There are still Church dignitaries whose main thought is their own dignity; but the Christian is the follower of him who was meek and lowly in heart. Then the apostle puts before them a blessed model of that which he had before his own soul. You know the persecutions that I experienced, but the Lord delivered me out of them all. Lipscomb's Commentary on Selected NT Books, Verse 12. "Thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, long-suffering, charity, patience, persecutions, afflictions." He read them and never rested until he obtained the rest of the Bible. So you see, I'm not inerrant in all, but the scriptures are. How is a man to walk in such a state of things as this? This may be either an injury done to his feelings, his family, his reputation, his property, his liberty, his influence; it may be by depriving him of an office which he held, or preventing him from obtaining one to which he is eligible; it may be by subjecting him to fine or imprisonment, to banishment, torture, or death. 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. He did not pull down by his living what he built up by his preaching. 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. "Reprobate concerning the faith.". You may be able to deceive people for a while, but ultimately, it's going to catch up, even as it did with Jannes. They cannot understand an inspired apostle talking about a cloak in the midst of a divinely given pastoral charge. Thus the apostle comes to the close of his ministry, and touches upon the line of St. John. Moreover, as soon as zeal for God is manifested by a believer, it kindles the rage of all ungodly men; and, although they have not a drawn sword, yet they vomit out their venom, either by murmuring, or by slander, or by raising a disturbance, or by other methods. Men will be ungovernable in their desires (akrates, G193) . The man who has exhausted the normal pleasures of life and still unsated, will seek his thrill in pleasures which are abnormal. 2. menin the professing Church. "Beloved, consider it not strange concerning the fiery trials which are to try you, as though some strange thing has happened to you" ( 1 Peter 4:12 ). by George Whitefield. But you see, if you start whacking away at the story of Jonah, and say, oh, I can't really buy that. Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. But I can't believe what I see in some of these restaurants over here in the Irvine industrial business center. In contrast, the sins of "evil people and impostors" can be expected to get worse and worse. I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers," what singular language this from Paul! Here we come back to where we started; such men place their own wishes in the centre of life. Copyright Statement These files are public domain. Besides that, persecutions today are manifested much more indirectly. Titus, we know, did so; but God took care that it should never be positively stated about Timothy. In 2 Timothy 3:13 he meant that evil becomes more intensive as time goes on. He speaks of "all God-inspired scripture." He said, Who is this? (See notes Matthew 5:10, 11, 12) The apostle had a particular reference, doubtless, to his own times; but he has put his remark into the most general form, as applicable to all periods. The peculiar task confided to the latter was care of doctrine much more than of outward order. Some of you are separated not by your own desire or wish, but because someone was a trucebreaker. "And in how many things he ministered unto me at Ephesus, thou knowest very well.". But God prepares the instruments through which He works and the most important preparation is through the Word of God. Aristotle (Nicomachean Ethics, 7: 2) defined the alazon ( G213) as "the man who pretends to creditable qualities that he does not possess, or possesses in a lesser degree than he makes out." "The foundation of God standeth sure [or, the firm foundation of God standeth], having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. (187) And he says this, partly that believers may prepare themselves for submitting to this condition, and partly that good men may not view him with suspicion on account of the persecutions which he endures from wicked persons; as it frequently happens that the distresses to which men are subjected lead to unfavorable opinions concerning them; for he whom men regard with aversion is immediately declared by the common people to be hated by God. That the man of God may be perfect,2 Timothy 3:17; 2 Timothy 3:17. It may well be a proof of Timothy's courage and consecration that he had seen very clearly what could happen to an apostle and had yet not hesitated to cast in his lot with Paul. But thou hast fully known ( 2 Timothy 3:10 ), Now in contrast to this, boy, and what a contrast the Christian is to the world around him, and more and more, you know, more and more your lifestyle is different from the world. Difficult is the Greek word chalepos ( G5467) . 