 Okay, welcome back. We will continue our study of 2nd Timothy 3. In the first few verses Paul is basically talking about the prophecies regarding the end times. He's telling Timothy that in the last days, you know, it will just be a very difficult, troublesome, peerless times. Things are going to get really bad and he goes on to describe the kind of people that would be there during the end times of the last days. And we know that, you know, Paul wrote this many, many, many years back. And, you know, if you look at it actually, you know, it's in a time and age where this is being played out before us globally. So what are the kind of people who would be there during the end times? He lists it out for us in verses 2 to verse 5. He says, men who will be lovers of themselves. Just talking about men also, women here, women and men who will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers without control, brutal despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, hotty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. So basically we can see all of this kind of being played out before us globally and also in our own city or in our own towns, the places that we come from. You know, it's sad to read some of the things that are happening, you know, in the newspaper. It's very sad and heartbreaking. You know, people are so brutal, hotty, lovers of pleasure, you know, and without any self-control. They don't even know what they're doing, who they're doing, who they're hurting. It's very, very sad. But in verse five, it's very interesting to see that Paul even mentions, you know, religious people with the rest of the kind of people that he has mentioned who we will see in the last days. So very interesting that he's also talking about religious people here with the rest of the kind of people. And he's saying that these people will, you know, will have a form of religion, which means they have a form of piety. They embrace a form of religion. People who embrace all the nice things about their Christian faith, but they will deny the power of God. Okay. Now, we know the Greek word for power is dunamis, and dunamis is used in the New Testament basically to talk about the power of the Holy Spirit. Yes, talks about the power of the Holy Spirit, about the manifesting of God's power is basically healing, deliverance, you know, miracles and salvation, all the work of the Holy Spirit. And so what Paul is basically saying here that is during the last days, you know, people will have a form of religion. They would just be able to say all the right things, do the right things. They, you know, they even claim to believe all that we believe in, and they will do the right things, but they deny the power of the Holy Spirit. So Paul is telling committee, you know, from such people just stay away, turn away to not be with them. Okay. So Paul is basically telling us an important truth here that, you know, in the last days, even as we are in the last days, it's not just sufficient for us to have a form of religion, to know the truth, to know what is right, to do what is right. You know, it's that's not important, but we need to have that, you know, with the power of the Holy Spirit. We need to press in for the anointing for the move of the Holy Spirit. So if you have a form of religion, but have nothing to do with the power of the Holy Spirit, then it's not going to be of any use. Because the time that we are living in now, you know, teaching and our preaching has to be adjusted with science, miracles and deliverances. That's how people are going to, you know, know what is right and what is wrong. That's how they're going to know that, you know, Jesus is the true and living God. Because if you look at our world today, you know, religion is picked up such great importance, especially just even noticing in our own city, in our own land. Some of these festivals that other religions, you know, celebrate was not done with such great, you know, they did not have such great significance or adherence. So people just had one or two major festivals and that is it. But, you know, the time and age that we're living in, religion and their philosophies have become, has been so much hyped up that people are now, you know, thinking about God, thinking about the rituals, thinking about doing this, doing that and all of those things. So, you know, that's such a great more importance given to various religious, you know, various days they celebrate the various gods and goddesses that they celebrate on certain days. So, you know, we are living in a time like this and it's important that, you know, we pursue more of the power of the Holy Spirit. The more of the dunamis power of the Holy Spirit. So it's not just enough to embrace the form of religion which is void of the power of the Holy Spirit. But it's a time when we need to cry out to God and ask God, God, we want more of your power. You know, we want more of the manifestations of the gifts of the Spirit. We want more manifestation of the power of the Holy Spirit in operation, in demonstration, in and through our lives. Why? Because of the time that we are living in, you know, we desperately need the power of God to work, to be able to, you know, make a difference in the world for people to know who is the true and the living God, and for people to know for themselves that there is