 The title of our sermon this morning is is clean to truth in perilous times clean to truth in perilous times and we're in 2nd Timothy chapter 3 verses 1 through 9 we've taken a break there this morning of working through the Gospel of John which we've done each week but we like to work verse by verse through texts and so we're going to study another text together this morning 2nd Timothy chapter 3 verses 1 through 9 and I want to introduce this passage to you from a story out of Greek mythology of all places in Greek mythology there is the story of the low tough guy we can say that together low tough a guy that you know a Greek word that's the story of the lotus eaters the lotus eaters and the lotus eaters are a people that lived on an island with a narcotic fruit that caused the people on that island to sleep their lives away in a peaceful apathy in Homer's Odyssey that's the epic poem not the minivan in Homer's Odyssey the main character Odysseus tells of stopping at this island okay and I want you to listen to what Odysseus describes he says here we landed to take in fresh water and our crews got their midday meal on the shore near the ships when they had eaten and drunk I sent two of my company to see what manner of men the people of that place might be they started it once and went about among the lotus eaters who did the no hurt but gave them to eat of the lotus which was so delicious that those who ate of it left off caring about home and did not even want to go back and say what had happened to them now in his is 1832 poem the lotus eaters by Alfred Tennyson Alfred Tennyson gives you the experience of the ship's crew when they landed on this island and as you listen to this experience of the ship's crew keep in mind that Tennyson has the crew here arguing against the Christian life listen to what they say let us swear an oath the crew said amongst themselves and keep it with an equal mind in the hollow lotus land to live and lie reclined on the hills like gods together careless of mankind for they the gods lie beside their nectar and the bolts are hurled far below them in the valleys and the clouds are lightly curled round their golden houses girdled with a gleaming world where they smile in secret looking over wasted lands blight and famine plague and earthquake roaring deeps and fiery sands clanging fights and flaming towns and sinking ships and praying hands but they smile they smile they find a music centered in a doleful song steaming up a lamentation and an ancient tale of wrong like a tale of little meaning though the words are strong chanted we would say preached from an ill-used race of men that cleave the soil sow the seed and reap the harvest with enduring toil storing yearly little dues of wheat and wine and oil till they perish and they suffer some tis whispered down in hell suffer endless anguish others in Elysian valleys dwell resting weary limbs at last on beds of asphodel surely surely slumber is more sweet than toil the shore then labor in the deep mid-ocean wind and wave and ore so rest ye brother mariners we will not wander more can see the deception and the fake peace the superficial peace that comes upon them there are many there are many many who profess to be Christians today who are asleep they have eaten the narcotic fruit of a false Christianity and in love with this hollow lotus world that we live in they have sworn an oath together to live at ease and lie reclined they smile a hypocritical smile while sin reigns in what they call a church they smile hypocritical smiles at strongly worded tales of little meaning to them ancient tales preached by an ill-used race of men that cleave the soil and sow the seed and they're fearful they're fearful to say it out loud but they say it with their lives surely surely slumber is more sweet than toil the shore is more sweet than labor in the deep mid-ocean with wind and wave and ore they say this until they perish and among themselves it is whispered that some perish and suffer down in hell the Lord Jesus Christ says not everyone who says to me Lord Lord shall enter the kingdom of heaven it's a frightful statement from our Lord Jesus Christ thousands upon thousands of hollow places that call themselves churches offering a narcotic fruit that causes people who profess to be Christians to sleep their lives away in a peaceful apathy the preachers and the people in those churches saying rest ye brother mariners we will not wander more this is a little bit of Christianity a little bit of Christian truth wrapped in the rotting carcass of a lie to comfort the guilty consciences of people who desire pleasure desire comfort rather than truth if you'll notice from both the story and from real life that which has become their comfort that which has become their peace will ultimately become their destruction do you see this is like millions millions that's no exaggeration millions who sit in easy believism southern Baptist churches each week they eat the deceptive lotus fruit of a false unbiblical gospel that's not all southern Baptist churches but there are many who preach a false gospel they eat the deceptive lotus fruit of that false unbiblical gospel of asking Jesus into their heart or praying to receive Christ they'll preach to you once saved always saved while you live in your sin and they'll say to one another live at ease and lie reclined they will mock or rebuke that preacher or that evangelist who chants that sorrowful song an ancient tale of wrong all the while smiling or the millions who sit in liberal Methodists or liberal Presbyterian or Lutheran churches who teach today that the Bible isn't relevant anymore and so they ordain women into the ministry and they comfort homosexuals and adulterers and murderers in their sin or those millions in Roman Catholicism who eat the deceitful and empty lotus fruits of tradition of a ritual or the millions that senator charismatic snake oil salesmen that offer health and wealth and prosperity or man centered self-help rather than the righteousness of God in Christ through faith or those who sit in reformed Baptist churches who have the right doctrine on paper but that right doctrine never reaches into their heart by the grace of God there remains a remnant of biblical churches that hold fast to the faith however to one degree or another every single mainline denomination has compromised the gospel all under a banner of Christianity and these heresies collect themselves like barnacles on the bottom of a boat attacks on the inspiration and inerrancy of Scripture are everywhere assaults on the very purity of the gospel itself a denial of the power of God in the gospel to transform lives a rejection of the substitutionary blood atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ godliness and holiness of life sacrificed on the altar of self-love marriage and the family undermined at every turn sodomy accepted in the church and even in the ministry short-lived religious experiences substituted for spirit empowered perseverance in the faith false lying hypocrites in the pulpit lead to false lying hypocrites in the pew heresy in the professing church this heresy this error this departure from biblical truth is the means by which many many people today comfort themselves in false religion they will willfully suppress the truth of God in a lazy spiritual slumber floating along on flowery beds of ease while they care for their dog more than they care for doctrine or they love TV more than they love the truth they'll plan for Saturday night and think very little of their eternal soul and they'll say to themselves surely this slumber in error is far more sweet than toil