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[0:00] Would you join with me as we stand together and we read the word of God with one another. Found in 2 Timothy chapter 3, starting in verse 1. We'll go down to the first verse 9 for our context this morning.

[0:12] And then we will pray. The word of God says, but realize this. That in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.

[0:44] Holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power. Avoid such men as these. For among them are those who enter the households and captivate weak women, weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

[1:05] Just as Janice and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also opposed the truth. Men of depraved mind, rejected in regard to the faith. But they will not make further progress, for their folly will be obvious to all.

[1:20] Just as Janice and Jambres' folly was also. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for this day. We thank you for the opportunity we have of gathering together as a church, to lift our voices up in song, to enjoy fellowship with one another.

[1:36] Lord, what a privilege it is to read the word of God. Lord, as we have read it and heard it, we pray now you speak to our hearts and minds in it. We pray that you would do a mighty work within each and every one of us, that you would not only give us understanding, but Lord, give us the application and the desire to live it out for your glory and honor.

[1:56] We do continue to pray for Robert and Robert as they share the gospel message even now to the students. And we pray, Lord, that you go before them, that you open hearts and minds as they hear the word of God played out in front of them.

[2:10] We pray that they be receptive of that gospel message. Lord, we pray that you guard them and those that are with them, laboring with them from the attacks of the enemy that are all around them. We pray, oh Father, that you guard our hearts, that you guard our minds, that you focus our attention.

[2:24] Lord, help us to see you high and lifted. Lord, help us not to be distracted by all that's around us. But may you be the center of our attention, our focus, and all of our hope and glory found in Christ and Christ alone.

[2:36] We ask it all in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. As we have made our way through the book of 2 Timothy, we have seen the difference between it and 1 Timothy.

[2:50] In application, we have seen that 1 Timothy has direct application as to what it looks like when the people of God are gathered together as the church of God, which is the household of faith.

[3:01] We have seen that in 1 Timothy, Paul is instructing Timothy how he should raise up elders and deacons and leaders within the church so that the church would know how to conduct itself. And we make the transition when we get to 2 Timothy.

[3:15] And Paul, not that he has forgotten about the church, but he knows that the church is comprised of individuals. So in 2 Timothy, Paul is encouraging Timothy how he ought to conduct himself, and by way of application, how we too as individual believers of Jesus Christ ought to conduct ourselves in the world in which we have been placed.

[3:35] The church needs to know how to uphold the truth. The church needs to know how to be the pillar of that truth in the society which is antagonistic against it.

[3:46] But just as much as the corporate body needs that encouragement, so too does the individual believer. While we understand that God unites us and connects us with others, and he builds us up as a spiritual household so that we may be those who display the truth, we do know that the foundation of that building is not found in man, but it is found in Christ.

[4:09] But the structure of that building is dependent upon the individual lives of the believer. So it is very becoming, and it is very befitting that each individual know how they should live out their faith in that world because the strength of the corporate body is really only determined by the strength of the individual saint.

[4:30] Just as when we studied the Old Testament, we know that no sin exists in isolation, that sin affects a greater multitude. So too, no strength exists in isolation.

[4:44] So the strength of the individuals becomes the strength of the body. Paul would say it in other passages in the New Testament that the giftedness of the individual is for the benefit of the body.

[4:56] That is, your spiritual gifts have been given to you, not so that you may exhibit them and display them and you would feel better about yourself, but rather your spiritual gifts have been given to you by your Heavenly Father so that they may benefit those that are connected to you, that is, the body of Christ.

[5:14] They are given for the benefit of others. And so because of that, we need to know how we should live. Paul has encouraged Timothy to be strong in the grace that it is in Christ Jesus.

[5:26] Paul is writing here his last letter as he is sitting in the prison cell. He is awaiting his imminent death. He is already, as he says here very shortly in this passage, being poured out as a drink offering.

[5:39] And here, he helps Timothy, as many say when we read this, we see Timothy in his timidity. We see him in his reservation. We see him over and over again in both of these letters that Paul is encouraging him to be strong, to be the man, to be the person that Christ has called him to be.

[5:57] And it is encouragement for each one of us that we ought to be strong in who we are called to be for the glory and the sake of the King, not for the comfort of the individual. But unfortunately, what has happened in our world is we think that faith exists more for our comfort than it does for the display and declaration of his glory.

[6:15] And so what Paul is telling Timothy, he is telling us as believers to do as well. Not to live for the sake of personal comfort, but to live at the expense of comfort for the sake of the glory of the one who has called us.