power in the name of Jesus. There's, you know, there's healing in the name of Jesus. There is deliverance in the person of Jesus Christ. So, you know, we need to desperately cry out and ask God for more of this, the power of the Holy Spirit, more of the manifestations of the Holy Spirit in operation, in demonstration, in and through our lives that we can make a difference in this world. Because, you know, people are, you know, looking at, you know, empty, powerless form of religion, you know, and they are into deep darkness, and, you know, darkness covers the whole world. And if we are going to deliver people out of the darkness, yes, we need to do the most power of the Holy Spirit. So, you know, it's time for us to all cry out to God and say, God, more of the power, more of the anointing, and also come to that place where we would want to build those vessels of honor and do those, take those steps that require us to be the vessels of honor so that God can pour out his anointing in a greater measure, in a greater way, in and through our lives. Okay. And he goes on to say about, talk about sneaky men and gullible women in verses six and verse seven. And he says, you know, for this sort, so, you know, he's talking about men who engage in who he's spoken about in verses one to five, especially he's talking about this religious bunch who have a firm of Godlyness but no power. And he's saying these kind of men who sneak into homes where they take captive weak and, you know, naive or innocent women who are themselves loaded in as sin, you know, you know, and these kind who do not want to listen to the latest truth. But they like learning, but they don't want to come to the truth. Okay. They like information, you know, but they don't like the transformation. There are people who, you know, who say or tell you that, you know, they want to listen to the truth, but there are people who say, just tell me the truth. I don't want to change. Okay. Don't ask me to embrace the truth. Don't ask me to lift the truth. Don't ask me, don't ask God to change me or to transform my life. So he's talking about such kind of men, you know, who want to listen to the latest truth. They're interested in all kind of philosophies, but they don't want the truth to transform them. You know, they just want to listen to the truth as information, but, you know, they don't want to embrace the truth and they don't want to change. So saying such men will go to homes of such women and mess up their families and mess up their homes. And we know that there are such kind of men and such kind of women who willingly accept you and they come as we listen. They listen to the truth. But, you know, they say that they're happy where we are. You know, we're happy doing what we are doing. Don't expect us to change. Don't expect us to be transformed. We just want to engage and enjoy what we have been doing. And then he talks about this men of corrupt minds and he talks about Janus and Jambres who resisted Moses. Okay. So Paul is basically continuing to talk about these men the same time that he's been talking about him versus five and seven as well and was one to five. And so Paul compares these men to Janus and Jambres who resisted Moses and, you know, basically he's referring to the episode or the episode or the narrative in Exodus chapter 7 versus 17 to 13. When God tells Moses to go to Pharaoh and to speak to Pharaoh and to show the miracles by casting, you know, their war down and becoming a serpent. And we know that when Moses and Aaron obey God and they go before Pharaoh, you know, they put their rod and, you know, that the rod becomes a serpent. But Pharaoh is not alarmed by this. He just maybe mockingly laughs at them. And then he calls his vicemen and sorcerers, the magicians of Egypt, who also do the same thing, the same manner with their enchantments. Okay. And we know but, you know, Aaron's rod swallowed up all the other rods. And we know that Pharaoh's heart did grow hard and he did not heed to what God was telling him through Moses and Aaron. So basically, you know, these vicemen are these enchanters, the sorcerers in Pharaoh's palace where Janus and Jambres. Now, in the Old Testament account that we read in Exodus chapter 7 was 17 to 13. These two names are not mentioned. So the question that can arise in our minds is how did we learn about it? Or no, it was Janus and Jambres. So, you know, maybe it was, you know, he received, we know that Paul was well taught in the Torah. He studied under great men. One of them is a manial and he would have received this information from the ancient Jewish literature, which is most likely the case. But also, you know, he's writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit would have, you know, revealed this to the Apostle Paul. But whatever is the reason he writes these two names were part of Pharaoh's group where the vicemen, the sorcerers and the magicians. Okay. And we see that even though these men opposed and confronted Moses, you know, with their enchantments, not with their theology, but not with their doctrines or their discussions, but with their enchantments, the magic they did, you know, which they were doing it through the evil forces, the unseen dark forces. So Paul is saying in the last days, you know, there will be people who opposed the truth, just like these magicians of Pharaoh