 And tonight we're going to be looking at a very important passage of Scripture, especially for those of us living in this day and age. As you know, we have seen wars and rumors of wars. We have seen natural disasters around the globe. We've seen disease spreading all around. And Jesus told us these things would be the signs before His second coming. And so what we're going to be focusing on this evening is a very important passage of Scripture in 2 Timothy chapter 3. And so if you have your Bibles, we're only going to be looking at one theme verse which is verse 5, but we're going to kind of prime the pump with verses 1 through 4 and then we'll get into our study and really break down what is being said here in verse 5 of 2 Timothy chapter 3. And let's go ahead and pray and we'll ask the Lord to bless the study of His word. Father in heaven, we thank you so much for this evening. We thank you, Lord, for this place we can call home. We thank you, Lord, for the faithfulness, Lord. I believe just 40 years of faithfully ministering your word here at Calvary Chapel of the Chino Valley. We thank you for Pastor David and thank you for his wife, Marie. Thank you for his ministry. And Lord, really the foundation that was laid, that solid biblical understanding. Lord, we know that there's really no other foundation that can be laid than that, which is Christ Jesus. And Lord, we thank you for that ministry. We thank you for this church. We thank you for our friends and family, Lord, that we're able to see on a weekly basis. And we pray, Lord, now that you would add your blessing to the reading and to the study of your word. And we ask these things in Jesus' name and all God's people say, Amen. All right. So if you would please look back at verses one through four, we're going to read it in the New King James. It says, But know this, that in the last days, perilous times will come. For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers without self control. They will be brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. And he says in verse five, and this will be our key verse tonight, having a form of godliness, but denying its power and from such people turn away. You know, this form of godliness, the denying of the power that is found in godliness that comes through faith in Jesus and then the power of the Holy Spirit, there will be people that will appear to be religious or even professing Christianity, but will be found to be the furthest thing from it. Paul tells Timothy, this young man who is being past the baton, if you will, of a huge spiritual responsibility of overseeing the churches, as Paul was soon to be meeting his Savior face to face, as he would be martyred by Nero there in Rome. We see Timothy being instructed and giving really a heads up of what the spiritual condition will be, not only of the world, but more importantly, what will be happening in the church. I read that list and there were 18 things. You know, it was almost exhausting reading just this list of descriptors describing people who are doing what is evil. And for us as followers of Jesus, we're not to associate with such professing Christians who are practicing such things, or should we be associating with any practices such as those things listed in our own lives. And so on a personal level, this should serve, this short list, should serve as really a, I guess you could say a warning for us. You know, are we finding any of these things that were listed popping up in our own lives? And if so, then we need to repent of them on a larger scale, which would be, you know, our church and then the church abroad. There will be, and there has been people that are considered, and this will be our first section, wolves in sheep's clothing. In Matthew chapter seven, verses 15 through 20, I'd like to read to you what Jesus had to say on this subject. He said, beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? In verse 17, even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. And Jesus says in verses 19 through 20 of Matthew seven, he says, every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore, by their fruits, you will know them. So wolves in sheep's clothing is a term used by Jesus himself to describe people that are in the church. And they look like sheep. They sound like sheep, but they are not sheep. They're actually false prophets that infiltrate the church and hurt the church. And Jesus made it very, very clear that you'll know them by their fruits. We could say that actions will speak louder than words. And when there is left in the church a trail of confusion and division, we're told to mark that person and to have nothing to do with them after the second warning. As it says in Titus chapter three, verse 10, it says, reject a divisive man after the first and second admonition. And verse 11, it says, knowing that such a person is warped and sinning being self-condemned. So when Paul's writing to Timothy, he's actually describing people that are in the church. The whole theme behind what Paul is writing is he's telling Timothy there's going to be people that will infiltrate the church and they're there to do Satan's work. They will look like they are leaders of what is righteous, but they're really false prophets. You're going to see people that are going to have this outward appearance of being right with God. They're going to be fluent in Christianese and they will not be followers of Jesus. Immediately, you should think of someone teaching something that is contrary to sound doctrine if you think of a false teacher. That's why the emphasis in Calvary Chapel has always been on the simple teaching of God's word simply, that everyone can understand for themselves what God's word says. But this can also be an umbrella statement for those that are living in sin, yet professing Christianity. When Titus says here in chapter 3 verse 11 that this person who is living in sin is warped and also is