So you see, I'm not inerrant in all, but the scriptures are. But of one thing Paul was sure--the days of the deceivers were numbered. 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. Therefore it is incumbent for the Christian to look to this gravely, never to be dragged by the fear of breaking unity into accrediting what dishonours the Lord. Possibly he did appoint them; but there is no scriptural proof of it. 2 Timothy 3:12-13 Commentary | Precept Austin Irenaeus draws a vivid picture of the methods of just such a teacher in his day. And you will find as God's word becomes a very part of your life and you begin to be guided by the word of God, that God will begin to use you in very exciting ways. Such is the meaning of purging himself. The volume of the book, the Old Testament, it's all about Jesus Christ. There is little likelihood that Timothy will be easily led astray by false teaching. There is a sense in which slander is the most cruel of all sins. That's not the kind of promises we really enjoy, is it? The reason is manifest: they themselves savour of the things of men, and not of God. 5. Men will be thankless (acharistos, G884) . "In a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour. This again has stumbled the minds of men. He did so to help him realize that he faced no unknown situation in Ephesus and to enable him to combat it intelligently. But let him not infer, "therefore," that he is to be enrolled among the martyrs, and that he is certainly a real Christian. "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." Whatever therefore may be right in certain cases, the assembly of God ought never to be forced to put every case on the same dead level ought never to be bound by any special process, as if it were unalterable. She doesn't have the time to prepare the meal on Friday evening and we'll go out on Friday night. In 2 Timothy 3:9 he meant that the teaching of evil does not necessarily become more extensive and capture a wider audience as evil becomes worse. 4. The word here is makrothumia ( G3115) ; and makrothumia, as the Greeks used it, usually meant patience with people. The thing that amazes me is that he can attract people who will support him. Far more harm is done from want of thought than almost anything else. But we, so often, make the mistake of going out ill-equipped or running without a message. Those who would learn the things of God, and be assured of them, must know the Holy Scriptures, for they are the Divine revelation. Therefore, isolation is never desirable, though it may be sometimes necessary. The devil is the patron saint of all slanderers and of all slanderers he is chief. Let us then see what Paul says of the usefulness of scripture. 3:14-17 But as for you, remain loyal to the things which you have learned, and in which your belief has been confirmed, for you know from whom you learned them, and you know that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that will bring you salvation through the faith which is in Christ Jesus. He flung the New Testament on it. No man can teach what he does not know, and therefore before a man can teach Christ to others he must know him himself. Thus he comforts Timothy at the same time that he admonishes him. 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. Indeed it may be well to remark here, that we never read of Timothy appointing bishops or elders. The world is full of these braggarts to this day; the clever know-all's who deceive people into thinking that they are wise, the politicians who claim that their parties have a program which will bring in the Utopia and that they alone are born to be leaders of men, the people who crowd the advertisement columns with claims to give beauty, knowledge or health by their system, the people in the Church who have a kind of ostentatious goodness. When we know the afflictions of good people but in part, they are a temptation to us to decline that cause which they suffer for; when we know only the hardships they undergo for Christ, we may be ready to say, "We will renounce that cause that is likely to cost us so dear in the owning of it;" but when we fully know the afflictions, not only how they suffer, but how they are supported and comforted under their sufferings, then, instead of being discouraged, we shall be animated by them, especially considering that we are told before that we must count upon such things (2 Timothy 3:12; 2 Timothy 3:12): All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution: not always alike; at that time those who professed the faith of Christ were more exposed to persecution than at other times; but at all times, more or less, those who will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. You've made a covenant and there are so many broken covenants. What Does It Really Mean That Your Body Is a Temple? It is Paul's conviction that the real follower of Christ cannot escape persecution. Look at, of course, all of these other things that have come along as the result of it. The word of God is the foundation for doctrine. The one was suited to upset the young, the other to beguile the old. 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. It has become their God and thus, they are guilty as those in the Old Testament who were worshipping Mammon, who, or rather Molech who was the god of pleasure. These were the names given to the court magicians of Pharaoh who opposed Moses and Aaron, when Moses was leading the children of Israel out of their slavery in Egypt. Christianity was cradled in Judaism and very naturally thought largely in Jewish terms and pictures. (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. 3. In other words, the word of God is that which thoroughly prepares me for any work that God might have for me to do. 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. 2 Timothy 3:12 Commentaries: Indeed, all who desire to live godly in But yet it is absolutely unavoidable that all of them shall have the world for their enemy in some form or other, that their faith may be tried and their steadfastness proved; for Satan, who is the continual enemy of Christ, will never suffer any one to be at peace during his whole life; and there will always be wicked men that are thorns in our sides. That is, without any sexual restraints. Observe, The scriptures will make us wise to salvation, if they be mixed with faith, and not otherwise, Hebrews 4:2. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1977. Xenophon in the Memorabilia tells how Socrates utterly condemned such impostors. The persecutions today may not be the same Paul had to withstand, but persecutions of some type will confront us from time to time. 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. The Gnostics had their own fanciful books; the heretics all produced their own literature to support their claims. In either case the word describes a certain harshness of mind which separates a man from his fellow-men in unrelenting bitterness. He knew that he had suffered ill for doing well (2 Timothy 3:11; 2 Timothy 3:11): "Thou hast fully known the persecutions and afflictions that came unto me" (he mentions those only which happened to him while Timothy was with him, at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra); "and therefore let it be no surprise to thee if thou suffer hard things, it is no more than I have endured before." More and more the Christian is a marked person because the more corrupt the world becomes, the more the Christian stands out. They love pleasure more than they love God; that's the indictment. This sort of atmosphere will mark the last days . It is easy for a professed Christian to avoid persecution, if he yields every point in which religion is opposed to the world. Have you ever seen an age when people were more conscious of their own selves? I am reminded of the prophet of God who spoke concerning Israel, and he said, "They have sown the wind, and now they must reap the whirlwind" ( Hosea 8:7 ). godly, Godfearingly. "And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also." (4) let those who have never been persecuted in any way, inquire whether it is not an evidence that they have no religion. And a hundred and fifty men can board it and they can submerge and go under the North Pole under the arctic ice. Pride always begets insult. and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution ( 2 Timothy 3:12 ). Perilous Times 2 Timothy 3:1. To many a man and woman has a little bit of dress done no small injury, just because they think it is too little for the Spirit of God to direct them in. Again and again Scripture has opened for men and women the way to God. In this picture which Paul draws he is thinking in terms familiar to the Jews. How is it that you could be deceived, Jesus? Such is the perversity of sin. 10 But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience, 11 Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me. Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. Rather they are minimum requirements that otherwise suitable people must fulfil if the church is to recognize them as elders or deacons. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:2, "But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every mans conscience in the sight of God." He said, Who is this? Job, tell me, have you been beyond the gates of death, do you know what it's about? I have many scriptures that I don't understand yet. false accusers, incontinent ( 2 Timothy 3:3 ). But we must exclude that which is contrary to His name; and the very same desire to prove one's love, one's faith, one's appreciation of Christ, will make one anxious not to be dragged into that which is not for His glory. And yet, it is becoming in this hedonistic society commonplace, all too commonplace, tragically commonplace. 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. Now they're right out where little kids can go in and pick them up and leaf through them. Well soon your Bible will be so messed up you wouldn't be able to read it. He blames the Jews who searched them, because they failed to learn the lesson which they were intended to convey. Deliberately he lit it. Plutarch uses the word to describe a quack doctor. Ephesus was called "The Treasure-house of the ancient world," "The Vanity Fair of Asia Minor." Parakolouthein ( G3877) is indeed the word for the disciple, for it includes the unwavering loyalty of the true comrade, the full understanding of the true scholar and the complete obedience of the dedicated servant. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, She had been finding life, as she herself said, futile and meaningless. " Rejoice ( present imperative) and be glad ( present imperative ), for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. It is Paul's charge that such people are "willing to learn from anyone, and yet never able to come to a knowledge of the truth." He read them and never rested until he obtained the rest of the Bible. If Timothy wishes to live godly in Christ, he must make up his mind to encounter. On the other hand, it is unholy to tamper with evil. For that very reason it is unanswerable that, whatever a man might argue about the rest of the Bible, it is impossible for the Church ever to do without the Gospels. Don't expect the world to applaud when you speak out against evil. We can still see this kind of man in fairs and market-places shouting the virtues of a patent medicine which will act like magic. This was to reverse the lesson of a risen Christ, and to open the way for all laxity. Next he comes to a more personal need. There are those who shrink from helping on others in order to the work and doctrine of the Lord. Oh God, I want you to use my life. Timothy's job, for the sake of the future, involves more preservation than innovation. Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. When trouble fell on the Thessalonians, Paul wrote to them: "When we were with you, we told you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction; just as it has come to pass, and as you know" ( 1 Thessalonians 3:4). 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. When we are tempted to do so, we should hear again the voice of our blessed Lord saying on the Cross: "Father, forgive them.".