in the truth when this is the attitude of many who profess the name of Christ we live in dangerous troublesome and perilous times deceitful times such dangerous times that the Lord says in Luke chapter eighteen verse eight when the Son of man comes will he really find faith on the earth second Timothy this letter is Paul's last will and testament to his son in the faith young pastor Timothy at the church in Ephesus Paul as he writes sits in a prison cell chained to a Roman guard and no flowery beds of ease for the apostle Paul although he is chained he boldly states in chapter two verse nine that the word of God is not chained he knows that this letter these words will go forward it'll go forward to Timothy and it'll go forward to the church in Ephesus and he wants Timothy he wants the church he wants Christians to understand what they're up against and he wants to tell you he wants to exhort you to stand bold and strong in the faith for the Lord Jesus Christ by implication to those who are not saved he tells you don't cling to a superficial nonsense clean to the truth of God in Christ and be saved Paul tells Timothy to be bold in the gospel and to hold fast to the faith in chapter one he describes the Christian life using metaphors in chapter two metaphors of an embattled soldier right a competing athlete a hard working farmer or vessels of honor those metaphors for the Christian life nothing to do with ease and pleasure and as he comes to chapter three he warns Timothy then of the thorns and thistles in the church and the perilous times that we're facing so as we come to second Timothy chapter three verses one through nine the first thing I want you to see is we have to discern the times that we're in discern the times that we're in for Timothy and the congregation at Ephesus first there's a call to discernment understand the times in which we live and in which we minister and don't allow those times to undermine your confidence with that call to discernment there's also a call to duty that duty is to preach the word he gives that command to Timothy in second Timothy chapter four preach the word discern the times that you're in don't allow yourself to be led away gullible and deceived after false teachers false gospels cling to the truth of God in Christ cling to his word secondly you must cling to the truth we'll see that in verses six through eight many will reject the truth many who profess the name of Christ reject the truth and they find themselves disqualified from the faith we must cling in meticulous faithfulness to the word of God if you're going to protect yourself from error you must cling to the word of God in meticulous faithfulness if you're going to combat error we have to cling to the Bible it's the only source of truth thirdly we have to hope in Christ we'll see that in verse nine there will certainly be times of trouble but listen Christ has triumphed and so you can rest in Christ you can trust in Christ you can put your hope in Christ so take your place then on the front lines of our spiritual warfare looking forward to your eventual rest take your place on the front lines and rather than choking and gagging and dying on the lotus fruit of a wicked false Christianity follow the Lord Jesus Christ and cling to his word now let's take a look at point one discern the times look at verse one now Paul says to Timothy but know this that in the last days perilous times will come a Paul charges Timothy and he charges all of us in chapter two verse 15 to be diligent to present yourselves approved to God a worker who does not need to be ashamed to rightly dividing the word of truth but in three verse one even though you faithfully do that even though you labor diligently with the word even though God in verse 25 may grant repentance to some and even though some in verse 26 may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil know this Paul says mark my words in the Greek it's live with this continuous understanding that in the last days perilous times will come Paul essentially says listen your laboring for the Lord your laboring for the Lord but don't ever lose sight of this reality don't lose sight of this reality it's a word here for no meaning that Timothy is to know it through observation he's to know it through his experience violent terrible difficult dangerous troublesome perilous times will come so what is certain then young pastor Timothy what certain death taxes and troublesome times right these times of trouble are gonna come now like Timothy and the church at Ephesus we know this to be true in our own experience don't we we see this all the time through our own observation through our own Christian experience we know in the same way that they did we certainly have the word of God that validates this truth if you look at chapter 3 drop down to verse 12 the word of God testifies yes verse 12 and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution look at verse 13 but evil men and imposters will grow worse and worse deceiving and being deceived look at chapter 4 look down at verse 3 for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but according to their own desires because they have itching ears they will heap up for themselves teachers and they will turn their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables and we can see that in our own times can't we that's the truth that's a an experience of much of the modern church today look at back at first Timothy first Timothy chapter 4 and look there at verse 1 verse 1 here Paul says now the spirit expressly says that in the latter times some will depart from the faith they'll give heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons speaking lies in hypocrisy having their own conscience seared with a hot iron forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe in and know the truth Bible is abundantly clear on this point and Paul is writing something that applies to them in that day and age in the first century but know this Paul says that in the last days perilous times will come now when do these last days begin are we in the last days have they yet to arrive or are we here look with me at acts chapter 2 acts chapter 2 when do these last days begin know this perilous troublesome dangerous even violent times will come it's what the word means acts chapter 2 drop down to verse 14 verse 14 this is Peter at Pentecost this is the beginning the birth if you will of the New Testament church and during Peter's sermon look at verse 14 Peter standing up with the 11 raised his voice and said to them men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem let this be known to you and heed my words for these are not drunk as you supposed is since it is only the third hour of the day but this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel now what had happened at this point in time the Holy Spirit had been given to these who were saved and at the inauguration of the church the Holy Spirit had been given so the Holy Spirit is given and they see men speaking in their own language in their own language the wonderful words of God they see tongues of fire on their head they experience the outpouring here of the Holy Spirit what Peter says in his sermon is that this is then a fulfillment of that which the prophet Joel has spoken in Joel chapter 2 so he quotes Joel chapter 2 in verse 17 and it shall come to pass in the last days says God when does it come to pass in the last days now it comes to pass then so when are the last days then those last days are upon them at that point it shall come to pass in the last days said God that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh your sons and your daughters shall prophesy your young men shall see visions your old men shall dream dreams and on my men servants and on my maid servants I will pour out my spirit in those days and they shall prophesy Peter sees this here this point in time at Pentecost the birth of the church Peter sees this as a fulfillment of that prophecy in Joel chapter 2 of the last days right go with me then to Hebrews go with me to Hebrews chapter 1 when do these last days begin Hebrews chapter 1 Titus Philemon Hebrews and look at verse 1 Hebrews chapter 1 verse 1 we hear the Bible reads God who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets has in these last days spoken to us by a son through whom he has appointed heir of all things through whom also he made the worlds so again this is God speaking in various times in various ways to the fathers by the prophet in those days now in these last days speaking to us in the same way again through dreams and visions like the prophet Joel prophesied of the time at Pentecost no in these last days through his son we have the word of God in his son given to us in the Bible we have the Bible now so he speaks to us in his son in these last days look at a couple of books to the right first John Hebrews James first Peter second Peter first John first John and look at chapter 2 and John reiterates this point again we're looking at when do these last days begin first John chapter 2 drop down to verse 18 here John says little children it is the last hour this was written in the first century the end of the first century little children it is the last hour and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming even now many antichrists have come by which we know that it is the last hour and here John gives evidence of how we are to know that it is the last days the last hour the truth the reality that many antichrists have come and we know from the word of God that the final antichrist will come at some point in the future so from 2nd Timothy back in 2nd Timothy chapter 3 verse 1 here's the truth from the Bible the last days began with the beginning of the church age after the resurrection and ascension of the Lord the last days here began and the last days will continue until the Lord comes back to execute judgment so we live we live in these perilous last days means these dangerous violent terrible times are upon us they're here right now we live in the reality of them like Timothy we can observe this can't we this is no mystery to you and I is it and watch the news for five minutes open the newspaper and it was you still do that open the newspaper to any place it's obvious we live in the last days visit any number of churches around here and you know that we live in the last days what do you do what's to be your response discern the times discern the times in which we're living how does that apply to you this is no time for a lazy apathetic false professing Christian we live in perilous times this is spiritual warfare people are dying going to hell this is no time to live at ease and recline we're not in peace time here you've got to get on the front lines with Timothy get on the front lines with our brothers and sisters in Ephesus get on the front lines with genuine brothers and sisters and waged the good warfare these times are growing progressively worse and worse with every passing day it seems like now and people are dying people are being deceived we have to get on the front lines and fight the good fight of faith preach the word of God one of the reasons one of the applications of this passage is to you now is to say listen don't be lazy don't be apathetic don't live at ease our rest is ahead of us is coming but our rest is not now but listen the other application to you at this point is don't have unreasonable expectations either it's often easy isn't it for the the man of God the woman of God who's being faithful to God out there sharing preaching the gospel isn't it easy sometimes for us to get discouraged you can with the error with the turning away with the apostasy with those being led away like gullible women loaded down with their sins it can be discouraging disheartening to the Christian and I believe that's one of the primary reasons that even genuine brothers and sisters in Christ have difficulty sometimes in faithfulness to evangelism if you walked out this door right now and you knew beyond a shadow of doubt for a fact there's a man sitting in that lobby all you have to do is walk up to him and give him the gospel and he is going to be gloriously saved would you do it of course you will you know you're convinced you'd walk out there and do that boldly thankfully gratefully to God right what prevents that from happening when you know that God is sovereign over salvation it's God who changes the heart it's God who regenerates the lost dying center what is it that keeps you from that duty and what keeps you from delighting in that duty sometimes I think it's just discouragement sometimes the disheartening reality that that person is going to reject the message you preach listening Paul says God warns us perilous times are here perilous times are don't be shocked by that don't be discouraged by that don't be disheartened by that he's going to say later take hope in Christ and be faithful here to Timothy in Ephesus be faithful Timothy wage the good warfare fight the good fight preach the gospel we live in perilous times don't let that discourage you know it live in that reality and fight the fight of faith it's interesting here that the word for times in verse one is a word that means seasons or epics there will be seasons or periods of peril we know from the Bible those seasons those periods of time get worse and worse and worse and then the end comes they're like birth pangs they're described as birth pangs they're contractions before birth they get more and more frequent and more and more painful before the birth finally happens right we know that to be true in our own day and age wickedness not getting better and better and better this world is not getting better and better and better this world getting worse and worse and worse we can see it in history can't you there's a time of peace there's a time of peace and then a dark age begins where there is death and devastation millions plummeting headlong into hell and then the Reformation comes right and then there's war and there's famine and there's persecution and then a great awakening comes and then there's persecution and there's war rumors of war a war on terror and it'll happen all over again right these birth pangs these seasons coming they're getting closer and closer these painful troublesome seasons closer and closer together they have been more and more frequently they become more and more painful and then the end will come there's a world war a short time of peace a second world war and then a shaky piece we can see it in our own experience and the Bible is not short on evidence for what this peril will look like Paul says in chapter 3 verse 13 back in 2 Timothy chapter 3 verse 13 Paul explains that evil men and imposters will grow worse and worse do you see that in Matthew chapter 24 beginning in verse 7 Jesus Christ himself says this that nation will rise against nation there will be famines and pestilence earthquakes in various places and these he says are the beginnings of sorrows he goes on to say in verse 11 then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many and because lawlessness will abound the love of many will grow cold Peter says in second Peter chapter 3 verse 3 that scoffers will come in the last days they walk according