who opposed Moses. And basically their inspiration is coming from the unseen forces of darkness in the heavenly realms coming from demonic forces from evil. And, you know, this is a kind of opposition that the church would face, which Paul already, you know, is mentioned in 1 Timothy chapter 4. Okay. And so he's saying in the last days, this kind of opposition will come against the church, the people of God. And, you know, but you know, how did Moses or how did God work when, you know, he saw that, you know, hey, these magicians were just doing the same thing, the supernatural work that he had asked Moses to do. Do you think God was alarmed? Or did God say, oh, what do I do now? You know, or does he change his plans? Does he change his plans? Does he tell Moses to do something else? Or he changes his strategy? He says, okay, Moses, let's forget these, you know, the supernatural works because it's not working. Let's go on to, you know, some other strategy. Let's try debating and arguing and discussing with them. We see that God does not change his plans. The first three miracles that Moses did by the power of God, that is, you know, changing the role of becoming a snake, water turning into blood, frogs coming out of water, even the magicians and the sorcerers in Pharaoh's court or palace were able to do the same thing. But we see that God does not change his strategy. He does not tell Moses, let's try something else. But he, you know, God goes on with his, you know, the supernatural work with more plagues that he pronounces. And we see that, you know, the fourth plague that God sends, the magicians were not able to do the same thing. Okay, what did they say? They say, hey, this is a finger off. God, that means it's the power of God. Exodus chapter eight versus 18 to 19. So what can we learn from this incident that happened in the Old Testament? You know, of Moses encountering these magicians. James and Jefferson, you know, Pharaoh, what lesson can we learn as a New Testament church in the last days that we are living in? So something that we can learn is that, you know, if you and I are going to stand firm, if we are going to make a difference in this world in which we are living, then, you know, we need to stand against these kind of men who will rise up during these last days. And, and hence we see that there is a need for more of the power of the Holy Spirit. Okay. We need more of the power of the unanimous power of the Holy Spirit. It's not time for us to turn back and go away or try to do something else or, you know, engage in arguments and discussions and debates from the word of God. Yes, we need to speak the gospel, the truth from the gospel, but also we need, you know, to press in for more of the power of the Holy Spirit, you know, and tell God that we need more of the power of the Holy Spirit. And this is the only way we can stand up against what is coming against the church in these last days. Okay. So, you know, people can, you know, will do a lot of things through a cult through the powers of darkness, but, you know, they can go ahead and do what they want to do, but we know that they are no match to the power of God, because they will, they can progress to a certain limit, but no further. They will come to a limit where they can exhaust all of their sorcery, their magic, you know, and they will hit the limit. And when, you know, which they can do with just the power of the demonic forces, but, you know, there will be a time when they will encounter the power of God. And when they encounter the power of God, when the power of God will be manifested powerfully, you know, their foolishness will be exposed, you know, and because the power of God is much superior to the power of the demonic forces and they are no match for a God who is omnipotent, who is all powerful. So, Paul goes on to say, you know, from such men, you know, be, keep away from them. So, what are the kind of men? Men who resist the truth, men who oppose the truth, fight the truth, men of corrupt minds, men who are evil, you know, with sick minds who are thwarted or twisted in their thinking, in their understanding, men who are disapproved concerning the faith. Their faith is not real. It's false. It's worthless. It's counterfeit. And he's saying such men will progress no further. They won't go too far with what they can do. And such men's foolishness will be exposed. Okay. So, there are two important things that we receive from here, from these verses, is that even as we are in the last days, we need to press in for more of the supernatural power of God, for more cry out for more of the dunamis power of God and not go back, you know, when we don't, when we see others doing the same miracles, you know, coming against us, those people are coming against us doing the same miracles, but we don't move it. But we need to press in for more of God's dunamis power, more of the manifestations of the Holy Spirit being demonstrated and manifested in and through our lives. Okay. And second thing is that we must stand firm in our faith, you know, demonstrating a greater measure of God's power until the foolishness, foolishness of, and the worthlessness of those who oppose the truth are exposed. Okay. So, we keep pressing him, keep going on, you know, we keep asking God for more of his anointing, more of the dunamis, more of the power