2 timothy 3:12 explained

If your God is big enough to create the heavens and the earth, no problem, but you see, we stumble on the very first verse. She had never tried the Bible, for a friend had convinced her by subtle arguments that it could not be true. fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, [and then] lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God ( 2 Timothy 3:3-4 ); The pleasuremania of the United States. Activity of service was no longer before him. It can never cease to be a Christian's duty to maintain the unity of the Spirit; but it is not maintaining the unity of the Spirit to couple with the name of the Lord that which is fleshly and sinful. Perilous Times 2 Timothy 3:1. Resurrection is the form and character of the lowest blessings of which Jesus is the dispenser; much more is He risen to exalt God in the highest. "The cloke," then says he, "that I left at Troas with Carpus, when thou comest, bring with thee, and the books," not only the clothing, but even that which he is to read, "especially the parchments;" what he was going to write on, probably. " Rejoice ( present imperative) and be glad ( present imperative ), for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us." 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 used in Matthew 8:28 to describe the two Gergesene demoniacs who met Jesus among the tombs. He says that in them difficult times would set in. It can mean that a man is so bitter in his hatred that he will never come to terms with the man with whom he has quarrelled. 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. And my full doctrinal concepts are premised upon the scriptures. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. There will always be those who have their own twisted ideas of the Christian faith, and who wish to win others to their mistaken beliefs. Get out your pen and take out the red, put the blue one. [2.] But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes. He was driven from Antioch in Pisidia ( Acts 13:50); he had to flee from Iconium to avoid lynching ( Acts 14:5-6); in Lystra he was stoned and left for dead ( Acts 14:19). Men would be headlong in words and action. Jesus said, "As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be at the coming of the Son of man" ( Luke 17:26 ). Paul's life: one of faith. He brings out the infinite value of the Scriptures, that is of what was written, the one transcendent resource for perilous times when we have not the presence and personal help of apostles. So I listened to that voice, and heard the truth, and found my Saviour.". Closely allied with the braggart, but--as we shall see--even worse, is the man who is arrogant. He is sure that in the long run it is better to suffer with God and the right than to prosper with men and the wrong. (ii) The Scriptures are of use in teaching. Narcissism is at an all-time peak, but with lovers of yourself comes. Yet. A. M. Chirgwin in The Bible in World Evangelism tells the story of a ward sister in a children's hospital in England. But the condition of the believers had deteriorated. This is unfortunate, since his works contain priceless gems of information that are found nowhere except in the ancient writings of the Jews. Now what is it that Timothy had so fully known in Paul? (i) He says that the Scriptures give the wisdom which will bring salvation. The same Spirit that breathed reason into us breathes revelation among us: For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men spoke as they were moved or carried forth by the Holy Ghost,2 Peter 1:21. Whatever therefore may be right in certain cases, the assembly of God ought never to be forced to put every case on the same dead level ought never to be bound by any special process, as if it were unalterable. The insult which comes from anger is bad but it is forgivable, for it is launched in the heat of the moment; but the cold insult which comes from arrogant pride is an ugly and an unforgivable thing. Christianity was cradled in Judaism and very naturally thought largely in Jewish terms and pictures. 2 To Timothy, d my beloved child:. 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. In that large heart which weighed so justly and with single eye, there was a deepening feeling as to all that he saw around him; there was a realizing of the importance of things of which he had said not a word before. Men will be treacherous. That is, it is not enough that I should walk with the Lord individually, but I must clear myself of association with that which is contrary to His name. Christianity changed all that and a new set of problems arose. Paul instructed Timothy concerning what God had revealed would take place in the last days. Lipscomb's Commentary on Selected NT Books, Verse 12. 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. Christian life is a life of purpose. 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. "Knowing especially the firm foundation upon which thou hast built, namely, that of the scripture (2 Timothy 3:15; 2 Timothy 3:15): That from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures.". Confirmed that Noah was a real person and it was a real event. Men will be savage. We must remember that Timothy's work lay in Ephesus, perhaps the greatest market in the ancient world. repentance from dead works and of faith toward God. Then the word went on to widen its meaning until it meant any braggart. The task of the apostle is not only to tell men the truth; it is also to help them do it. How is a man to walk in such a state of things as this? 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 ). Introduction; 2 Timothy 1 Commentary; In the second chapter he turns to another theme, he instructs and exhorts Timothy as to communicating (not authority, or status, or gift, but) truth to others. "The foundation of God standeth sure [or, the firm foundation of God standeth], having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And man has prepared a great fish and they powered it with atomic engines. He did so to help him realize that he faced no unknown situation in Ephesus and to enable him to combat it intelligently. For God hath not given us the spirit of fear" (it was what Timothy was manifesting), "but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. It's instructing us in righteousness. Thou hast fully known my afflictions. This might deter a sensitive saint from his duty. 