Introduction

Power of example

Do you remember who you wanted to be when you were a kid?  Kids will often try to imitate people who they want to be like someday.

• When I was a little kid, we would play games where we would pretend to be superheroes and we’d use our imaginary superpowers on each other while we flew around the playground.
• In junior high, my friends wanted to be professional BMX bike riders, so we tricked out BMX bikes and tried to emulate the stunts we saw the professional stunt riders perform.  (I failed miserably)
• When I got into high school, most of my friends were musicians.  We would listen to our favorite bands together.  We would try to play the riffs on their recordings and sometimes we would even dress like them.
• When I went to Bible college, many of my friends were being trained for the ministry and some of them were aspiring preachers.  Sometimes when a pastor is first starting out, he will mimic the style and the mannerisms of their favorite preacher.  When I first started preaching, I tried to preach like John Piper only to discover that John Piper is much better at being John Piper than Mark Stafford is being John Piper!

Probably the most powerful form of persuasion is the spoken word.  That’s one reason why we preach when we gather together as a church.  But just under the spoken word – and connected closely to it – is the power of example.  Jesus was both a powerful preacher and a powerful living example for us to emulate.  His teaching explained his life and his life emulated his teaching.

The people we admire have a huge impact on our actions.  The persuasion of their examples on our lives is powerful.  Generally speaking, those who gather together here at Canyon are striving hard toward godliness in their lives.  If godliness and righteousness and pleasing God is important, then we need to be careful who we are looking up to as examples.  In the Christian community, there are Christ-honoring, godly people but this passage says there are also ungodly people who hang out at churches, with a satanic agenda.  These are people who we must avoid.

In 2 Timothy 3:1-13, Paul is going to show us both extremes.   This passage of scripture will encourage you and I to identify and avoid ungodly examples while at the same time following the examples of godly men and women as they follow Jesus.

RECAP

At the end of 2 Timothy chapter 2, Paul was holding out some hope for Timothy’s opponents in the church.  He told Timothy to correct “his opponents with gentleness” with a hope that God might “grant them repentance” and lead them “to a knowledge of the truth.”

We know there are non-believers outside of the church who have been ensnared by the devil and  “captured by him to do his will.”  The Bible tells us to be careful as we are interacting with the fallen world we live in.  The Bible never tells us (though) to cut ourselves off from the secular world and live as monks or as hermits.  Jesus encourages us to live boldly for him in the context of the secular culture.

Matthew 5:14, Jesus says, ““You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.”  We’ve come to expect that people who are living their lives without Christ don’t act like Christ’s followers.  It would be ridiculous to expect a non-Christ-follower to act like a disciple of Christ.  When the non-believers act like non-believers, that should not surprise us.

However, when people who are influential in the church begin to act like non-believers, that creates a much more serious situation.  In chapter 3, we see that some people in the church have absolutely no desire to “escape from the snare of the devil” and to “arrive at the truth.”  2 Timothy 3:7 describes these people as “always learning and never able to arrive at knowledge of the truth…”  It’s like they are always attending church functions but they are totally uninterested in a relationship Jesus.  Yet, some of these unsaved, influential people manage to not only find their way into the pews, but sometimes they are able to find their way into church leadership.

Difficulty in the church is expected in these last days

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.

Paul is emphasizing the truth that opposition in the church and opposition to the gospel is not a passing fad.  Hostility toward the gospel is a permanent characteristic of the age we are currently living in – It is an age that is referred to as “the last days.”  The “last days” in this passage does not refer to a future time or to the second coming of Christ.  It refers to the age we are living in right now. You are I are living in the last days and the church has been in the last days since the time of Jesus’s first coming.

“…in the last days there will come times of difficulty…”

Paul may be concerned that Timothy will be overly optimistic about the days he is living in.  Timothy tends to be timid and in that timidity, he may be tempted to lie low for a while and let the storms of persecution blow over.  However… Paul gives no indication that persecution against the church will come to an end in this age.  We can expect seasons of danger and trials for those who stand firm on the rock solid truth of God’s Word.