3:6-7 For from among these there come those who enter into houses, and take captive foolish women, laden with sins and driven by varied desires, ready to listen to any teacher but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth. All that live according to the will of God revealed in his word; and to the glory of God, as the end of all their actions; and which the grace of God in the Gospel, and in their own hearts, teaches them; and who have the principles of a godly life from Christ, and derive the fresh supplies of grace and life from him, to maintain it; in whom their Here the apostle, to confirm Timothy in that way wherein he walked. This statement does not contradict what Paul said in 2 Timothy 3:9. The cause of this is the present confusion, and accordingly the apostle brings a picture of it before Timothy's mind. We don't have the time to devote to it this evening but I would suggest that you get a good Greek lexicon and do a word study on these particular Greek words that Paul uses to describe the attitudes and the actions of people in the last days. for it is evident that there have been many godly persons who have never suffered banishment, or imprisonment, or flight, or any kind of persecution. Consider of whom thou hast learned them; not of evil men and seducers, but good men, who had themselves experienced the power of the truths they taught thee, and been ready to suffer for them, and thereby would give the fullest evidence of their belief of these truths." That is why the church which has no Bible Class is a church in whose work an essential element is missing. It has been pointed out that the writer of Revelation may well have been thinking of Ephesus when he wrote that haunting passage which describes the merchandise of men: "The cargo of gold, silver, jewels and pearls, fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet, all kinds of scented wood, all articles of ivory, all articles of costly wood, bronze, iron and marble, cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves, that is, human souls" ( Revelation 18:12-13). Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1930. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord" (there must, I suppose, have been some ground for the exhortation), "nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel, according to the power of God; who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began." The prophets and apostles did not speak from themselves, but what they received of the Lord that they delivered unto us. God wants you to be complete. 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. Second Timothy 3:12-13 "Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being. The doctrine that he preached. And passion shall seize him that is peaceful. 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. A. M. Chirgwin in The Bible in World Evangelism tells the story of a ward sister in a children's hospital in England. Didn't you know that's just a myth? "I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. The great thing is to do the will of God, let others say what they please; and so the apostle Paul exhorts Timothy. That's just fable. Well soon your Bible will be so messed up you wouldn't be able to read it. for reproof, for correction ( 2 Timothy 3:16 ), And how often the word of God has brought correction to my course of life. ii. How Daniels Prophecy of 70 Weeks Connects to the End Times. But the phrase may mean any future time, whether near or distant. We must remember that they were Gnostics and that the basic principle of Gnosticism was that spirit was altogether good and matter altogether evil. That is, without any sexual restraints. "Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things. Compare the catalogue, Ro 1:29, &c., where much the same sins are attributed to heathen men; it shall be a relapse into virtual heathendom, with all its beast-like propensities, whence the symbol of it is "a beast" (Re 13:1, 11, 12, &c.; 17:3, 8, 11). Here we find the perilous times fairly brought before us. Job, tell me, have you been beyond the gates of death, do you know what it's about? The Kingdom had its price. It is interesting, when Jesus in the Sermon on the mount described the Christian in the Beatitudes, after having described the traits of the Christian in the Beatitudes; you'd say, My, a man like that who is a peacemaker, who is merciful, who is hungering and thirsting after righteousness, who is meek, who is poor in spirit, surely you know the world would respect such a man. 2. It may be that, since we are only human, we cannot live entirely without differences with our fellow-men, but to perpetuate these differences is one of the worst--and also one of the commonest--of all sins. It's twelve thousand miles a second, but that's pretty fast, too. Then he points out the two principal guards for the faithful, in such a perilous state. I watch very little, but with horror and dismay, the deterioration of a man who probably at one time had a legitimate ministry, but I've seen the gradual erosion of this person on television just right before my eyes. You know, I mean, talk about lovers of selves, look at the advertising. 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. It is said that, after hearing an evangelical sermon, Lord Melbourne once remarked: "Things have come to a pretty pass when religion is allowed to invade the sphere of private life." "That thou hast had good teachers. (1) that they who make a profession of religion, should come prepared to be persecuted. They thought that eternal life lay in the letter, not in Him of whom the letter testified. If anyone proposes to accept a set of standards quite different from the world's, he is bound to encounter trouble. 12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. It is a divine revelation, which we may depend upon as infallibly true. A whole collection of stories gathered round their names. The Christian emancipation of women inevitably brought its problems. That Day of the Lord was to be preceded by a time of terror, when evil would gather itself for its final assault and the world would be shaken to its moral and physical foundations. Deliberately he lit it. (8) Using the boldness God gives, don't be ashamed of the imprisoned apostle. Every man doing his own thing or every man believing as he wants. McLean, Virginia: MacDonald Publishing Company, n.d. Wuest, Kenneth S. Wuests Word Studies From the Greek New Testament. The Greek word literally is fully matured or of full age, fully matured, that the man of God might be fully matured. It follows from this: (1) that they who make a profession of religion, should come prepared to be persecuted. 