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. It answers not a little to the kind of thing ,;et forth here. What a blessing. The disorder might be so great that we might make mistakes in our anxiety; but "The Lord knoweth them that are his." We should not be any more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive,Ephesians 4:14. 1:15; 4:9-12, 16) and facing imminent execution, Paul wrote to Timothy, urging him to hasten to Rome for one last visit with the apostle ( 4:9, 21 ). If Timothy would adhere to the truth as he had been taught it, this would arm him against the snares and insinuations of seducers. (4.) He said that one isn't inspired; obviously inspired. . It is interesting that the Scriptures in many places speak of the last days and in every case where the Scriptures speak of the last days, you find that it is an apt description of the day and the age in which we live. In fact, all who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. The New Testament had not yet been canonized. A word altogether unbecoming in one mouth might be most proper in another. In other words, the word of God is that which thoroughly prepares me for any work that God might have for me to do. More and more the Christian is a marked person because the more corrupt the world becomes, the more the Christian stands out. Thus he looks not to the coming of the Lord to receive him to Himself, but to the "appearing of the Lord," which is the usual side of the truth taken in these epistles. God wants us each to take His power, His love, and His calm thinking and overcome fear, to be used of Him with all the gifts He gives. "Put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit but to the subverting of the hearers. In 2 Timothy 3:13 he meant that evil becomes more intensive as time goes on. It is able to make us wise to salvation; that is, it is a sure guide in our way to eternal life. This he had known most extensively, but it was closed; no longer had he before him any prospect of having to fight the battles of the church of God. A book with a record such as it has cannot be disregarded. He warns Timothy of the fatal end of seducers, as a reason why he should stick closely to the truth as it is in Jesus: But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, c., 2 Timothy 3:13; 2 Timothy 3:13. You're in an alien world. 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. The first is the moral character of the source or channel whence Timothy had derived what he knew. In it we find the duties, the qualities and the experiences of an apostle. There was the great trade route from the Euphrates valley which came by way of Colosse and Laodicea and poured the wealth of the east into the lap of Ephesus. That is why the church which has no Bible Class is a church in whose work an essential element is missing. It is Paul's charge that such people are "willing to learn from anyone, and yet never able to come to a knowledge of the truth." Here is the essential conclusion. With this prospect he comforts Timothy no less than his own spirit; but at the same time he speaks as to joining him, with a glance at one that had forsaken him. This statement does not contradict what Paul said in 2 Timothy 3:9. thoroughly furnished unto all good works ( 2 Timothy 3:17 ). It is a duty in the present state of confusion to use scriptural means; and here we have our warrant, as in the epistles we find more. Years later that same brigand turned up again. 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. Paul goes on to other qualities of an apostle. And Paul said, You've known the Holy Scriptures, able to bring you to a faith in Jesus Christ, salvation through the faith in Jesus Christ. There was no despising natural links or spiritual here, far from it. Consider of whom thou hast learned them; not of evil men and seducers, but good men, who had themselves experienced the power of the truths they taught thee, and been ready to suffer for them, and thereby would give the fullest evidence of their belief of these truths." "I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. Accordingly, in much grief of heart, the apostle writes to his tried and trembling child in the faith, and seeks to strengthen him, above all things not to be discouraged, and to make up his mind to endure hard things. Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. They're profitable. Now these seem to many very difficult indeed to combine. 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 as we go down the list, it's like reading the afternoon newspaper. Proud member Observe, The scriptures will make us wise to salvation, if they be mixed with faith, and not otherwise, Hebrews 4:2. They just are irritated by your love and by your patience and by your goodness because they feel guilty. It has become their God and thus, they are guilty as those in the Old Testament who were worshipping Mammon, who, or rather Molech who was the god of pleasure. It's instructing you on the right kind of life. From , before, and , to deliver up.Those who deliver up to an enemy the person who has put his life in their hands; such as the Scots of 1648, who delivered up into the hands of his enemies their unfortunate countryman and king, Charles the First; a stain which no lapse of ages can wipe out. The woman, thrilled to the heart, does so and is deluded into thinking that she can prophesy. 13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. Men will be disobedient to their parents. You're a stranger. How are we to walk so as to please the Lord when disorder reigns, claiming to be the only true order? Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. They were said to be the two servants who accompanied Balaam when he was disobedient to God ( Numbers 22:22); they were said to have been part of the great mixed multitude who accompanied the children of Israel out of Egypt ( Exodus 12:38); some said that they perished at the crossing of the Red Sea; other stories said that it was Jannes and Jambres who were behind the making of the golden calf and that they perished among those who were killed for that sin ( Exodus 32:28); still other stories said that in the end they became proselytes to Judaism. 