to their own lusts and say where is the promise of his coming you hear the mocking Jude says in verse 18 that there will be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts these are sensual persons who cause division not having the spirit in addition to that throughout the Bible Paul gives us plenty of evidence right here in second Timothy chapter 3 verse 2 verses 2 through 5 here serve as the evidence that we're living in these dangerous last days and at the same time that they're the evidence that we live in these dangerous last days they are the cause of the perilous times in which we live and see if you recognize some of these today verse 2 for men and that's a generic word there in the Greek meaning people people people will be lovers of themselves lovers of money boasters proud blasphemers disobedient to parents unthankful unholy unloving unforgiving slanderers without self-control brutal despisers of good traitors headstrong haughty lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God well that is a tragic list and that's merely a representative list it's not exhaustive and the first thing I want you to notice there is notice the book ends on either end of our list there verse 2 lovers of themselves at the end of verse 4 rather than lovers of God now in encompassing those two and everything in between there are nineteen adjectives used here to describe lost people in these last days and these two bookends this includes you if you will summarizes this entire list lovers of themselves rather than lovers of God Jesus said to be his disciple in order to be his disciple you must die to yourself not be a lover of yourself you're to die to yourself he says in Luke chapter 14 verse 26 listen to this if anyone comes to me these are the words of the Lord Jesus Christ if anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother wife and children brothers and sisters yes and his own life also he cannot be my disciple and these people in 2 Timothy chapter 3 verse 2 are lovers of themselves means to say that the Lord Jesus Christ is so supreme everything fails by comparison you love the Lord Jesus Christ supremely preeminently above all else that's why so much of false Christianity is so man centered today false Christianity is man centered because men verse 2 will become lovers of themselves men don't want to hear a woeful song of ancient wrongs they want to be puffed up I want to go to church where I feel good I don't know what he said but I just felt good leaving there right is seeing a couple of songs they go out on top of the world messages of self-esteem self-worth self-fulfillment self-help self-value self-love it's the the pop psychology feel good false gospel listen to these popular book titles today when I say popular like best-selling book titles okay and this is not an exhaustive list it's just a representative list from America's pastor Joel Osteen become a better you seven keys to improving your life man centered right Joyce Myers change your words and change your life Norman Vincent Peel you can if you think you can TD Jakes why because you're anointed Creflo Dollar you're supposed to be wealthy Stephen Fertick greater dream bigger start smaller Robert Shuler self-love you can't be more clear than that right self-love Stacey Eldridge becoming myself embracing God's dream of you Dan Allender to be told God invites you to co-author your future several of those titles you could take you could turn into something that was biblical but unfortunately sadly that's not what's taking place in those books man centered self-love self-value self-esteem self-worth self-fulfillment self-help self-indulgence and these are ridiculous extremes here but there are so many so many more that are insidiously and dangerously deceptive we live in dangerous and perilous times where there are many who are gullible and weak and let away captive by error out of self-love in verse 2 flows of love for money of course right out of self-love flows of love for money that's representative here of a love for this world it's talking about an immoderate desire to acquire wealth you just pursue wealth that on the heels of 1st Timothy chapter 6 where Paul says to be content with your food and your clothing and the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil and this covetousness is an obvious route and obvious root of the false prosperity gospel why is it that many millions are taken away with this when it's so obvious right it's nothing more than textbook covetousness wrapped up in some lying skin of the truth it's wrapped up in a lie that God wants you wealthy Creflo dollar you're supposed to be wealthy they are in verse 2 boasters they're self-exalting they're absorbed with their own superiority all that you have all that I have is my own doing look at all I've achieved right they're like Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel chapter 4 is this not great Babylon that I've built for myself this royal dwelling that I've built by my own mighty power Nebuchadnezzar says and he's judged by God for it in verse 2 they're proud the feelings of self-importance the Bible says that God is opposed to the proud yet here they are proud their blasphemers means their crude their irreverent they treat as common that which is supposed to be revered as holy we see this kind of ever irreverence going on churches going around in churches all the time today churches that try to be relevant and so they take crude irreverent subjects in order to be relevant in order to be real relational right they take these subjects there's that are crude and they try to peddle them off in the church to attract people who are themselves crude and irreverent and so you see not God honoring Christ exalting sermons on sex or intimacy you see crudeness peddled in the church irreverence peddled in the church sermons on subjects designed by God to glorify him and yet they are reduced to a trashy tabloid they are disobedient to parents they undermine and they demonstrate contempt for one of the most important relationships in life and this is representative here of undermining God given God designed authority in your life they're disobedient to parents they become a law unto themselves it's no mystery that those who are disobedient to parents that in them you see an ungratefulness in verse 2 they're unthankful they fail to express gratitude they're entitled in their thinking they see graces received as rights deserved and they get offended when they don't get what they think they deserve they're unholy unholy means they would rather feed on sewage than feed on the word of God they lust for that which is vile or ungodly Barclay says that they offend against the fundamental decencies of life often churches today in a misguided effort to be relevant real relational they drag that which is unholy into the church it's where you see churches it will use ungodly movie clips or ungodly music worship of God it's about to be it's supposed to be about the worship of God and yet they reduce everything to the entertainment of man and ungodly unholy men at that they are unloving it's a word there for unloving meaning that they are hard-hearted they're unfeeling they lack natural affection it'd be like the affections that you have for family members right natural affections they lack those affections this word for unloving was used to describe Seneca Seneca was a Roman advisor to Nero and Seneca was berated for justifying the drowning of babies who were sickly or deformed just excoriated for that it was called this word for unloving and yet that happens in spades in our time in our culture today doesn't it through