2 Timothy 3:12 "Many are the afflictions of the righteous," the psalmist writes (Psalm 34:19).Peter supplies a partial answer to this in I Peter 4:12: "Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you, as does Paul's statement in II Timothy 3:12: "Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer . 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 ). The Platonic Definitions defined the corresponding noun (alazoneia, G212) as: "The claim to good things which a man does not really possess." It is perfectly true--as we have so often said--that Christianity is not founded on a printed book but on a living person. [3.] The strange characteristic of ingratitude is that it is the most hurting of all sins because it is the blindest. It is derived from two Greek words which mean to show oneself above. He wants to accustom his mind to expect hardship instead of shirking it. 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. Paul said to Timothy. He lets Timothy know that while he laid this on others, he must look carefully to his own ways. Even a dog may be sorry when he has hurt his master, but there are people who, in their treatment of others, can be lost to human sympathy and feeling. But shun profane and vain babblings.". Confrontation and conflict become inevitable (cf. The emphasis of so many people is just on being beautiful, lovers of themselves. It is beyond argument that the Scriptures can convict a man of his error and convince him of the power of Christ. Why then yield to the enemy? At the same time He will have them undividedly for Himself; and He is also jealous of the way in which they seek even the ends of God. Judaism had its divine institutions and hopes, but the truth is found in Christendom only: nevertheless in Christendom, who fails to discern Jewish elements and heathenish enormities? So I become the authority if I make such an affirmation to you. Here is one of the most terrible pictures in the New Testament of what a godless world would be like, with the terrible qualities of godlessness set out in a ghastly series. It is well to maintain the largest heart for everything that is really of Christ. 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. So I listened to that voice, and heard the truth, and found my Saviour.". Paul cites three instances when he had to suffer for Christ. Oh I know it costs more but . There is no godliness (Greek, "piously") or piety out of Christ. The Greek word (prodotes, G4273) means nothing less than a traitor. "To Timothy, my dearly-beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. "[21] See also under 1Thessalonians 3:3. Abandoned by virtually all of those close to him for fear of persecution (cf. live godly in Christ(Ga 2:20; Php 1:21). So God's word, scripture given for inspiration, by the inspiration of God and is profitable.Of course, this morning we pointed out that the inspiration of the Bible is proved by internal evidences, such as its total accuracy with known facts of science, when it happened to cover scientific subjects. On the whole we here see, [1.] B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1975. How big is your God? Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution - Paul takes occasion from the reference to his own persecutions, to say that his case was not unique. 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. The study of the Scriptures trains a man in righteousness until he is equipped for every good work. That is where you become thoroughly equipped to do the work that God has designed and ordained for you. Friday evenings, you know, everybody out looking for their weekend companion, incontinent, no sexual restraints. It means to follow a person spiritually, not only to understand what he says, but also to carry out his ideas and be the kind of person he wishes us to be. But we, so often, make the mistake of going out ill-equipped or running without a message. Christ's apostles had no enemies but those who did not know them, or not know them fully; those who knew them best loved and honoured them the most. It is used in Plutarch to describe what we would call an ugly wound. The scriptures we are to know are the holy scriptures; they come from the holy God, were delivered by holy men, contain holy precepts, treat of holy things, and were designed to make us holy and to lead us in the way of holiness to happiness; being called the holy scriptures, they are by this distinguished from profane writings of all sorts, and from those that only treat morality, and common justice and honesty, but do not meddle with holiness. God takes care of His people, and ensures them a blessed end. The word here is makrothumia ( G3115) ; and makrothumia, as the Greeks used it, usually meant patience with people. Otherwise this might have seemed to be (what unbelief taunts and stigmatizes it, spite of His sanction) pride of heart and presumption. Oh, Jesus, you mean you believe that story? The Holy Spirit would make it to be most practical and precious. The same tone of mercy is equally promised in this #epistle as in the last. Sets before him his own example, which Timothy had been an eye-witness of, having long attended Paul (2 Timothy 3:10; 2 Timothy 3:10): Thou hast fully known my doctrine. Is it knowledge, or is it life, that we are trying to transmit? It is the sign of a man of honour that he pays his debts; and for every man there is a debt to God and there are debts to his fellow-men, which he must remember and repay. 3 f I thank God g whom I serve, as did my ancestors, h with a clear conscience, as I remember you i . The man who is mastered by his lower passions will gratify them in the most shameless way, as the streets of any great city will show when the night is late. THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL
This sort of atmosphere will mark the last days . Paul said, you know, what kind of a life I've lived. 2 Timothy 3:12 - Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible. II. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. Ephesus was the town of a prosperous, materialistic civilization; it was the kind of town where a man could so easily lose his soul. It is not a question here about elders, but what would abide all the same when elders could not be duly appointed. For "all scripture is given by inspiration of God. "I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers, with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day, greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears." Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus All that live according to the will of God revealed in his word; and to the glory of God, as the end of all their actions; and which the grace of God in the Gospel, and in their own hearts, teaches them; and who have the principles of a godly life from Christ, and derive the fresh supplies of grace and life from him, to maintain . Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. His answer was: "That which will be most useful to them when they are men." "To make thee wise to salvation through faith." "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." "But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. Instead of hiding either from Timothy, he points all out to him. He was to continue in the things which he had learned, and had been assured of, knowing of whom he had learned them a very important point. (4.) It describes the man who is swept on by passion and impulse to such an extent that he is totally unable to think sensibly. 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. Possibly he did appoint them; but there is no scriptural proof of it. But, if one confesses the name of the Lord, the word is imperative: "let him depart from iniquity." Storge is the word used especially of family love, the love of child for parent and parent for child. 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 ). And so there comes that point where they will proceed no further: "their folly becomes manifest to all men", as Jannes and Jambres also was. He was to communicate the things he had learnt of Paul, that they might be able to teach others also. By it we are thoroughly furnished for every good work. . "The Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus; for he oft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain; but, when. From childhood he has been guided by the Scriptures, and his faith in those Scriptures gives him assurance in his salvation (14-15). Look at, of course, all of these other things that have come along as the result of it. Boy, I'll tell you, I don't know. That the man of God may be perfect ( 2 Timothy 3:17 ). false accusers, incontinent ( 2 Timothy 3:3 ). Whatever duty we have to do, whatever service is required from us, we may find enough in the scriptures to furnish us for it. And this, I believe, is much to be considered. There are those who shrink from helping on others in order to the work and doctrine of the Lord. The essence of persecution consists in subjecting a person to injury or disadvantage on account of his opinions. It is something more than meeting his opinions by argument, which is always right and proper; it is inflicting some injury on him; depriving him of some privilege, or right; subjecting him to some disadvantage, or placing him in less favorable circumstances, on account of his sentiments. VERSION, NIV Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. 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. And if you align your life with God, you're going to find yourself out of alignment with the world and persecution will come. (v) Paul makes a final point. We must note that Paul here makes a distinction. Truth and holiness and endurance are wanted, not authority or outward order. It describes, not the spirit which accepts life, but the spirit which masters it. The latter gains a following only by turning away from the truth of God (13). There would come a kind of terrible flowering of evil, when the moral foundations seemed to be shaken. We find a precisely similar kind of combination in Paul. 2 Timothy 3:12 New International Version 12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, Read full chapter 2 Timothy 3:12 in all English translations 2 Timothy 2 2 Timothy 4 New International Version (NIV) It is often a very great safeguard for the saint of God; for, after all, it makes no small difference who says this or that. God is right. When children are disobedient to their parents, and break through the obligations which they lie under to them both in duty and gratitude, and frequently in interest, having their dependence upon them and their expectation from them, they make the times perilous; for what wickedness will those stick at who will be abusive to their own parents and 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." There are persons who think that the approach of death is intended to blot out everything here. He was one that needed to lean on an arm stronger than his own. Such is the meaning of purging himself. And then again "the husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits." Paul's life: one of longsuffering, one of love and one of patience. Just to go line upon line, precept upon precept, plodding right straight through the word of God. 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. That is, it is not enough that I should walk with the Lord individually, but I must clear myself of association with that which is contrary to His name.