self-condemned, this is a very, very serious thing. If you're self-condemned and your conscience really is just getting worked over by your decision to override it, listen to what happens and tell me if you can see this happening in the world around us and even in the church. If you are condemned by your sin, if you know that what you're doing is wrong, it says in the Bible, as clear as day, this is against God. You find yourself with your God-given conscience being condemned. We have the Holy Spirit convicting people and we have our conscience that is working to show us what is right and what is wrong. But you'll see this happen. If you choose to override your conscience, you will be forced into a position where you will seek out affirmation of your position. When you override the work of the Holy Spirit, if you override your conscience, which is condemning you, you will immediately gravitate to something or someone that will affirm you in your sin. You will also try to win people to your side or to your way of thinking because we have this understanding and it's a false one, but we think if we can get enough people thinking the way that we think, then that makes it right before God or just makes it right. And it's absolutely false. Like that's not what determines truth or righteousness before God. And we see this type of thing happening in the world around us all the time, but when it takes place in the church, it's disastrous. And we're seeing this in the church, the macro level, if you will, the broad term of the church. We're seeing this happen in churches today and it's disastrous. Instead of pointing people to Christ and their need for a Savior and teaching them the Word of God, they're affirming people in their sinful condition. And so, rightfully so, Paul warns Timothy about such things. It says in 2 Timothy 3, verse 5, that they have a form of godliness but denying its power, a form of godliness, but they deny the power and in order for us to fully grasp what is being communicated here, we need to read what Paul wrote in Romans chapter 12. And so, if you can turn there real quickly, great, if not, I'll read it for you. In verse 2, and you probably have this memorized, you have it underlined, you may have even had it highlighted. You know, and if you look at the person next to you and it's not highlighted for them in their Bibles. In verse 2, it says, and do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. In Romans 12, I think there's an important question following verse 2. If he writes to the church and says, and do not be conformed to this world, wouldn't we naturally say, like, how am I to do that? Like, really, how am I not to be conformed to this world? I can't go to a burger place without being sold something with some sexual innuendo. You know, I can't go anywhere. I can't pop on Disney Plus or go to Disneyland or go to the supermarket or go to some, you know, just public outing somewhere where my kids or even me as a grown adult are not bombarded by something that is completely against God. How am I not to be conformed to this world when I'm constantly getting hit by things from the world? Well, listen to what in the Greek language, which the New Testament was written in, listen to how this word is defined for conformed. When he says don't be conformed, it says to fashion oneself. This is what it means by way of the Greek lexicon to fashion oneself or one's mind or one's character to the patterns of the world. That the way that you think, the way that you behave is connected to the patterns that you see in the world. In Romans 8.29 it says we're actually to be conformed to the image of God's Son. So Paul in Romans 12 says don't be conformed to the world, model yourself after Jesus Christ. And if we have the same form as Jesus, then we have to ask ourselves if I'm a professing Christian and I'm to have the same form as Jesus, how do I reconcile my Christianity with the ways of the world? And the answer is you cannot. Really, this is the epitome of one of those things falling under the heading of irreconcilable differences. I cannot follow Jesus and be conformed to the image of God's Son and be conformed to the image of this world simultaneously. Because really what happens if you're truly saying I want to be like Christ, to conform to the world is to estrange yourself from Jesus. You can't serve two masters as Jesus said in Matthew 6.24, no one can serve two masters for he will either hate the one and love the other or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. You cannot go left and right at the same time. And there is coming a point and I think it's for all of us and it's here now. So let's just say there is now this point in time where we have to decide whether we are all in or we are all out. The things that we're seeing in the news, the things that are happening around the world on a global scale from, you know, one world currency, one world religion, one world government, all of these things are being forced down the pipe. We see even in the last two years how governments have been locked in step with each other. Have you ever wondered how every single place could be doing the same exact thing? Every powerful ruler, every governmental system. Have you ever wondered who has that kind of juice to make that stuff happen? The Bible actually says that it's Satan, the prince of the power of the air who now works in the sons of disobedience. And Satan knows his time is very short, that the return of Jesus is drawing near. And so we see this one world order that is being, you know, shaped before our very eyes. And then we have people in the church, generally speaking, people in the church that have a form of being right with God, but are not empowered by the Holy Spirit. So when Paul writes again in Romans 12 that we're not to fashion ourselves after the things of the world, did you know that this is very interesting? Because living in a postmodern society, all