2 timothy 3:12 explained
Even an unbeliever is acting unfairly unless he tries to read it. for reproof, for correction ( 2 Timothy 3:16 ), And how often the word of God has brought correction to my course of life. Let me remark, that there are comparatively few indeed that receive truth without help of others directly from God. It was the glory of the Jews that their children from their earliest days were trained in the law. Be assured, that if you do not bring the Spirit of God into these matters, perhaps your cloak, perhaps a book, will become a snare to you. "And in how many things he ministered unto me at Ephesus, thou knowest very well.". Yes, and everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. You may be able to deceive people for a while, but ultimately, it's going to catch up, even as it did with Jannes. They will maintain the outward form of religion, but they will deny its power. "Beloved, consider it not strange concerning the fiery trials which are to try you, as though some strange thing has happened to you" ( 1 Peter 4:12 ). It's instructing us in righteousness. So you have to be careful when you start chipping it away at one side because the whole thing will come down on you. Acts 13:50; Acts 14:5-6,Acts 14:19; Acts 16:1-2). It is the normal Greek word for difficult, but it has certain usage's which explain its meaning here. Now what is it that Timothy had so fully known in Paul? But the phrase may mean any future time, whether near or distant. "Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. The Kingdom had its price. Help me totake this verse seriously, that I will suffer persecution if I live godly in Jesus Christ. For that very reason it is unanswerable that, whatever a man might argue about the rest of the Bible, it is impossible for the Church ever to do without the Gospels. And so Paul said to Timothy, "You have fully known". He read them and never rested until he obtained the rest of the Bible. We live in a fallen world with a spiritual enemy who prowls around as a roaring lion or appears to us as an angel of light seeking to devour, destroy, or deceive us.Jesus clearly told us that in this world, those who believe in Him would suffer persecution and pain, and Paul expands that truth by adding that all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. This world is in rebellion against God. You're a pilgrim. that will, &c.Greek, "all whose will is to live," &c. So far should persecution be from being a stumbling-block to Timothy, he should consider it a mark of the pious. "Because ye are not of the world therefore the world hateth you" (John 15:19; Matthew 10:22,38,39). But then another thing. THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL It is the ability not to lose patience when people are foolish, not to grow irritable when they seem unteachable. The Christian life does not consist only in knowing something; it consists even more in being something. Story of Jonah has provoked a lot of problems for people, only because of their concept of God. We must remember that the scripture of which Paul is writing is the Old Testament; as yet the New Testament had not come into being. Why does the world hate Christians? It is derived from two Greek words which mean to show oneself above. Friday evenings, you know, everybody out looking for their weekend companion, incontinent, no sexual restraints. She had waded through book after book and laboured with philosophy after philosophy in an attempt to find satisfaction. Not only did he become a Christian; he devoted the rest of his life to the distribution of the Scriptures in the forgotten villages of northern Chile. There are persons who think that the approach of death is intended to blot out everything here. Two men were talking of a great satirist who had been filled with moral earnestness. (2Baruch 27). The Greek moralists wrote much about this word. There would come a kind of terrible flowering of evil, when the moral foundations seemed to be shaken. Paul completes the story of the things in which Timothy has shared, and must share, with him, by speaking of the experiences of an apostle; and he prefaces that list of experiences by setting down the quality of endurance. Love of self is the basic sin, from which all others flow. He tells such women that by his spells and incantations he can enable them to prophesy. This is evidently not the true remedy to abandon the confession of Christ: only an apostate could think of it. How are we to walk so as to please the Lord when disorder reigns, claiming to be the only true order? He glanced at it as he consigned it to the flames. The deterioration, rapid deterioration so that a mother has to worry when she sends her little child to school because she doesn't know what some kinky character might do, exposing themselves to that beautiful little child or even worse. That is, without any sexual restraints. B. A true insight would have made them recognise in Jesus the Messiah for whom they waited. By this general statement, therefore, Paul classes himself with the children of God, and, at the same time, exhorts all the children of God to prepare for enduring persecutions; for, if this condition is laid down for all who wish to live a godly life in Christ, they who wish to be exempt from persecutions must necessarily renounce Christ. Ephesus was called "The Treasure-house of the ancient world," "The Vanity Fair of Asia Minor." They worship self instead of God. Again, it is startling. It follows from this: (1) That they who make a profession of religion, should come prepared to be persecuted. It should be considered as one of the proper qualifications for membership in the church, to be