[6:27] He says in the second chapter that we ought to be those as a soldier enlisted in warfare. We ought to be the farmer who is laboring hard and awaiting a reward. We ought to be those who are committed.

[6:39] And then he reinforces this declaration in the third chapter, verses one through nine. I want you to see this morning what Paul is encouraging Timothy to do and also what he is encouraging us to do.

[6:52] I want you to see grasping the reality of the times. Grasping the reality of the times. Paul opens up this passage in verse one and says, but realize this.

[7:06] Now this seems to be odd because Paul is calling attention to something which he has already declared. If we just take the writings that he wrote to Timothy and we see that over and over again, Timothy is told that all those who proclaim Jesus Christ will suffer.

[7:22] Paul is writing from a prison cell, so it ought to be very apparent that it is no longer easy to be a believer. Paul has told Timothy to not be weak, but to be bold in the faith.

[7:33] Even in first Timothy, he has told Timothy not to be ashamed of his youthfulness. Here in this letter, he tells him repeatedly that it is difficult to walk faithfully in that day.

[7:45] But yet he calls attention to what he is about to declare and he calls special attention to it and says, but be aware or realize this. The first thing that we need to see is the difficulty of the days.

[8:00] As we understand the times, we need to understand the difficulty of the days. He says, but realize this or be aware of this. He is calling special attention to it so that Timothy would stand up and take notice.

[8:16] This is something that should not have to be said, but it is said. In the last days, difficult times will come. And some of us say, oh, well, I know that as we go further and further throughout history and when we get nearer to the book of Revelations and we get nearer to what is going on there, in the last days, difficult times will come.

[8:37] If you were with me, when we went through the great book of the Old Testament, the book of Judges, a book that doesn't make us feel good about ourselves, a book that really doesn't make us feel good about mankind. Really, if there's only one that makes us feel any worse, it would be Lamentations or possibly the book of Job.

[8:52] But all of them declare the greatness of the Lord God Almighty. There's a theme in the book of Judges. If you went with me through that, if not, you ever want to go listen to it, it's there. But the book of Judges, in those days there was no king in Israel and every man did what was right in his own eyes.

[9:06] That refrain is repeated five times in the last few chapters of the book of Judges. And the book of Judges shows us when there's no king in the land, when man does what is right in his own eyes, what happens? And if you remember the book of Judges, there is the downward spiral.

[9:20] Man is not progressing, but rather he is digressing. It starts out in the book of Judges that there arose another generation who knew not Joshua and the men who reigned with him. And then we go further and we go further and we go further and we go further until we get all the way to the last few chapters where the nation of Israel is enraged in conflict with one another and they're seeking to annihilate one of their own tribes and people are sawing one another in half and mailing them throughout the territory.

[9:45] How did we get here? Because in those days there was no king in Israel and every man did what was right in his own eyes. And if you remember when we looked at the book of Judges, you said, Pastor, we're not looking at Judges.

[9:55] Right. But if you remember that what we saw in the book of Judges was really a picture of what history is. Contrary to what mankind tells you, friend, listen to me, contrary to what mankind tells you, man is not advancing and progressing.

[10:12] We are digressing. We are not in an upward trajectory. Rather, we are on a downward spiral. With each passing generation, we are moving further and further and further away from the garden.

[10:31] And as we move further and further away from when man walked in the cool of the day and sweet fellowship with the Lord God, we are digressing. We are not progressing. There are, sure, things that make life easier.

[10:44] But is that the aim of mankind? Is the goal and purpose of man to make life easier? No. The scripture tells us the goal and purpose of man is to worship the Lord his God and to obey him in all that he does.

[10:57] And if we're to be honest, ease is not the thing that is very beneficial to that. Rather, ease becomes a hindrance to that. So what we understand is that man is not progressing.

[11:10] We are digressing. But Paul says, but realize this, that in the last days, difficult times will come. We need to understand what are and when are those days.

[11:25] Bible commentators will tell you, and I believe rightfully so, that if you go to the book of Acts and you open up the early pages of the book of Acts, you see Acts chapter 2, which is the birth of the church, right? The church is born and we see the glory of the church and her new birth.

[11:39] And we see Peter preaching that message of Pentecost. And Peter stands up and Peter quotes a passage of scripture in the Old Testament from the book of Joel. And in the book of Joel it says, and in these last days, the spirit will be poured out upon the sons and daughters of men and they will prophesy.