of the Holy Spirit till we come to a place where those who are trying to do the same science miracles and wonders through the power of the, through the evil power, you know, the power of Satan till that foolishness and their worthlessness is exposed. We keep going on. Okay. So, you know, we, as a church, we need to press in for more of the manifestation of God's power so that his greater power and his greater glory will be manifested and that is what ultimately happened in Egypt, even somebody who's heart hearted like Pharaoh bowed down to the power of God and let the people go. Okay. Any questions before we move on to verses 10 onwards? Okay. No, we'll move on. Verse 10, verse 11, you know, where Paul is telling Timothy that you have, that he has to be careful in following the doctrine, the manner of life, the purpose, the faith, long suffering, love and perseverance. He's saying in verse 10, but you have carefully followed, you know, my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, long suffering, love, perseverance, persecutions, afflictions, which happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Listra, what persecutions I endured and out of them all the Lord delivered me. So, Paul is telling, but he's starting this verse, he's saying, but you, you know, why is he saying but you? Because Paul has just basically described the kind of people that will, you know, kind of threaten the earth in the last days with whom, you know, the church must engage with, with whom the, with Timothy is, you know, must contend with struggle and cope with in his own day. But he's saying, but you, you know, he's just basically show that Paul is drawing a clear dividing line between Timothy and those who ruled, you know, or those who are going to rule the earth by demonic powers, by the power of the evil one in the last days. So he's telling Timothy that, Timothy, you had the privilege of working very closely with me. So, you know, Timothy had the privilege of working with Apostle Paul for close to 18 years. And we see that Paul, you know, treated Timothy as a son in the faith. You know, Paul let Timothy be closely associated with him so that he could see his, the way of his living, the way of his life, various aspects of his life, his ministry, how he does it. And Timothy carefully has observed Paul. He's also had the opportunity to listen to Paul's teaching and the way of life and to see the very purpose why he lives his life. The very purpose of his faith, his love for God, his love for the people of God, his perseverance and how he faced persecutions and hardships again. So why did Paul, you know, allow Timothy to observe his life so closely? Or why do you think Paul allowed people and his co-workers observe his life in ministry so closely? Any idea? Why? All of you with me in class, why did Paul allow his co-workers to, you know, observe his life in ministry so closely? I'll just share my thoughts. So I think the worst part is that he trained himself like an athlete so that... You can hear me? Yeah. In one of the worst parts is that he trained himself like an athlete so that he will never be ashamed. So I think he wanted the people to learn from him. He wanted himself to be the representative of everything that he's teaching. Yeah, that's what I feel like maybe he was confident in... He was not just there to preach, but he was practicing, training himself up in what he's preaching. And so, yeah, basically not just thought the gospel, he lived the gospel so he made them to observe his life. Thank you. Thank you, Jafeera. Anyone else? Because he wanted to train and teach them from his lifestyle? Yes. You know, at home, you know, who do we observe very closely? Children specifically, who do they observe very closely? Their parents, right? And their parents are very open with their children. But we don't see teachers being so open before their students. We don't see principals being so open before their students. We don't see our bosses being so open and free with their colleagues. But here, we see that, you know, Paul was not just, you know, ministering along with people. He was basically raising up sons and daughters in the faith. He was not raising up servants or ministers, basically of the gospel, but he was raising up, he was treating them as sons and daughters. So when you treat people like sons and daughters, you will raise up sons and daughters. If you treat people as servants, you would raise up servants. You will raise up servants. So, you know, it's important to note here that, you know, he was raising up sons and daughters. So sons and daughters, he was very open before them. He allowed them to look at various aspects of his life in a more deeper, in a very close way. And why was he, you know, why is it important for us to raise up sons and daughters and not servants? You know, because we studied this in the kingdom of God, you know, when we discipline servants, what will happen? When you discipline a servant, what will happen? What will happen if you discipline a servant? It's an easy question. What will happen if you discipline a servant? Any answers? When you discipline a servant, they get angry and upset with you. They'll say they're not coming the next day and they will go and work in another house, okay, in the same street or even the next door. But what will happen if you discipline sons