willing to bear persecution, and to resolve not to shrink from any duty in order to avoid it. When Carlyle's father was discussing the kind of minister his parish needed, he said: "What this parish needs is a man who knows Christ other than at secondhand." No one can possibly mistake him. 6. Deliberately he lit it. They will be lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. Jesus said, "You do search the scriptures: because in them you think you have life; but actually, they are testifying of me" ( John 5:39 ). The closing chapter (2 Timothy 4:1-22) then gives his solemn charge, and at the same time his own expression of what was before him. Jambres. So the same Greek is used of the same thing, Lu 14:28, 33, "intending (Greek, 'wishing') to build a tower counteth the cost.". He wants to accustom his mind to expect hardship instead of shirking it. Shall we turn now in our Bibles to Second Timothy chapter three? I. He tells him further to "hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. Marks of Perilous Times; Excellence of the Scriptures. It was a kindred error, though in an opposite direction, to that which false teachers sought to infuse among the Thessalonians: there that the day of the Lord was come, producing panic; here that the resurrection was past, leading, to ease. Given the right conditions, such oppositions would be just as deadly as the great Roman persecutions. How Daniels Prophecy of 70 Weeks Connects to the End Times. 1 Paul, a an apostle of Christ Jesus b by the will of God according to c the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus,. Whether Timothy made it to Rome before Paul's execution is not known. shall suffer persecution; it is the will of God, and the appointment of heaven; Christ has foretold it, that so it shall be; and he the head has suffered it himself, and it is necessary that his members should, that they may be conformed unto him; it is the way Christ himself went to glory, and through many tribulations his people must enter the kingdom; and this is the common lot and certain case of all the saints, in one shape or another; for though all do not suffer confiscation of goods, beating, scourging, imprisonment, or a violent death; yet all are more or less afflicted and distressed by wicked men, and are subject to their reproaches and revilings, which are a branch of persecution; and that for professing Christ, and living a godly life in him and under his influence: and since such suffer as Christians, and not as evildoers; and this is the common condition of the people of God, in this world, it should not be thought strange, but be cheerfully endured; to encourage to which is the apostle's view in this passage. 3:14-17 But as for you, remain loyal to the things which you have learned, and in which your belief has been confirmed, for you know from whom you learned them, and you know that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that will bring you salvation through the faith which is in Christ Jesus. It is not the question of discipline dealing With evil ways; but here we are in a state of things where we are in danger of being mixed up with vessels unto the Lord's dishonour. Timothy fully knew Paul's good character, which he might gather from his doctrine, manner of life, and purpose; for he gave proofs of his faith (that is, of his integrity and fidelity, or his faith in Christ, his faith concerning another world, by which Paul lived), his long-suffering towards the churches to which he preached and over which he presided, his charity towards all men, and his patience. It describes the man who is swept on by passion and impulse to such an extent that he is totally unable to think sensibly. Some of you are separated not by your own desire or wish, but because someone was a trucebreaker. I thought you were, you know, the Son of God and smarter than that. But they do enshrine the permanent truth that some time there must come the consummation when evil meets God in head-on collision and there comes the final triumph of God. The scriptures are profitable to establish the foundation of my beliefs. The words that finally decided me were those in John 18:37: 'For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Timothy had a great advantage in being trained up under such a tutor, and being apprised of the doctrine he preached. Here is one of the most terrible pictures in the New Testament of what a godless world would be like, with the terrible qualities of godlessness set out in a ghastly series. There is a sense in which slander is the most cruel of all sins. Would you find it easier if it, if the account said, And a submarine surfaced and the captain got out on deck and, you know, they hauled Jonah in and they submerged again and headed towards Joppa and let him off the port. The Holy Spirit would make it to be most practical and precious. In simple fairness, no man seeking for the truth has any right to neglect the reading of the Bible. There is training. "The foundation of God standeth sure [or, the firm foundation of God standeth], having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. The reason is manifest: they themselves savour of the things of men, and not of God. Synonyms of the New Testament. "She then makes the effort to reward Marcus, not only by the gift of her possessions (in which way he has collected a very large fortune), but also by yielding up to him her person, desiring in every way to be united to him, that she may become altogether one with him." Traitors . Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. He was to communicate the things he had learnt of Paul, that they might be able to teach others also. Pride always begets insult. There is that in the scripture which suits every case. In this picture which Paul draws he is thinking in terms familiar to the Jews. With his or her commitment to follow Christ faithfully the Christian sets the course of his or her life directly opposite to the course of the world system. 12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 2. We have the practice and treatment of true Christians: they live godly in Jesus Christ--this is their practice; and they shall suffer persecution--this is the usage they must expect in this world. The coming of the Lord will in no way manifest the faithfulness of the servant; His appearing will. What is the excellency of the scripture. I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers," what singular language this from Paul! He is sure that God will rescue the man who puts his faith in him. Wow, watch out now because Jesus bought it. If you can read and buy the first verse of the Bible, you should have no problem with the rest of the Bible. Rather they are minimum requirements that otherwise suitable people must fulfil if the church is to recognize them as elders or deacons. But no man ought to separate himself from the children of God, unless it be a dire necessity for the Lord; it is clearly not according to Christ. And I will tell you what scriptures are inspired and which ones aren't. And so there comes that point where they will proceed no further: "their folly becomes manifest to all men", as Jannes and Jambres also was. The difference between the braggart and the man who is arrogant is this. Men will be without human affection (astorgos, G794) . Have you ever seen an age when people were more conscious of their own selves? 2 Timothy 3:12, NASB: Indeed, all who want to live in a godly way in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. And they use the book of Job as their proof text. Thus we have everything cared for here; the state of confusion is clearly depicted, as it then was beginning, and as results have proved yet more. We have sown the wind, now we're going to reap the whirlwind. [Note: Knight, p. As Shakespeare had it: "Good name in man and woman, dear my lord. Verse of the Day , 2 Timothy 3:12 Treasury of Scripture Knowing, God, My Praise (Study In God - All I Need-19). If, in any manner, or in any way, he is subjected to disadvantage on account of his religious opinions, and deprived of any immunities and rights to which he would be otherwise entitled, this is persecution. Observe, Timothy must continue in the things which he had learned and had been assured of. The best way to overcome and to banish the false is to live in such a way that the loveliness and the graciousness of the truth is plain for all to see. But, if one confesses the name of the Lord, the word is imperative: "let him depart from iniquity." THE DUTIES AND THE QUALITIES OF AN APOSTLE ( 2 Timothy 3:10-13 ). (3) if we are persecuted, we should carefully inquire, before we avail ourselves of this consolation, whether we are persecuted because we "live godly in Christ Jesus," or for some other reason. But let him not infer, therefore, that he is to be enrolled among the martyrs, and that he is certainly a real Christian. of But let not a man who will do this, suppose that he has any claim to be numbered among the martyrs, or even entitled to the Christian name. It is no accident that the first of these qualities will be a life that is centred in self. So if you want God to use your life, then thoroughly equip yourself in the Word of God, the study, the understanding.That's why we're here tonight. This shows in a clearer light the difference between the true teacher and the false. Timothy had been schooled in the Scriptures from his early youth by his mother and grandmother, and so as Paul began to, with the Scriptures, prove that Jesus was the Messiah, with Timothy's background, he could see the truth of it. Parakolouthein ( G3877) is indeed the word for the disciple, for it includes the unwavering loyalty of the true comrade, the full understanding of the true scholar and the complete obedience of the dedicated servant. One only meets Satan when traveling in an opposite direction! And in the end they shall perish together with them." The result would often be either that the woman broke off married relationships with her husband in order to live the ascetic life, or that she gave the lower instincts full play and abandoned herself to promiscuous relationships. My wife and I eat out quite a bit. He went home and found the fire was out. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:2, "But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every mans conscience in the sight of God." Again he said, "Lo, I have come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God" ( Hebrews 10:7 ). I refer to this just to remark that such links as these, which are connected with nature, all come before the apostle's mind, at the very moment when a spurious feeling would have judged it precisely the time to banish and forget them. The prophets and apostles did not speak from themselves, but what they received of the Lord that they delivered unto us. E. F. Brown has pointed out the danger of what he calls "intellectual curiosity without moral earnestness." 2 Timothy 3 Commentary; 2 Timothy 4 Commentary; HENRY ALFORD 2 TIMOTHY COMMENTARY The Greek Testament. This is God's attitude to men. Promotions are withheld, invitations are denied, and a snickering unpopularity are the daily portion of many precious souls working in a hostile, atheistic environment. But the apostle remembered it all, felt deeply for if not with him, and greatly desiring to see him once more. There can come a time in a man's life when the company of good people and the presence of good things is simply an embarrassment. (i) He says that the Scriptures give the wisdom which will bring salvation. Paul's life contrasted with the world. Or it can mean that a man is so dishonourable that he breaks the terms of the agreement he has made. Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. Noah, the earth was really flooded? Whose will is to live, or who are bent on living. Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But shun profane and vain babblings.". Men will be lovers of their own selves ( 2 Timothy 3:2 ). Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord" (there must, I suppose, have been some ground for the exhortation), "nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel, according to the power of God; who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began." At the same time He will have them undividedly for Himself; and He is also jealous of the way in which they seek even the ends of God. Thayer, Joseph H. Thayers Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament. Narcissism is at an all-time peak, but with lovers of yourself comes. That persecution which will properly furnish any evidence that we are the friends of Christ, must be only that which is "for righteousness sake" Matthew 5:10, and must be brought upon us in an honest effort to obey the commands of God. It is beyond argument that the Scriptures can convict a man of his error and convince him of the power of Christ. But we have also been supplied with many precious promises which reassure us that His grace is sufficient, His strength is perfected in our weakness, that suffering for Christ's sake is a privilege for the child of God, and that no amount of trials, tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, or the sword, is able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.May we grasp this truth in His strength, and remember that in this world we will have tribulation but that if we fellowship in the suffering of Christ, we will also be glorified with Him Who loved us so much that He died for us, that we might live for Him forever. He is now looking at the state of disorder in the house of God, instead of contemplating it in its public integrity, as in the first epistle. And there's such a complete, total absence of love. The task of the apostle is not only to tell men the truth; it is also to help them do it. Even if we look at Him so, He was raised from the dead. Commentary on 2 Timothy 3:14-17. A form of godliness, a profession of Christian faith without a godly life . Now these seem to many very difficult indeed to combine. And so Paul, you know, how I've lived; my faith, my longsuffering, my love, my patience, and the persecutions and afflictions that came to me. Afterwards he also speaks of his own work and of that which he was suffering. But thou hast fully known ( 2 Timothy 3:10 ), Now in contrast to this, boy, and what a contrast the Christian is to the world around him, and more and more, you know, more and more your lifestyle is different from the world. 2 Timothy 3 He preached in the same church as C. H. Spurgeon over one hundred years earlier. The nature of its doctrine was no way likely to command success: (1) it condemns all other religions, some established for ages; (2) it enjoins precepts ungrateful to flesh and blood, the mortifying of the flesh, the love of enemies, and the bearing of the cross; (3) it enforces these seemingly unreasonable precepts by promises seemingly incredible; not good things such as afford complacency to our senses, but such as cannot be obtained till after this life, and presuppose what then seemed impossible, the resurrection; (4) it predicts to its followers what would seem sure to keep most of the world from embracing it, persecutions. Certain of the temporary persecution, he is equally certain of the ultimate glory. It is not "the commandment," as of authority, but "according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus." What am I to believe about sin? It was a part of his lot. Had the Lord Jesus not sent him? Such offence can and does happen yet. It is used in Matthew 8:28 to describe the two Gergesene demoniacs who met Jesus among the tombs. It imagines "the faith" as something to be guarded (see 2 Timothy 1:14), lest it become corrupted or . "Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace." In the last days perilous times will come: The word translated perilous has the idea of troubles, difficulty, and stressful situations. He says that in them difficult times would set in. This I cannot but consider as a proof of want of faith. There were false teachers who were quick to take advantage of that. And the reason why he makes it so urgent not to be turned aside was, that the time would come when men would not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts they should heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they should turn away their ears from the truth, and should be. e Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.. Guard the Deposit Entrusted to You. He is the man whom God resists, for it is repeatedly said in scripture, that God receives the humble but resists the man who is proud, huperephanos ( G5244) ( James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5; Proverbs 3:24). The oldest Greek laws disfranchised the man who struck his parents; to strike a father was in Roman law as bad as murder; in the Jewish law honour for father and mother comes high in the list of the Ten Commandments. Here we find the perilous times fairly brought before us. One day they said to Jesus, Show us a sign. The braggart is a swaggering creature, who tries to bluster his way into power and eminence. 