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. II. The scripture is a perfect rule of faith and practice, and was designed for the man of God, the minister as well as the Christian who is devoted to God, for it is profitable for doctrine, &c. Look at the lack, lackness. by George Whitefield. In the light of this warning from the Saviour, no Christian should be surprised at persecution. The word is almost exactly the English swelled-headed. Jambres. It is the word alazon ( G213) and was derived from the ale, which means a wandering about. If they had been more faithful, and more like their Master, would they have always escaped? And this, I believe, is much to be considered. I think we've gone just about as far as we can. If a man's goods are stolen, he can set to and build up his fortunes again; but if his good name is taken away, irreparable damage has been done. It can sometimes have the meaning of loyalty, or true religion. It is an immense blessing that we have the truth not only in a book, but in a practical shape, the truth that comes out of the heart and from the lips of living men of God. ( 2 Timothy 3:1) Perilous times in the last days . Negative and positive illustrations 3:8-13. Each one of these words in the Greek is an interesting word study. The reason is manifest: they themselves savour of the things of men, and not of God. In the Testament of Issachar, one of the books written between the Old and the New Testaments, we get a picture like this: "Know ye, therefore, my children, that in the last times. Trench, Richard Chenevix, D.D. Love of self is the basic sin, from which all others flow. They still, you know, pay their respects. The Christian emancipation of women inevitably brought its problems. In English we usually associate it with insult against God, but in Greek it means insult against man and God alike. Then the apostle brings out most important directions for the days that were then coming in, but now come, and more. and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution ( 2 Timothy 3:12 ). he was in Rome, he sought me out very diligently, and found me." "Lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God.". Without natural affection ( 2 Timothy 3:3 ). It is in terms of these last days that Paul is thinking in this passage. 2 Timothy 3:12 - Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible. It is Paul's conviction that the real follower of Christ cannot escape persecution. To report dead links, typos, or html errors or suggestions about making these resources more useful use the convenient, Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament, International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Et tous ceux aussi qui veulent vivre en la crainte de Dieu, Que rien ne luy est advenu que tous fideles ne doyvent aussi attendre. 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. All rights reserved. Having a form of godliness ( 2 Timothy 3:5 ). There were those who would revenge themselves on an enemy by informing against him. In these terrible days men will be slanderers. 2 Timothy 3:12, "Yes, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus, shall suffer persecution.". The prophets and apostles did not speak from themselves, but what they received of the Lord that they delivered unto us. Salem Media Group. Storge is the word used especially of family love, the love of child for parent and parent for child. In other words, they simply remain in spiritual infancy and keep repeating the first stage of their Christian faith, over and again, without pressing on to spiritual maturity.Many are falsely taught that becoming a Christian will secure a quiet life and provide a ticket to prosperity, with numerous earthly blessings and a free pass from God, to prevent or remove any difficulties or dangers that may arise. I. It is the ability to accept the folly, the perversity, the blindness, the ingratitude of men and still to remain gracious, and still to toil on. Every one who is of the truth hears my voice.' Oh I know it costs more but . Paul refers to his own experiences to illustrate the truth that the person who whole-heartedly follows God must expect persecution. Therefore, isolation is never desirable, though it may be sometimes necessary. Yea, and all that would live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. Whatever duty we have to do, whatever service is required from us, we may find enough in the scriptures to furnish us for it. A form of godliness, a profession of Christian faith without a godly life . What is the excellency of the scripture. The cause of this is the present confusion, and accordingly the apostle brings a picture of it before Timothy's mind. Paul's life: one of longsuffering, one of love and one of patience. In those days trade tended to flow down river valleys; Ephesus was at the mouth of the River Cayster, and commanded the trade of one of the richest hinterlands in all Asia Minor. It is easy for a professed Christian to avoid persecution, if he yields every point in which religion is opposed to the world. They were never meant to be anything else but visions; we do violence to Jewish and to early Christian thought if we take them with a crude literalness. It is true that these things happened before the young Timothy had definitely entered on the Christian way, but they all happened in the district of which he was a native; and he may well have been an eyewitness of them. It may well be that the greatest handicap to Christianity is not the scarlet sinner but the sleek devotee of an unimpeachable orthodoxy and a dignified convention, who is horrified when it is suggested that real religion is a dynamic power which changes a man's personal life. They must not lie by us neglected, seldom or never looked into. (v) Paul makes a final point. One dark night in a forest in Sicily a brigand held up a colporteur at the point of a revolver. 