and daughters? They'll be upset with you, but they will not leave home, right? Because that is their home. That is their house. They belong there. They come back. They might show their tantrums. They might be upset, but they know that it's their home. That's where they belong and hopefully they will be able to see right from wrong and obey, okay? And we also see that servants work for a reward, but sons and daughters will not get a reward, but they work because they belong. It is their house, okay? Servants receive a reward, but sons and daughters receive an inheritance. They receive the whole property. They receive everything that belongs to their parents, okay? So Paul was raising up not servants because he knew that the work of God had to continue. After he dies, the work of God continues and even Jesus was so mindful, right? In the very beginning Jesus was mindful that he's not going to be living here for eternity. He's going back to the Father, that he has to raise up people and that is why he chose to 12 and he had 12 with him always, everywhere that he went and all of the things that he was doing, even the parables which people could not understand, he explained it to his disciples. And we see the disciples continuing the work after Jesus slept and we see that Paul trained and raised up sons and daughters who were able to continue the good work just like he did after he died. So it's an important lesson that we all learn as people who are older and growing older that we need to, even as we look at our younger generation, new and children, we don't raise up servants but we raise up children, we raise up sons and daughters who will continue and advance the work of the kingdom of God even after we have God. And then he says in verse 12 that an old desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. So here Paul is saying, nobody is exempt from persecution. If you love the Lord, if you desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus, if you desire to build this kingdom, if you desire to pursue this call, then he's saying that you are not exempt from persecution. But then he says, but evil men in posters will grow worse and worse deceiving and being deceived. So Paul is reiterating the fact that what will happen in the last days and he uses the word imposters which actually is another word is wizards. Wizards are basically, you know, who are wizards, right? People who cast spells and they are, you know, involved with the occult men who are basically energized by demonic power. So they do various things to energize them with themselves with demonic powers, whether it's giving so many human, making so many human sacrifices, drinking human blood or doing various things just to, you know, receive those, be energized by demonic powers and we will see an increase of people involved with the occult with the supernatural magical powers and practices of the demonic, in the demonic world, okay? And these men will be deceived and will also deceive many. So even as we live in a world that is, you know, having these kind of imposters, men who are trying to energize themselves with demonic powers and it is very true, you know how much more as people of God we need to grow stronger and stronger in the truth, in holiness, in purity and also how much more we need to cry out in desire for the greater dunamis to work in and to our lives to be demonstrated in and through our life so that, you know, God's work and the visions of His Kingdom can move further and can overthrow the powers of darkness again. I know some of the parts of the world that you all come from, there's so much of occult, there's so much of black magic and witchcraft and all of that is happening. So, you know, and it's sad to see that people in the church are basically caught up with all of these things and lost in these things but so much more that we as ministers of God, you know, students of the Word of God, how much more we need to cry out and press in for the greater demonstration of the dunamis part of the Holy Spirit so that people can be pulled out from darkness into His marvelous light. And then Paul goes on to tell Timothy to continue in what he has learned. We'll move on to verses 14 and 15. He says, but you must continue in the things which you have learned and be assured of knowing from whom you have learned them and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. So, Paul is telling Timothy, continue in the truth because you know from whom you have learned it. So, he's saying you've learned it from you know to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. You've learned it from me, myself, Paul and also he mentions that he learned it from his grandmother and his own mother and from where he's also learned it from the Holy Scriptures. Timothy has been taught the Scriptures. Remember you know Paul did a good three years of ministry in places where he had this school in the Titus Hall and where he taught and mentored and you know trained all of these people like Titus Timothy, Titicus and you know Philemon and all of those people. So, he's saying you know remember from where you learned you learned it from the Holy Scripture which is the truth of God's word which has been in you again. So, two important lessons that we can learn from here is that you know we have to be people you know who can be trusted in