Paul wrote that there will be “times of difficulty.”  It’s not that the last days are continuously evil, but the last days often include difficult seasons.  There have been frequent seasons of difficulty all throughout church history.  The Christian church is like a sail boat put out to sea.  There may be times of smooth sailing, but an informed and experienced mariner is always prepared for the storm.  He would never expect that an extended voyage would be devoid of storms, waves and turbulent water.

Verse 2 is not a description of the church in the future, but it is a description of the state of the church in this present age.  It is not a prediction of what is to come, but a description of what is already here – and what has been present in the church since the writing of the New Testament.  2 Timothy 3 begins with a direct command for you and I to avoid certain kinds of leaders and teachers in the church.

Ungodly people are bad examples and will lead you astray

A big problem in the church is influential people with a sinful agenda.  Some of these people are under the influence of Satan himself.  They have been “captured by him to do his will.”  These people will sometimes pose as teachers and lead people in the church astray.

You and I need to be careful of what we read, who we listen to and what we watch on Christian television.  Christian broadcasting is a real mixed bag of the good, the bad and the ugly.  In this passage, Paul gives us an extensive list of warning signs so that we can identify false teachers and bad examples.  The first characteristic of these false teachers can be summed up like this: They are self-centered and not God centered…

They are self-centered and not God centered

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,

The people described in these verse love the wrong things.  They are:

• Narcissistic (Lovers of self)
• Materialistic (Lovers of money)
• Hedonistic (Lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God)

Everybody loves something or someone.  When we love anything else more than we love God, it has a radical effect on how we think, how we feel, how we teach and how we act.  When the love of God is replaced by other loves, then all sorts of sinful vices are soon to follow.

About two years ago, a pastor of a large church in Florida – who I admired – had a very public moral failure.  Over the years, he had several extra-marital affairs and it turned out that his financial compensation was beyond generous.  His ministry had been totally derailed by his affairs and many people had been seriously hurt spiritually by his love of pleasure and his love of money.

When I heard about this man’s failing, my first reaction was fear.  This man was such a talented teacher and had a really vibrant ministry.  Yet… he lost his first love.  He was not immune to the love of self, the love of money, and the love of pleasure over the love of God.   We are all susceptible to the temptations of the world.

One pastor said that these, the love of self, money and pleasure are at the heart of every moral failure suffered by a pastor or by a church leader.  Then he added that virtually every television commercial is aimed at one of these three temptations.  He used to ask his kids after every commercial, “was that ad aimed at the love of self, love of money or love of pleasure?” Narcissism, materialism and hedonism is imbedded in the very framework of our culture and in the anatomy of our flesh.

In addition to misdirected love, we also see that self-centered people often have corrupt relationships.  In verse 2, Paul says that these difficult people will be “abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful

We need leaders in the church who are the embodiment of Matt 22:37-40, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. ³⁸ This is the great and first commandment. ³⁹ And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. ⁴⁰ On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

A leader who does not love God or who does not love people is not an example to be followed because their relationship with God is inauthentic.

They have an inauthentic religion

Some people whose lives are filled with sin may also be very religious!  BUT verse 5 says … their religion is only a show.

“having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.”

There are some professing Christians who are practical atheists.  They give lip-service to God, but not life-service.  They might have all the right words to say during a Bible Study, but the fruit of their lives does not bear witness to the authenticity of their faith.  They have a form of godliness, but it is devoid of power. They are like:

• A painting of bread.  It looks like bread, but it can’t feed anyone
• A dry well. It has all the characteristic of a well except for the fact it produces no water
• A rainless cloud.  It looks like a rain cloud, but does not actually produce any rain.

In all three cases, these things look authentic, but they don’t produce anything of real use.  Paul is saying to Timothy to make sure he does not over emphasize the external appearance of people to the extent that he misses the internal evidence of faith.

In the last days, religions will prosper, but authentic Christianity will be scarce.  Religions will be everywhere, but so will wickedness.  In the last days, people will have a form of religion, but they will deny its power.  People will be drawn to religious sounding services that will be devoid of the truth of God’s Word.

