One dark night in a forest in Sicily a brigand held up a colporteur at the point of a revolver. It opened at the Sermon on the Mount. Again, it is startling. Jesus said, "As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be at the coming of the Son of man" ( Luke 17:26 ). ", The Bible tells about God giving people over to reprobate minds, men who resist God and the truth of God. On his mother's side Timothy was a Jew, although his father had been a Greek ( Acts 16:1); and it is clear that it was his mother who had brought him up. "Put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit but to the subverting of the hearers. Again he said, "Lo, I have come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God" ( Hebrews 10:7 ). The man who has exhausted the normal pleasures of life and still unsated, will seek his thrill in pleasures which are abnormal. As individuals, we should sometimes ask ourselves: what is our aim in life? This is unfortunate, since his works contain priceless gems of information that are found nowhere except in the ancient writings of the Jews. Thou hast fully known my afflictions. [Note: Knight, p. The emphasis of so many people is just on being beautiful, lovers of themselves. Thus he comforts Timothy at the same time that he admonishes him. 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.