abortion not simply sickly or deformed but inconvenient and people will kill their babies and they will stand up in front of the Congress the country the people and shout and proclaim their right to do it we live in perilous times in verse 3 they're unforgiving these people are implacable they live with friction around them all the time they can't make peace they can't reconcile they're slanderous slanderers this characteristic for slanderers is seen in people who persistently and consistently want to attack the reputation or attack the character of others it's the word Diabolos it's a word that is used for the accuser of the brethren Satan himself they love themselves so much they have to tear other people down in order to further their love for themselves there's no self-control they have no self-control in verse 3 they're unrestrained by any sense of morality they'll do what it takes to get what they want right and they rule the ability they lack the ability to rule themselves their conscience is seared and they just pursue whatever lust is predominant at the time and don't let anything stand in their way they're brutal literally hear the word for brutal means that they behave like wild animals they live for their appetites to satisfy their lust to satisfy their appetites no longer hear a concern for life that's implied in the word so abortion is no big deal sure sell the parts no big deal brutal their despisers of good there's an absence of love there's an absence of appreciation for that which is for the common good they just don't care about that they don't care about good their traitors meaning their treacherous they will do what is necessary to further their own cause if that means breaking a covenant they'll break it for their own cause to get what they want to live their own lives they'll betray a friend they're careless about commitments they're traitors their betrayers their headstrong meaning that they're reckless they're rash they're thoughtless they stop at nothing to achieve their ends there's a defiant disregard for danger or defiant disregard for consequences they just don't care about the consequences they want what they want they're gonna get it they're more interested in pleasing themselves they are haughty meaning they're puffed up is literally what the word means they're foolish there's no humility no lowliness of mind they are an authority unto themselves and they won't submit to anyone else and they are lovers of pleasure just an immoderate desire to please and indulge themselves and all of these all of these all 18 of these characterized by the 19th an evident lack of love for God it's a painful list isn't it let's be real for a moment let's be relevant shall we if you're a Christian then this is the sewer from which God saved you amen you were once like this you and I children of wrath like the others but listen if you're in Christ then none of these 19 mark you any longer if you're in Christ you're not like this anymore you've turned from this list now why is that if you're in Christ you know that God has changed you changed your heart change your nature you don't live like this anymore you've been reworked from the inside out that old man has been put away and you still struggle every now and then but this doesn't characterize your life any longer why is that why is what explains the change when the Lord saved me I was proud boaster blasphemer disobedient parents unthankful unholy unloving unforgiving I was a slanderer no self control brutal a despiser of good when God saved me he changed me forever and why is that if you've come to Christ you've turned from that sin and you've put your faith and trust in Christ alone to save you and you're radically different you're not the same person any longer why is that because God changes a man God changes your heart God transforms the sinner that's why and then God indwells you with his spirit to see to it that you obey him and you walk according to his statutes and you love the things that God loves and you hate the things that God hates God has the power to change your life and here he does it you're caught up in lying or anger whatever sin it is lust drugs alcohol you can't change your heart you can't change your mind but God can and God will if you will turn from your sin and put your faith and trust in him to do it cry out to God God listen I'm sick of this life I'm so tired of being a boastful proud blaspheming haughty lover of pleasure rather than lover of God God change my wretched heart and save me for your glory with your help God I will turn from this list and I will live for you till my dying day till you take me home and you if you do that if you put your faith in Christ God will do it Paul says something though here very interesting in verse 5 very interesting you know the church is made up of a radically transformed trophies of God's grace that's the church the church are those who have turned from their sin put their faith in Christ they're not the same people any longer they are trophies of God's grace that's the church listen what he says in verse 5 he says these are people the people represented by this list of 19 things these are people that have a form of godliness but they deny its power I think about that for a moment they have the outward shell or a fabrication of godly practice they hold to a form of godliness but it is a fake superficial godliness they hold to a form of godliness but it is a counterfeit godliness it is devoid of the true substance of a genuine and healthy and lively and fervent faith d.a. Carson said it is outward and showy but not inward and authentic it is codified and moralistic but it's not vital and living so now what does this mean what does this mean it means that this 19 part list of tragedy describes the membership of the professing church they have a form of godliness many of them but they deny it's these people are in the church they're not this isn't describing pagan lost on the outside Buddhists and Hindus and this is describing those who take to themselves a form of godliness and yet by their lives by their actions they are denying its power these wicked adjectives these wicked adjectives are not so much concerned with those outside the church as much as they are concerned with those who profess to be a part of the church now get this these are evidences of the perilous times in which we live you go to many churches you look I mean I I know because I grew up in them the church that I left to come here was one of these you look up and down the rose and the pews and most of those churches and you'll see any number of these 19 marks represented there look at the pulpit and you'll see them those false pastors and those false Christians are left to try and justify the sin that goes on in that false church and so what do they do what do they do with their twisted theology what is it that they're doing verse 5 they essentially deny the power of true Christian godliness they deny its power do you see they deny the power of God in the gospel to produce a holy life as the fruit of genuine saving faith listen that power is miraculous that power is the power of God that makes you a new person and yet that's the power that they deny the power there refers to that which the Holy Spirit produces in the life of one that he truly indwells that's the power he's talking about and so you get a so-called church full of so called Christians living in their sin they deny that power they have to look around the church and say you know why isn't Frank and why isn't Joe and why isn't Sally living like a Christian when they are a Christian they've said they're a Christian why do