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. The sister was persuaded to read a copy of St. John. Indeed it may be well to remark here, that we never read of Timothy appointing bishops or elders. He speaks of "all God-inspired scripture." godly, Godfearingly. There was infirmity in the character of Timothy. Oh, Jesus, you mean you believe that story? Product Information. "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise." Nowadays we have to restate these old pictures in modern terms. (8) Using the boldness God gives, don't be ashamed of the imprisoned apostle. Things were so bad that Tacitus could say: "He who had no foe was betrayed by his friend." All that will live godly So opposite to the spirit and practice of the world is the whole of Christianity, that he who gives himself entirely up to God, making the Holy Scriptures the rule of his words and actions, will be less or more reviled and persecuted. THE EXPERIENCES OF AN APOSTLE ( 2 Timothy 3:10-13 continued). The whole idea is that of thoroughly fitting you as an instrument that God can use. but they deny the power thereof: [Paul said to Timothy] from such turn away. When we know the afflictions of believers only in part, they tempt us to decline the cause for which they suffer. Even an unbeliever is acting unfairly unless he tries to read it. A great many certainly flatter themselves that they are thus favoured; but the cases are uncommon where it is more than pretence. In vain shall we endeavor to detach Christ from his cross; for it may be said to be natural that the world should hate Christ even in his members. (4) Let those who have never been persecuted in any way, inquire whether it is not an evidence that they have no religion. And indeed the world easily wears that mask of religion which depends on itself; but the piety which flourishes directly from, is very hateful, as it was to the old Jews, so to the modern Christians, who are without any token of good, Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers. And that is precisely what Christianity demands that a man should do. In the days between the Old and the New Testaments many Jewish books were written which expanded the Old Testament stories. i. I think the next major event, Revelation 4:1 . 3. Thayer, Joseph H. Thayers Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament. In the terrible times men will be so set on self that even the closest ties will be nothing to them. There is no occasion for the writings of the philosopher, nor for rabbinical fables, nor popish legends, nor unwritten traditions, to make us perfect men of God, since the scripture answers all these ends and purposes. 2 Timothy 3:12, NASB: Indeed, all who want to live in a godly way in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. The world is full of these braggarts to this day; the clever know-all's who deceive people into thinking that they are wise, the politicians who claim that their parties have a program which will bring in the Utopia and that they alone are born to be leaders of men, the people who crowd the advertisement columns with claims to give beauty, knowledge or health by their system, the people in the Church who have a kind of ostentatious goodness. When we know the afflictions of good people but in part, they are a temptation to us to decline that cause which they suffer for; when we know only the hardships they undergo for Christ, we may be ready to say, "We will renounce that cause that is likely to cost us so dear in the owning of it;" but when we fully know the afflictions, not only how they suffer, but how they are supported and comforted under their sufferings, then, instead of being discouraged, we shall be animated by them, especially considering that we are told before that we must count upon such things (2 Timothy 3:12; 2 Timothy 3:12): All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution: not always alike; at that time those who professed the faith of Christ were more exposed to persecution than at other times; but at all times, more or less, those who will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. "No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life" (he must be unencumbered, and undivided in his object); "that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. McLean, Virginia: MacDonald Publishing Company, n.d. Wuest, Kenneth S. Wuests Word Studies From the Greek New Testament. Timothy's job, for the sake of the future, involves more preservation than innovation. The age of children is the learning age; and those who would get true learning must get it out of the scriptures. We should be asking: what, if any, is the unifying purpose which binds all this activity together? 2. menin the professing Church. 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. 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. Just to go line upon line, precept upon precept, plodding right straight through the word of God. This I cannot but consider as a proof of want of faith. I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers," what singular language this from Paul! Timothy was well aware of this, even before he joined Paul in his work. Lear's words remain true: "How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is. They should remember that, in this respect, they are treated as the Master was, and are in the goodly company of the prophets, apostles, and martyrs; for they were all persecuted. 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 ). Well, Jesus has and He told us what to, what it's about in Luke, the sixteenth chapter. Boy, I'll tell you, I don't know. Timothy needed to realize, as all Christians do, especially those to whom "prosperity theology" appeals, that when a person determines to live a godly life he or she will suffer persecution. It instructs us in that which is true, reproves us for that which is amiss, directs us in that which is good. 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. Now they're right out where little kids can go in and pick them up and leaf through them. So from his earliest childhood Timothy had known the sacred writings. Don't start trying to cut out certain stories because they don't fit your scheme because you have a little hard, you have a hard time sort of believing that. We must remember that they were Gnostics and that the basic principle of Gnosticism was that spirit was altogether good and matter altogether evil. Blasphemia is the word which is transliterated into English as blasphemy. The Holy Spirit would make it to be most practical and precious. In these last terrible days men will come to have no love for good things or good persons (aphilagathos, G865) . The promise of the Messiah, the details of the Messiah, they are all there.

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