of a sudden truth has become relative. You'll hear young people say too, hey, that might have been wrong back in your day, but it's okay now. And so everything changes. So as culture becomes more acceptance of evil, then they say, well, every man just does what is right in their own eyes. And that's the old days. You know, that used to be wrong, because there's no absolute truth. And so things can just change. And we know that the world is getting worse and worse and worse. And things are becoming more degenerate, because we know that's what's going to happen because Jesus told us that, but you don't have to have a degree in rocket science to see that, hey, yeah, things are getting pretty bad out there. But you know, what's interesting is when the Bible says, do not be conformed to the world, there's a very specific use of that word. It literally can mean a period of time or an age. When it says in the scriptures, don't conform yourself to the period of time that you're living in or the age that you're living in, this is quite remarkable. Because what this is speaking of, what this is dealing with, is the immutable truth and character of God. Regardless of how culture and time may change. And it might have been different in the 50s and 60s and 70s. And now, in 2000 and 22, we're here and you can see how culture has changed. The Bible says, no matter what period of time you live in, in history, do not conform yourself to that age. You conform yourself to the image of God's Son. And when our society calls things progressive, it's really regressive. We could say it's progressively evil. So that as the values over time, as they change within culture, regardless of those changes, God's truth remains the same for the follower of Jesus. But here's the sad truth. We don't have to lift a little finger to be conformed to this world. We don't have to work at being conformed to the world. We don't need formal training to be conformed to this world. We're born in this world conformed to it. We, by our very nature, our sinful nature, will seek to fulfill our own desires and those desires separate us from God and they lead us to death. And it's very unfortunate actually that we'll naturally live our lives after the lust of the flesh. We'll do it naturally, very well. You don't have to teach us to sin. But that lifestyle of sin leads us straight to destruction in more ways than one here on this earth and then ultimately, eternally separated from God. So how am I not to be conformed to the age of the world that I live in? How am I not to be conformed to the year 2022 where everything is just popping off? And what's happening in our school systems? It's like they had the curriculum printed and ready to go for someone to just press send and then it just went everywhere. I've seen some of the things that are being taught to our young kids. I literally almost threw up in my mouth as I saw the sexually explicit nature of this stuff. It is terrible what's happening. Like this is the real, real gloves off Satan attacking our kids. And we need to be aware of it. We need to do something to fight against it. How am I not to be conformed to the cultural norms of the day? Well, in verse re-read it, chapter 12 of Romans verse two, but be transformed. Don't be conformed. Don't fashion yourself after the year that you're living in with what the world says is okay because the problem is, is what the world is saying is okay. There are people on stages and behind pulpits that are starting to say, that's okay too. We're being more relevant. We're being more accepting. We're, we're opening up the, the, we're broadening the path for people to get to God. And what a deception it is when a pastor or someone claiming to be a pastor will get up on stage and will say, broad is the way that leads to heaven. Contradicting Jesus saying narrow is the way that leads to life. He said, broad is the way that leads to destruction. But it says here for the Christian, if you don't want to be conformed to this world, then you must be transformed in the Greek language. That word for transformed is where we get our English word metamorphosis. And if you are in junior high science, you would know all about that, that word transformed in the Greek language. We get that word metamorphosis. The caterpillar crawls into a cocoon and comes out a beautiful butterfly. So the transformed man or woman, you who have put your faith in Jesus and are filled with the Holy Spirit have been made a new creation in Christ. You don't live conformed to this world, even though you have every right and every natural ability to do so. For the Christian who has been born again or made alive spiritually, you have a unique ability that is not natural to man, but rather is supernatural because there is a transformation that takes place in the life of the man or the woman who has put their faith in Jesus. This is the metamorphosis. Do not be conformed, but be transformed, made alive spiritually. You who are dead in trespasses and in sin, he made you alive. And this transformation takes place in the person's life who's dead in their sins, which is all of us before Christ. And if you're here this evening and you've never been transformed, made alive spiritually, born again as it's called in John chapter 3, Jesus coined that term because some people today will say, Hey, I'm a Christian, but I'm not one of those born again. Well, like what kind are you then really? Jesus said, you must be born again. The church didn't make that up. Jesus said, you have to be made alive spiritually. And so there's a transformation that takes place. It's that caterpillar going through the transformational process called metamorphosis. That sinful man goes through that transformational process of being made alive in Christ. Yet in the church, there will be those that profess faith in Jesus, but deny that profession by the way they live their lives. Paul is writing to Timothy about people in the