[11:55] And Peter says, the last days have come. So friend, listen to me. If Peter saw Pentecost as the beginning of the last days, then we are already in the last days.

[12:10] See, the last days really is not a timetable for us to try to determine when the church will be raptured, when the second coming of Christ is. The last days is a biblical statement of the time that exists between Jesus' first coming and Jesus' second coming.

[12:26] Everything in between is, according to scripture, the last days. And from the time that he came and introduced the kingdom of heaven to man until the time that he comes and he brings the kingdom of heaven down to man, we are in the last days.

[12:40] And in those days, it says, difficult times will come. So you were born in the middle of difficult times and you will live the entirety of your life unless God calls you home by the rapture or the appearance of Christ.

[12:54] You will live the entirety of your life during the last days. And the word difficult there is a very unique word in scripture, understanding the difficulty of the days.

[13:08] The word means, to put it bluntly, hard to bear or an animal that is out of control. It is the word that is used elsewhere in the New Testament when Jesus met the two demoniacs in the garden.

[13:23] It says that they were difficult, hard to bear, that no man could contain them nor would any man approach them. The word used to describe those two demoniacs is the same word here.

[13:35] It is difficult. Now that's assuring because I'll tell you, this is good news. There is good news in this. The days are hard to bear. No man can approach them. But Jesus walked up to the demoniacs and cast the demons out.

[13:46] Remember that? So he walked up to the very thing that is a display of the days in which we live. We need to understand that this is the season.

[13:58] We're not looking for days to get any worse. We are living in the days when it is difficult. And Paul is reminding Timothy of this.

[14:10] One translator, I love how he put it, why did Timothy need to be reminded of this? Because Timothy might have said, well, this season may pass. Maybe if I'm silent for a season, the time will come and the day will get easier that I can be bold about my faith again.

[14:24] Paul is telling Timothy, it's never going to get better. Friend, listen to me. We're not ever going to go back to the good old days. It's not going to get any better. And if we're trying to hold out until it does, then what we're trying to do is coward under the pressure of the season.

[14:42] And the reason that we'll never go back to the good old days is because they don't come until Jesus comes back. The good old days are not when we think they were. They are when man was walking with God in the cool of the Garden of Eden.

[14:57] Those were the only good days. And you find them in the very first chapters of the book of Genesis. But once you get past Genesis 3, listen, the good old days are gone.

[15:09] We have started a downward spiral from that moment on. We need to understand the difficulty of the days and by understanding it, we need to realize this.

[15:19] This is it. We need to know it. And we need to accept it and say this is the season that God has placed us in. And praise be to God he's given us this season. Don't wait for it to get any easier.

[15:32] Don't say, oh, if I just endure it a little bit longer, maybe the time will be, maybe there'll be a more convenient time to be a bold Christian. It's not coming. Today is the day that we have been given.

[15:46] Understanding the difficulty of the days. Number two, I want you to notice why the days are difficult because look at the degree of their rebellion. What defines or what describes the difficulty of the days?

[15:58] What makes the days hard to bear? It may surprise you and the reason it may surprise you is because, like me, you may find yourself in a lot of these. And then you may come to the realization, maybe I am the thing that's making the world hard to bear.

[16:15] You say, oh, pastor, it's not me. Well, let's read through the list because it says difficult times will come for men. By the way, what is the cause of the difficult days? For men, that word there, ladies go, oh, I'm off the hook here.

[16:30] Wait a minute. Men, again, is that word that means mankind. I looked it up just to make sure it wasn't our fault, men. A little bit later we come to blame, okay? We come into the picture just a little bit later, just a couple verses down, but up until this point, listen, this is all of mankind.

[16:45] This is what makes the days difficult. But so that you understand it's our fault. Okay, you can say that these are not good days because it's our fault. It's okay to acknowledge that.

[16:56] We've done it. It is our behavior. Look at what it says. For men will become lovers of self. Now, there are at least 18, some count 19 here, but at least 18 characteristics, but listen to them.

[17:11] They will become lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.

[17:30] How do we understand what is the degree of the rebellion? Well, it's bracketed by the first one and the last one. Look at what it says. They will become lovers of self and not lovers of God.

[17:44] To what degree will they rebel and to what degree do we rebel and to what degree do we make this world a place hard to bear? When we are absorbed in this thing called self-love.

[17:59] They will become lovers of self and not lovers of God. The mandate of Scripture is what? To love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your being, with all of your mind, and with all of your strength.