We often describe ourselves as a Bible-saturated church.  Here’s why that’s important to us:  It doesn’t matter how loud I get or how emphatic I emphasize my own opinion, my opinion does not have any power.  If I’m not teaching truths from the Word of God, then my teaching is devoid of spiritual power, no matter how passionate I might be about my opinion or no matter how spiritual my opinion might sound.  If I were to simply preach my opinion, I would be guilty of “having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power”  What does God’s Word say we should do with preachers who leave their Bibles on the shelf?  It says to “avoid such people.”  God’s Word and the gospel is central to our church because it is the source of real spiritual power.

1 Corinthians 1:18 says, “¹⁸ For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”  The message of the cross has the power to change men’s lives.  The word of God energized by the power of the Holy Spirit brings about real life transformation.

If the corrupt lives and inauthentic religious showmanship of false teachers in the church is not already bad enough, Paul says that false teachers in the last days will be aggressive about making converts to their wicked religions.

The spread of their false teaching is deceptive and evil

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

The methods of these false teachers are not always obvious or out in the open, but they are secretive and sneaky.  Their zeal for self-promotion is portrayed like a military operation in the original language.  They sought to capture their victims.  One commentator said the verb translated as “capture” probably means to “take a prisoner of war.”  They penetrate the church of God and try to pick off weaker people for their own agenda and selfish gain.

Jannes and Jambres are given as examples of this behavior.  Jannes and Jambres are not mentioned by name in Exodus or anywhere else in the Old Testament, but according to Hebrew tradition, they were among the magicians in Pharaoh’s court who duplicated the miracles the Lord performed through Moses.

Jewish tradition holds that when Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, Jannes and Jambres pretended to convert to Judaism and joined the crowd.  Their real agenda, though, was to undermine Moses’ God-given assignment to liberate Israel from their slavery to the Egyptians.  Tradition says that when Moses left the people and went up to Mount Sinai, it was Jannes and Jambres who led the people in making and then worshipping the golden calf.

In the end, they were found out.  Paul says of false teachers in verse 9, “they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men.”  Jannes and Jambres were executed by the Levites, but their example underscores the reality that false leaders often exist in the church.  They have the intention to win followers and corrupt the church from within.  Just like these two men opposed Moses in his teaching and leading of the ancient Israelites, so these false teachers in Ephesus also opposed the truth of the gospel.

If Jannes and Jambres were indeed among the Egyptian magicians, Paul may be giving us another warning as well.  False teachers in the early church might have been using magic tricks and even demonic power to lead people into their false religion.  Jesus warns us in Matthew 24:24, “For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.”

If false teachers in the last days are growing increasingly deceptive – and even use miracles to gain followers – how do we test the authenticity of religious teacher?  I have found this acronym to be very helpful to people.  Most false teachers can be identified as “Dead On Arrival” if they do not pass the DOA test:

• D – Deity of Christ.  Do they believe the Jesus is God?  Is Christ at the center of their teaching?
• O – Obedience. Do they obey God’s Word?  Are they examples of godly living?  Could they say, “follow me as I follow Christ?”
• A – Authority of God’s Word.  Do they believe that God’s Word alone is our source of spiritual power?  Do they believe it is inerrant and authoritative?

A leader who fails any one of these three tests is a false teacher and has an agenda for your life other than Christ’s agenda for your life.  Their teaching is destructive.  Timothy and those in his church were to recognize that these men and their practices are bad example and should be avoided.

Self-centered lives, misdirected loves and corrupt relationships are not fitting for a leader in the church. False teachers often have a form of religion, but it is devoid of power and godliness.  Their religious practices are damaging to the church and must be dealt with accordingly.  There is a better way and a better example to follow.

In stark contrast to the false teachers just mentioned, Paul gives Timothy a command to “continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed.” (v14);  Timothy can continue growing the church in godliness by remembering and following godly examples – like Paul’s.

Life Application: Follow godly examples

In 1 Corinthians 11:1 Paul said to the Corinthians, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.”  Setting an example for others to follow is “Leadership 101” in the church.  Leadership in the church is pointing the way to Christ and setting an example along the way.

Peter instructs church leaders in 1 Peter 5:2-3 to “shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; ³ not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.”