church. They will have no victory over sin, meaning that the natural life of sin that they were born with continues to direct and control them instead of the Holy Spirit. Ultimately, it would appear that these that have a form of godliness but deny its power were never actually born again. Well, how are we led to that conclusion? Well, again, Romans 12, we read that the Christian is transformed. But I like you to notice back in 2 Timothy chapter 3, verse 5, because this is a very important connection to make, especially for those of you that have studied these passages. This is a great bridge to understanding what Paul is writing here again in 2 Timothy 3, verse 5. You have in Romans 12, verse 2, don't be conformed but be transformed, the metamorphosis. Here in 2 Timothy 3, verse 5, it says they have a form of godliness but deny its power and from such people turn away. Guess what the Greek word for form is here in 2 Timothy 3, verse 5. Just to jog your memory again, Romans 12, 2, to be transformed, metamorphosis, the form here in 2 Timothy 3, verse 5, is actually just morphosis. So on one hand, you have metamorphosis being transformed and then you have morphosis, which is just the form. And that word is translated into our English to mean a mere form or a semblance, but not the real thing. It's form versus transformation. And the separation between the two is described as one is lacking the power of godliness. You have the transformed man empowered by the Holy Spirit, not conforming to the age of the world. And then you have the form of a Christian but no power, no Holy Spirit, no godliness. There is a power in godliness and it's becoming more and more evident who is and who is not godly, even in the church. But see godliness is only brought about by the power of the Holy Spirit at work in the life of the person who has been transformed. Listen to what I'm about to say very carefully. There is no power in the form of godliness only in those who have been transformed into godliness. That transformation takes place in your life, not by attending church without faith in Jesus. There's a lot of people that go to church, but they're not really followers of Jesus. There are people that get up and are called pastor or teacher, and they're not followers of Jesus. They're false prophets. And the distinguishing mark between those who have a form of godliness from those who have been transformed into godliness comes down to, as Paul described it, they deny the power of the Holy Spirit. The person that denies the power that comes from the transformational work of the Holy Spirit is literally rejecting the work of the Holy Spirit in their life. Earlier I spoke of having a God-given conscience and how that brings condemnation if you try to override it. Paul will eventually will actually would tell Timothy that their conscience would be seared as with a hot iron. That they would get to the point where they would override, override, override, override, and finally they would be stuck in that place. But to deny godliness is really to reject or refuse the offer of the Holy Spirit. You have a God-given conscience and there is a God-given Holy Spirit in this world. The third person of the trinity, the Holy Spirit who has been sent to this world to convict the world of sin, of judgment, and of righteousness as Jesus told his disciples. The person that rejects the Holy Spirit, they may think and I think you might even know people like this. They think that what they're doing is not really that bad. Or they'll go as far as they'll strictly accept something that God strictly forbids. That they'll choose to say, I know that that is wrong. I accept it for myself. It's very, very interesting how the work of Satan has its play in people's lives every day. So Satan, if you don't know about this in Isaiah, Satan's name was Lucifer. He was a very powerful archangel. He said, I will ascend as the most high God. I will be like God. And he was cast down. He wanted that position of God. And so we live in a culture now today where even people in church will say, I don't know how I feel about what God's word says. I feel that that's unjust or that's unkind or that's unloving. I don't know if I feel that is right. And what you are doing is you are elevating yourself above God. And you are actually now becoming the determining factor of whether or not this book should be considered God's word and authoritative. Or if you just feel like, I don't really feel like that should be what I should do. And so I reject that. And then guess who is being like the most high God, mankind, where pride has no bounds. And so when you find yourself reading through the Word of God, or when you know somebody that you share the Word of God with and they say, I don't really feel that that's a nice thing for God to do. Or I know people that are doing those things and I don't feel like that should be the case. That shouldn't be considered sin for whatever it might be. You have to understand that that is satanic. I will elevate myself above the Word of God. In 1 Thessalonians chapter four, verses seven through eight, it says, for God to not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. Therefore, he who rejects this does not reject man, but God who has also given us his Holy Spirit. God didn't call his followers to uncleanness, but to live victorious lives over sin. To be godly, to be holy as he is holy. So why is it in the church that there's a form of godliness and the denying of the power of the Holy Spirit? Paul is referring to those in context inside the church professing Christians. He's not saying that the world has a form of godliness because they don't. There's people in the church that have a form of godliness. And so really, this broadens the roads really for those that are rejecting not only the Holy Spirit, but those that may follow different religions because the world may say you just need to be genuine. I mean, how many of you have