Christians live that way they're asking the wrong question is Sally Frank and Joe are they genuinely converted are they genuinely saved if they're genuinely saved God changes their heart and dwells them with his spirit and he causes them to walk in his statutes he transforms their life the truth is is that many were never saved to begin with they've made a sham profession they've made a sham profession and most likely that sham profession is in response to a sham presentation of the gospel the men who teach those lies that garbage no matter how subtle they are mouthpieces for Satan the church that gets the gospel that is the center of the spiritual redemptive universe the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and if you get that wrong by just a minute degree you're no longer a gospel church you're a synagogue of Satan and so what do you do what do you do do you do you continue to go to church there heaven forbid have a love for your own eternal soul and get out of that place don't go to a church listen it's like the rocket on the launch pad we've used this analogy before you put that rocket on the launch pad it's gonna go millions of miles if it's a fraction of a degree off by the time you reach your destination you miss everything you miss heaven it's like that cup of water it only has one drop of arsenic are you gonna are you gonna drink it don't go to church there do you sit do you continue under that false teaching no way for the benefit of your soul get out of there do you continue to tie to that factory of false conversion no don't support that support the biblical gospel no Paul says you avoid them you avoid them stay away from spiritual imposters get out from under false teaching those people have rejected God by their lives and yet they still want to be counted as members of his church they're not objects of fellowship they are objects of evangelism let's look at an Old Testament text that describes us a little further go with me to Isaiah chapter 59 Isaiah chapter 59 we looked at some texts in the New Testament let's take a look at the Old Testament this is the truth of Scripture beginning to end okay Isaiah chapter 59 these are dangerous perilous times in which we live listen as John says little children do not be deceived don't be carried away with this error good Isaiah 59 listen to this in verse 1 behold Isaiah says the Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot save now compare that what we're looking at those who deny the power of the gospel to transform a life are shortening the hand of God saying God can't save in that way he may have saved other people that way but I'm a Christian and my life hasn't changed that much shortening the hand of God that it cannot save nor verse 1 his ear heavy that it cannot hear but listen verse 2 your iniquities your sins have separated you from your God and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he will not hear as long as you persist in your sin you have Almighty God who created you you have him as your enemy you are enemies of his by your wicked works verse 3 4 because your hands are defiled with blood your fingers with iniquity your lips have spoken lies your tongue has muttered perversity no one calls for justice anymore nor does any plead for truth listen to what they do they trust in empty words and they speak lies do you see that listen all you got to do to be saved is just walking down this aisle say this little prayer believe in your heart that the Lord Jesus Christ has come into your heart don't ever doubt it if you doubt it that's Satan causing you to doubt meanwhile they are loaded down with sins led away by various lusts all the evidence is there but they've been taught they've been programmed and they willfully receive willfully taken in the lie they trust in empty words and they themselves speak lies they conceive evil and bring forth iniquity look at verse 5 they hatch vipers eggs and weave the spider's web he who eats of their eggs dies and from that which is crushed a viper breaks out this that they think is for their good is for their destruction that which they think brings them peace brings them hell brings them enmity with God it's trusting in the light you see it it's it's it's eating down sucking down that tasty lotus fruit and saying surely surely this sweet peace is better than toil sweet peace better than hear repentance and faith God redeems and then saves his people look at verse 15 in spite of all this look at the grace and mercy of our God in Christ the Lord saw it verse 15 halfway through there and it displeased him that there was no justice verse 16 he saw that there was no man and wonder that there was no intercessor therefore his own arm brought salvation for him not your own arm his own arm do you see his own righteousness it sustained him for he put on a put on righteousness as a breastplate and a helmet of salvation on his head he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing and was clad with zeal as a cloak according to their deeds accordingly he will repay fury to his adversaries recompense to his enemies if you're outside of Christ is that not terrify you that is the judgment of God against you one day God Almighty God will clothe himself with the vengeance against you will clothe himself with recompense to his enemies you the coastlands he says verse 18 he will fully repay verse 19 so shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west and his glory from the rising of the Sun when the enemy comes in like a flood the spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him look at verse 20 though praise God right God God is so merciful so gracious so compassionate even when we are so vile representing all 19 of that list look at God the Redeemer will come to Zion and to those who turn from transgression and Jacob says the Lord as for me now look here at the response look at what he says they will do verse 21 as for me says the Lord this is my covenant my promise with them my spirit who is upon you and my words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth nor from the mouth of your descendants nor from the mouth of your descendants descendants says the Lord from this time and forevermore amen here the response to this wickedness the response to this reality the response to these false gospels this teaching of error these empty words these lies the response is to cling to the truth of God so back in 2nd Timothy chapter 3 verse 6 you must cling to the truth first there's a call to discernment in verses 1 through 5 and then there's a duty implied in verses 6 through 8 you must cling to the truth one of the reasons you must cling to the truth is because there are many anti-christ who have come into the world and they are deceiving and they are being deceived look at verse 6 for of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins led away by various lusts always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth now as Janus and Jambres resisted Moses so do these also resist the truth men of corrupt minds disapproved concerning the faith now of that sort described in verses 1 through 5 you have particular Christian traders here false Christians they're traders who creep in they worm their way in by deception worm their way in under pretense and these creeps make captives of gullible women right now that word captive there is used for prisoners of war that's what it means you're a prisoner of war they deceive they mislead they assume power and they assume influence over weak here it's gullible women it applies to anyone weak gullible people and they lead them astray like wolves that separate a weak lamb from the