what we say you know speaking the truth of God living the truth of God you know we have to be men and women of credibility you know when our message is credible you know our message is credible when we are living a life that is credible ourselves okay so our message is credible because we are credible and if people you know have to trust what we say they have to trust the way that we are living so they have to trust us and then they can trust what we say okay and also it's important another lesson that we learn here is that we need to establish people in the Holy Scripture and that is what Paul is telling Timothy you know teach the word of God teach the truth of God's word establish people in the truth in God's word and also live such a credible life such a holy life a righteous life so that no one can point a finger at you that's what he tells him in first Timothy you know let no one look down on you because you are young but an example to the believers in life in conduct and in speech he mentions that in first Timothy okay so that is also something that we need to do if people have to listen to us trust what we are saying and we have to be people who are living lives that are you know honoring in God's side and that is credible before God and man okay and then he talks with you know talking about scripture all scripture is you know good for equipping for life and for ministry okay verses 16 and 17 says all scriptures given by the inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine for reproof for correction for instruction in righteousness that the man of God may be complete thoroughly for every good work so Paul is basically pointing Timothy to the holy scripture and in in that time they had the Old Testament scripture and you know now we have old and the new so we are able to understand we have the complete revelation that is given to us in Jesus Christ and there is nothing more that God needs to reveal because Jesus Christ is a full a perfect sufficient revelation and that God has revealed everything through him and you know so he's basically we have the entirety of scripture with us you know and whole of scripture has been authored by the inspiration and the revelation of the holy by the Holy Spirit so all scriptures inspired by God which means it's God breath and the 40 different authors who wrote it in different time span some of them you know most of them never met each other but we see this unity throughout scripture it's because there was one author and that is the Holy Spirit who inspired the various authors who wrote it and they were moved by the Holy Spirit and they wrote it under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and that's what we read in 2 Peter chapter 1 verses 20 and 21 2 Peter chapter 1 verses 20 and 21 says knowing this that no prophecy or scripture is of any private interpretation for prophecy never came by the will of man but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit so how did scripture come to us how did scripture come to us how did scripture come to us 2 Peter chapter 1 verse 21 20 and 21 how did scripture come to us it did not come by the will of man it did not come by the sense that hey I want to write this I feel led to write this okay but it was written by holy men you know as they were moved by the Holy Spirit yes they wrote it in you know yes they were human they used human language in their cultural setting in their day and time but they were inspired by the Holy Spirit okay so Paul also mentions what this Holy Scripture does for us he says you know the word of God is useful for doctrine which means it's useful for teaching for learning it's useful for the proof means you know it's good to the word of God produces proof evidence conviction it's useful for correction it's it forms them and it transforms them it directifies the mistakes their sin their lies that they're believing it's useful for instruction which means useful for educating people training them nurturing them correcting them it's also useful to make people complete making them perfect and also equipping them getting them ready and getting them well prepared for the challenges for the things for the call of God in their lives okay so you know even as we are believers you know we need to give ourselves to studying meditating the Scriptures using the right tools for interpretation knowing what it is and using it and living by the Scripture not just reading the Scripture not just feeding on it not just interpreting but also living by the Holy Scriptures again so we need to give ourselves to studying and to living by the Holy Scripture and also give ourselves to teaching the truth in of God's word because you know we see how useful God's word is it's useful for doctrine to proof correction instruction to make a person complete making them perfect and equipping them for every good work okay so that is what Scripture does for us and how useful it is okay so that is chapter 3 anyone has any questions any questions any doubts I hope all of you are in class listening not thinking about the First Timothy assessment okay if there are no questions we will end class thank you all for joining class we'll continue with chapter 4 which is the last chapter in Second Timothy and then we'll move on to the book of Titus yeah thank you everyone have a blessed weekend and see you next Friday