Spiritual leadership is about following Jesus and inviting others to come along and follow Him too.  Paul’s life was a living example of how to live boldly as a disciple of Christ, so he urges Timothy to remember his life, his persecutions and his teaching.

Emulate their lives

¹⁰ You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness,

Paul’s lifestyle was totally unlike the lifestyle of any of the false teachers on the scene.  His life was lived out in the open (not in secret).  Paul’s teaching explained his life and his life exemplified his teaching.  It was clear that Paul’s life was lived for a purpose that extended far beyond pleasure, money or personal fame.

Paul was a man who was consumed with the glory of God and the expansion of God’s eternal kingdom.  He was a man who was on a mission from the Lord.  He had a single-minded passion for and devotion to Jesus.  He said in Acts 20:24, “…I do not count my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.”

His life’s testimony to the glory and worth of Jesus Christ is an example for us to emulate.  Paul’s great aim in life was to finish his ministry well and to be faithful to the end.  And he did so in the midst of tremendous suffering

Endure Persecution

“…¹¹ my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra—which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me.”

Timothy had seen Paul’s persecution and suffering for the gospel up close and personal.  Watching Paul suffer for the gospel undoubtedly had a dramatic impact on Timothy.  Paul was quick to point out that persecution is inevitable.  Verse 12 says, “¹² Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted…”

Paul singled out three cities: Antioch, Iconium and Lystra.  He was probably drawing special attention to these regions because they were close to Ephesus and Timothy would have known (from Acts 14) of the brutal beating Paul endured in Lystra at the hands of men who travelled there from Antioch and Iconium.

Verse 11 says, “yet from them all the Lord rescued me.”

• When Paul was beaten so badly that they drug him out of town and left him for dead, he was already rescued.
• When Paul was shipwrecked at sea, he was already rescued.
• When Paul was sitting in jail waiting to be executed, he was already rescued.

He was not rescued because the Lord was going to always get him out of trouble in this age.  He was rescued the day he reached out in faith and received Jesus’ free gift of eternal life.  Salvation is God’s rescue for sinners.

So whether or not Paul physically survives the next trial or imprisonment or beating, he has the confidence that the moment he takes his last breath, he will be forever in the presence of his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  “yet from them all the Lord rescued me.”  In the midst of his suffering, Paul was not just giving Timothy an example to follow, but he was always pointing him to the source of spiritual power.

Recall their teaching

Verse 13-14, “…evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. ¹⁴ But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it.”

When we read these verse, we get a sense of our real need for help in navigating the dark, fallen world we live in.  It would be hard enough to battle the secular thinking and false teaching outside of the church.  BUT… In this age there always has been and there always will be people inside the church who are trying to lead others astray.  It is clear that we need good teaching, good examples and the power of the Holy Spirit.

Paul gives us a great example and leaves behind solid teaching, but Jesus empowers us to live out the Christian life.  Paul clearly taught that through Jesus’ victorious resurrection, He triumphed over our greatest enemies, He ascended to the Father’s right hand and then He poured out the Holy Spirit on all of those who are united with Him.

Jesus is the one who gives the desire to live a godly life.  We live this life through our union with Christ.  We have been crucified with Christ, we have been raised with Christ and we have been seated with Christ.

Paul teaches us to press on in godliness and keep our eyes focused on Him.  He commands us to avoid ungodly examples, follow godly examples and live by the power of Christ in you.

Teaching Outline

Difficulty in the church is expected in these last days – v.1

Ungodly people are bad examples and will lead you astray – 2 Timothy 2:24

            They are self-centered and not God centered – v. 2-3, Matt. 22:37-40

            They have an inauthentic religion – v.5, 1 Corinthians 1:18

            The spread of their false teaching is deceptive and evil – v.6, 9. Matt. 24:24

DOA Test

D-  Deity of Christ

O- Obedience to God’s Word

A- Authority of God’s Word

Application:

Follow godly examples – v.14, 1 cor. 11:1, 1 Peter 5:2-3

            Emulate their lives – v.10, Acts 20:24

            Endure Persecution – v.11-12, Acts 14

            Recall their teaching – v.13-14

Paul gives us a great example and leaves behind solid teaching, but Jesus empowers us to live out the Christian life.