flock to do all kinds of good to that little sheep right no no we're gonna kill that sheep like hyenas running down a little baby wildebeest separating that calf from her mother this specifically mentions here gullible women there was a problem with some of the women of the church in Ephesus we don't have time to get into that but this was a scathing rebuke of them the word literally means here little and it was a it was a grievous pejorative it was a scathing rebuke it means silly foolish weak-willed women they were easy prey the implication here from the from the Greek is that they have essentially allowed themselves to be carted off spiritually by these religious quacks they've done it to themselves as much as it was done to them okay they lacked discernment they couldn't discern the times they couldn't discern the danger they didn't see the peril that they were in they didn't care enough about the truth and so they allowed themselves they allowed these false teachers with their schemes and deceptions to come in and lull them take them lead them away to be prisoners of war captives and they lack the strength they lack the faith they lack the knowledge of God's word to resist their assaults now these women and this applies to you men also they're described in four ways one in verse six they are loaded down with sins also in verse six they are led away by various lusts in verse seven they're always learning and at the end of verse seven they are never able to come to a knowledge of the truth loaded down with sins led away with lusts always learning never able to come to a knowledge of the truth in verse six they're loaded down with sins now based on the grammar these are past sins they're loaded down burdened by their old life their past life they profess Christ but they don't understand the justification and the forgiveness that Christ brings and so they're laden down with guilt and condemnation over their old lives they're heaped up with guilt if you will by a load of their past sins they're loaded down with sins in that condition then in verse six they are led away by diverse various many different lusts they're willingly swayed willingly slayed willingly slayed and swayed by various lusts irresistible cravings and desires the word here is passive meaning that they're not in control themselves they're led away they allow this to happen to themselves they're not in control of their lusts verse seven they're always learning they're always sitting under instruction but it's the instruction of error here the instruction of these false teachers and although always learning they're never able to come to a knowledge of the truth their continuous effort is consistently matched by their continuous failure all right in these in this way these women are clinging to false teachers not clinging to the truth of God in Christ they're not clinging to the truth and they feed one another the women feed these false teachers and these false teachers just feed these gullible women feed gullible men and these foolish women foolish men today never make any progress let me apply this to our context today there are numerous professing churches today be warned there are numerous professing churches today that preach a gospel message that does not call for a response of repentance or turning from sin it leaves people loaded down with a guilt and condemnation of their past sins they don't preach repentance all you have to do is a b c right have you ever heard that admit believe and confess the problem is is there's no are and they don't teach the are and if they say the are repentance there's no biblical definition of it it's no different than confession and confession of sin is not enough you must turn from your sin pray this prayer they'll say there's no repentance involved listen you can sit down and pray that prayer have every intention of turning from sin well listen if you get up from that prayer and walk out that door and you don't repent then you're going to hell doesn't matter how sincerely you prayed that prayer your faith is not in the sincerity with which you prayed a prayer your faith is to be in Christ alone who has now justified you and turns you from sin because they've never truly repented they're still led away with various lusts because they never really abandoned their sin at the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ they're still loaded down with sins and heaped up with guilt they'll sit in that false church and they'll hear they'll sit under that false teacher preaching that false gospel and because they're getting a fool's gold they will never ever come to a knowledge of the truth they just sit deceived year after year they'll never make any progress I've witnessed the people for years like this known I know people who are still trapped in this error they're sitting on the island with the lotus eaters just taking in that juicy fruit and it's killing them you must cling to the truth of God in Christ the example that's given here is of two brothers these names don't come from Scripture they come from Jewish tradition that grew up around this story there's enough evidence to know that these are two historical figures in verse 8 and these two brothers given as examples look at verse 8 now just as Janus and Jamboreus resisted Moses so do these also resist the truth they are men of corrupt minds disapproved concerning the faith and Jewish tradition these two were brothers and magicians that served in Pharaoh's court they served in Pharaoh's court and so they opposed Moses if you remember we don't have time to turn there Exodus 7 Exodus 9 Moses comes into the court he takes his staff he throws it down it becomes a snake right so what are the magicians what are the sorcerers do well they throw down their staffs they become a snake right they imitate Moses they resist the truth of God and what Moses was communicating what Moses was doing with their lies with their fabrication with their sorceries they resist him with their lies when he turns the water to blood the magicians come along and they do something similar but they were exposed they were exposed they resisted the truth spoken by Moses for a while when you get to Exodus chapter 7 Exodus chapter 9 Exodus chapter 8 Exodus chapter 9 they're exposed as fakes as charlatans when Moses comes and brings the flies the lice the gnats they can't imitate that and they're exposed as liars in Pharaoh's court they can't imitate the darkness they can't imitate the hailstones they can't imitate the angel of death so they're exposed their progress only goes so far before they are disapproved rejected as liars and as the charlatans as the snake oil salesmen that they are they had a form of godliness do you see but they denied its true power and here Paul says they are disqualified rejected if you look at verse 8 just as Janus and Jambore's do so do these also these men in our times these perilous times these who represent that list of 19 tragedies these also do just as they did with their sorceries right with their counterfeit fake power they try to imitate the truth but listen they're gonna be exposed it only goes so far and pretty soon it's confirmed as a lie these false teachers who fail to preach the truth the weak and foolish people who never come to the truth and the others who resist the truth and are disqualified will be exposed as fakes so what is Paul then back in second Timothy chapter 3 what is Paul then command Timothy to do look down at second Timothy chapter 3 verse 10 what is Paul instruct Timothy to do but you Timothy have carefully followed my doctrine manner of life purpose faith long-suffering love perseverance