heard that? Hey, just be genuine. You'll get to heaven. If you're a genuine Muslim, if you're a genuine Buddhist, if you're a genuine Hindu, if you're just a genuinely nice person, you'll get there. But what we fail to realize is you also can be genuinely wrong. David Guzik said this and I quote, people feel very free to have a salad bar religion. They pick and choose what they want. They feel free to be very spiritual, but sense no obligation to be biblical. End of quote. And so if my spirituality or my relationship with God or my profession of a relationship with God is not found with a foundation in the scriptures, then I am picking and choosing what I want to believe. And there will be those that deny or reject the Holy Spirit. Ultimately, they will reject God's power or authority over their lives. Moses, he spoke to the children of Israel and Deuteronomy chapter 12, verse eight. You shall not at all do as we are doing here today. And what was that? Every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes. This has been going on since Moses days with the kingdom of Israel and judges 17, verse six. It says in those days, there was no king in Israel and everyone did what was right in his own eyes from King Solomon himself in Proverbs 21, verse two, every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the hearts. And so tonight, I have to ask you honestly, are you here transformed into godliness or are you here with a form of godliness? Have you experienced metamorphosis or is it just morphosis? I have a form, semblance, a likeness that you deny the power of the Holy Spirit. You reject what the Holy Spirit is speaking to you and convicting you of sin. You've allowed yourself to either say, hey, it's not that bad, or I'm going to gravitate to people who think the same way that I do, even though the Bible says that it's, that's sin. I want to surround myself with people who are going to say what I'm doing is okay. I am actually going to determine whether or not there are parts of the Bible that I accept or I reject and I'll make that decision. And you're elevating yourself above God's word. And the thing is, is that people, I think more than ever, and there was just a Harvard law professor, I think maybe a week or two ago, it was really concerned about how laws are going to be done away within the United States of America, because everybody's making decisions based upon how they feel. I feel this, so that determines truth. I feel that, so that determines facts. And so if I feel something, and that contradicts known facts, then what I feel actually trumps those facts. But the reality is this, is that facts don't care about how you feel about them. They don't change. The word of God is the same yesterday, today and forever. And what was wrong 10,000 years ago is wrong today and will be wrong tomorrow. And that's the way that it is. But then also, we know what is right. What is right before God 10,000 years ago is still right today and will be right before God tomorrow. And so you will always know where you stand before God, regardless of how culture will change. So what are some ways that we can make sure that we're not just having a form of godliness? Well, number one, put your faith in Jesus today. If you don't know him at the end of our service tonight, before we conclude, I'm going to give you an opportunity to receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior, not to go through the motions, but to be transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit. Secondly, submit yourself to the Lord. Live your life according to what the Bible says. Just don't attempt to live like someone considered to be spiritual, but be biblical. The church needs to be biblically based. And so if you don't want to conform to this world, then you must have a foundation. You must have a compass. And that's the immutable truths of God. And they're found in his word, the Bible. Thirdly, be open to the correction and conviction of the Holy Spirit. Allow the Lord to teach you through his word. And sometimes that's a hard pill to swallow being corrected. Being told that what you're doing is wrong. What you're doing is sinful. And it separated you from God. You have to yield yourself to what God's word says, submit to the Lord. And then fourthly, rely upon the Holy Spirit to overcome the lust of the flesh. And the only way that you will have true godliness and not just a form of it is by the power of the Holy Spirit in your life. Because you cannot rely on the lust of the flesh, the power of the flesh. You can't rely on your sinful nature to not fulfill sinful desires. And so tonight, there are many of you that have been well taught for many years. Do not turn away now. Do not compromise, regardless of how much pressure you may be faced with. For those of you that know the truth of God's word, but you have rejected the Holy Spirit convicting you and you've chosen to go in the opposite direction, then I would like to invite you to come back to the Lord tonight. If you're here at church and you do not know Jesus personally, you know, maybe you lost a bet with a family member and you're here tonight. I don't know. But if you're here and you've never put your faith in Jesus, you can have all of your sins forgiven. Even the things that you're ashamed of or you have hidden, the things that you have had to override, you know, your conscience with, the Lord knows all of those things. He sees everything. He sees every detail of your life. He sees every single thing that you have struggled with and wrestled with and are that are consumed by. And that's why he sent his only son, Jesus, to die on the cross so that you might not just try to go through the motions. Well, I'm going to try to be a better person. I'm going to clean my life up. Hopefully I'll be good enough to get to heaven, but you will not have just this form of godliness that you can be transformed into godliness through faith in Jesus.