2 Timothy 3:12, NLT: Yes, and everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. 1. The essence of persecution consists in subjecting a person to injury or disadvantage on account of his opinions. It is something more than meeting his opinions by argument, which is always right and proper; it is inflicting some injury on him; depriving him of some privilege, or right; subjecting him to some disadvantage, or placing him in less favorable circumstances, on account of his sentiments. Paul said to Timothy. They will refuse to recognize the debt they owe both to God and to men. Don't start messing with it. 442.]. This might deter a sensitive saint from his duty. He might even seem to be humble; but in his secret heart there is contempt for everyone else. SEDUCTION IN THE NAME OF RELIGION ( 2 Timothy 3:6-7 ). First and foremost he has an aim in life. It is profitable to us for all the purposes of the Christian life, for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. The man who is huperephanos ( G5244) , said Theophrastus, has a kind of contempt for everyone except himself. There is peril when men assess prosperity by material things. Jewish thought had one basic conception. 10 million Ukrainians without power because of Russia. By it we are thoroughly furnished for every good work. The Greek is hupomone ( G5281) , which means not a passive sitting down and bearing things but a triumphant facing of them so that even out of evil there can come good. He lets Timothy know that while he laid this on others, he must look carefully to his own ways. And that's what creates the problem all the way through. Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, and led away with divers lusts, ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth ( 2 Timothy 3:5-7 ). "In a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour. Men will be inflated with conceit (tetuphomenos, G5187) . It follows from this: (1) that they who make a profession of religion, should come prepared to be persecuted. Regardless of the persecution, it is our duty to live in such a way that the world will know that we are Christians. "To Timothy, my dearly-beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. There is slander enough in many a church to make the recording angel weep as he records it. Thus he comforts Timothy at the same time that he admonishes him. And he was probably in the company of those that were standing around, sort of crying, as they saw Paul's limp body on the ground. Article Images Copyright 2023 Getty Images unless otherwise indicated. They still, you know, pay their respects. He did so to help him realize that he faced no unknown situation in Ephesus and to enable him to combat it intelligently. It answers all the ends of divine revelation. True, he is telling of something which happened later than this, but the wretched story would be the same (Irenaeus: Against Heresies, 1, 13, 3). How appropriate that "trucebreakers" is for this day. Activity of service was no longer before him. On his mother's side Timothy was a Jew, although his father had been a Greek ( Acts 16:1); and it is clear that it was his mother who had brought him up. Storge is the word used especially of family love, the love of child for parent and parent for child. There would be two ways in which these heretics in the days of Timothy could exert an evil influence. There is nothing that more shows God than His ability to combine that which is eternal with care for the smallest things of this life. As I read the things that are happening in our modern-cultured Orange County, as I read the reports from the social department on the child abuse, I just shake my head in disbelief because a person could not possibly do these things unless they were without natural affection. [ See verse text ] Persecution against godly people is to be expected in this world; it's one of the few constants in life (2 Timothy 3:12). James encourages us by explaining that those who persevere under trial, on the journey to maturity, will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him, and He exhorts us to consider it all joy, when we encounter various trials.There is an urgency in this final letter thatPaul wrote before his death, to remind us that ALL who live godly lives in Christ will certainly suffer persecution. Judaism had its divine institutions and hopes, but the truth is found in Christendom only: nevertheless in Christendom, who fails to discern Jewish elements and heathenish enormities? No man can teach what he does not know, and therefore before a man can teach Christ to others he must know him himself. The adjective used is philautos ( G5367) , which means self-loving. The early Church lived in an age when the time was waxing late; they expected the Second Coming at any moment. Now, it is doubtless as true as it ever was, that a man who will live as the Saviour did, will, like him, be subjected to some such injury or disadvantage. These things may be expected in the best times, and under the most favorable circumstances; and it is known that a large part of the history of the world, in its relation to the church, is nothing more than a history of persecution. Any conversion which makes a man think of nothing but the fact that he has been saved is no true conversion. If anyone proposes to introduce into his life a loyalty which surpasses all earthly loyalties, there are bound to be clashes. but they deny the power thereof: [Paul said to Timothy] from such turn away. They claimed that their children learned the law even from their swaddling clothes and drank it in with their mother's milk.