he commends his example to Timothy and tells Timothy to follow his example cling to my doctrine Timothy cling to my manner of life follow my example drop down to verse 14 but you Timothy must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of knowing from whom you've learned them that from the childhood you have known the holy scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus cling to the word of God drop down to verse 16 all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable listen use scripture for reproof for correction for instruction in righteousness so that for the purpose that the man of God might be complete thoroughly equipped for every good work look at chapter 4 verse 1 I charge you therefore before God and before the Lord Jesus Christ who will judge the living at the dead it has appearing in his kingdom preach your own opinions Timothy no verse 2 preach the word of God be ready in season and out of season convince rebuke exhort with all-long suffering and teaching the time will come when I'm not gonna endure that kind of stuff any longer this passage written in the context that we're looking at here is talking about using the word of God clinging to the truth of God to properly combat error protect yourself from error and protect others from error as he tells Timothy that you might be able to save both yourself and those who hear you cling faithfully to the truth most important your most important priority is your own soul cling to the truth this is a a bleak text up to this point in many ways but one that is necessary for us to understand as necessary for us to understand today as it was for those in Ephesus to understand in their day discern the times cling to the truth don't compromise with error cling to God's word I want you to see in verse 9 a glimpse of Paul's optimism with respect to all this look at verse 9.3 on your notes we're to hope in Christ we're to hope in Christ despite this assault we must face as Christians on this side of eternity despite that assault that we must face we face we fight a vanquished foe take hope in Christ verse 9 but they will progress no further for their folly will be manifest to all as theirs also was because of Christ the truth will win the day it's already been determined Paul is convinced they're not going to get far this doesn't mean that they won't be effective in their deceptions but it does mean that the truth will win out they can only go so far and they're contrasted here interestingly enough with the Lord they will progress no further but Luke chapter 2 verse 52 says of Jesus that even as a boy he kept increasing in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men these will make no progress but those who follow Christ will they'll increase in wisdom they'll increase in stature they'll increase with favor in favor with God and men just like the Lord Jesus Christ did genuine faith genuine faith involves a clear view of our difficulties while maintaining this hope in Christ where does this hope come from this optimism where does it come from comes from the glory of God in Christ in the gospel Romans chapter 5 verse 2 therefore having been justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God Romans chapter 8 verse 24 we were saved in this hope but hope that is seen is not hope for why does one still hope for what he sees but if we hope for what we do not see we eagerly wait for it with perseverance discern the times cling to the truth hope in Christ don't be led away as willing weak and a gullible prisoner of war in this battle that rages for your soul Christ has won the decisive victory rather than being born in the sin of Adam he was born of the Virgin Mary he was victorious in fulfilling the just demands of God's law his holy and perfect law by himself being holy and perfect living a perfectly sinless life you and I were defeated and cursed in the law our sin exposed and condemned by the law that he was victorious fulfilling the just demands of God's law he was a victorious victorious and satisfying the wrath of God that you and I rightly deserve for our own sin he took that wrath upon himself and satisfied to the full drank to the dregs the wrath of God that sinners rightly deserve the Lord Jesus Christ took that upon himself he stood as your substitute he took upon himself your sin imputed to himself your sin and he closed you imputed to you his righteousness he was victorious over sin and death that's seen in his resurrection from the dead and you can now be raised to from death even now to walk in newness of life if you will put your faith and trust in him alone repent turn from your sin put your faith in Christ stop being gullible stop being weak stop being proud haughty stop being a blasphemer stop being unfaithful unloving unforgiving stop loving only yourself stop loving pleasure more than loving your Creator stop giving in to those who have warmed their way into your life into your spiritual household to lead you away stop giving into them avoid them stop spinning your wheels languishing in your ignorance making no progress don't resist the truth as Janice and Jambres did cling to the truth of God in Christ abandon your sin and put your faith and trust in him amen amen let's pray take just a few moments and go to God ask God to free you from this list if you're not already free ask God to continue to free you from that tragic list in verses two through five even if you have been set free you still battle with that indwelling sin if you're not saved ask God to change your heart to induce you with real power in the gospel stop playing games stop wallowing in self-love love the Lord let's pray father in heaven we need you God we need your power we need your word your truth we need Christ your son and we need your righteousness the righteousness of God in Christ we need your forgiveness we need your justification God we need you we need the gospel we praise you and thank you Lord that in Christ for those that have put their faith and trust in him you have declared us righteous in him that you have clothed us in his righteousness that you have forgiven us of all our sin cleansed us all our iniquity that you have set us in the heavenly places with Christ Jesus that you have raised us up together now that you have adopted us as children of God you've transferred us from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of your dear son how that you have changed us and transformed us and then God by virtue of the power of your spirit within us God you've given us power to live a godly life before you to be pleasing in your sight to live for you to produce the fruit that you say will be there in every single person who has been genuinely saved by grace we praise you for the glorious gifts that we have in Christ this great salvation that in your infinite wisdom you have ordained from times past for our good and for your glory thank you Lord for this text God thank you for this clear warning this clear picture of the times in which we live God help us to be mindful of those times and to fervently cling to the cross cling to Christ cling to the truth and living out the Christian life and the times in which we live for your glory maybe we may we be faithful and fervent with the gospel God may we in these times go out in hope knowing that we fight a vanquished foe that in Christ the victory has been one that we can go out in faith trusting you doing the work that you've appointed beforehand for us to do and know that our labor in the Lord is not in vain we thank you Lord for all these glorious gifts for your goodness to us and worship and praise you this morning in Jesus name we pray