[18:11] And to love your neighbor as yourself. The command of Scripture is to love the Lord your God, to love your neighbor as yourself and then maybe you can think about yourself after that.

[18:23] But the way of the world is to love yourself, to love your neighbor and if you have anything left over throw a little love towards God. But make sure you love yourself first.

[18:36] Because the world will tell you no one takes care of you but you. You do you, man. You take care of you and you love people around you and if you have anything left over give God some.

[18:46] The problem with that again as many have noticed self is the equation but people are always in the middle. People get caught in the middle of this all the time. They're either in the middle of being the lovers of God and the lovers of others then the lovers of self or they're in the middle the people around you or you love yourself you love them and then you love God.

[19:07] It depends on where you put yourself in the equation of how they are treated. Because look at what it says. Men that are lovers of self are lovers of money boastful and arrogant and revilers.

[19:18] They're boastful and arrogant lovers of money boastful and arrogant that means they are caught up in pride. Men that are lovers of self are revilers disobedient to parents ungrateful unholy unloving irreconcilable malicious gossips that means they don't treat other people the way they ought to.

[19:35] Men that are lovers of self are without self control they're brutal haters of good treacherous reckless conceited lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God which means they don't want to have anything to do to help others.

[19:50] See the extent and the degree of the rebellion is not that they're out there doing all these bad things it's the degree into which we love ourselves. We like to list rebellion and wrong and sin by categories and in those categories we like to say well if you do this this or this or this you're worse off than if you do these things over here but Paul defines the degree of rebellion by how much we love ourselves over how much we love the Lord God.

[20:22] They become lovers of self rather than lovers of God and in doing this they make the world a hard place to bear because I promise you my friend we don't make the world any better when we look out for ourselves and we're not helping anybody out at that point.

[20:49] This sacrificial living this sacrificial giving is something that is becoming very abnormal today but the gospel is the thing that reorients our life it calls us back to the priorities of man it calls us back to the reality that we are to love the Lord God we are to love others and then we ought to be concerned for self but it is the degree of the rebellion you don't have to get very far before you see how far this has went it has crept in every aspect of society it has crept into every home it has crept into every every individual it's just a matter of the degree that we let it take on number three we notice the difficulty of the days the degree of the rebellion number three look at the denied power now this is where it becomes really telling it says in verse five holding to a form of godliness now astounding about this passage is that Paul is not referring to non-believers or those outside the church what Paul is writing he is writing by word of caution to Timothy concerning those within the church he is not saying that the days will be difficult because people in the world will love themselves listen man has loved himself since the very beginning of creation the fall of man was a reality of seeing of the fruit of the garden of the tree of evil and seeing that it looked good to satisfy one's own desires and to be more concerned about self and to take from it and to eat from it men have been lovers of themselves from the very beginning it is not the reality that the world loves themselves that makes the days go downward rather it is those who hold to a form of godliness this is those are religious people these are people

[22:53] Paul would say are in the church these are people almost define this by the way this sermon as understanding our mission field until I realized that Paul wasn't writing about the mission field Paul was writing about the church he wasn't writing about the world and those things that take place in the world rather he was wanting you to understand the reality of the times that not all those who hold to a form of godliness are godly I hope you understand that I hope you are very cautious in the teaching that you listen to and the instructions that you sit under I hope you check me I hope you go to the word of god and see if the word of god says everything that comes forward from the behind this pulpit I hope that you're very careful and cautious with everything that comes into your world as far as your teaching that you receive the books that you read and I know

[23:56] I've said this a brother gives me a lot of books he says I'm kind of hesitant to give you books anymore pastor because you talk about books you throw away he said if it's not fitting throw it away I said brother it's okay I trust your discernment I said but if I think it's theologically wrong I probably won't give it to anyone because I understand that I hope that you have that caution I hope that you have that that care because listen to this all that proclaim godliness are not godly there are a multitude of people who hold to a form of godliness you say well how do I know if they're just holding to the form but denying the power thereof if the godliness they hold to increases the things that we just read if their godliness causes them to love themselves more if their godliness is beneficial for their love of money if their godliness causes them to be boastful if their godliness causes them to be arrogant if their godliness causes them to be revilers if their godliness causes them to be disobedient to parents ungrateful unholy unloving irreconcilable malicious gossips friend listen then it is godliness without the power see you have here the litmus test to say well are they genuine believers you say oh pastor we're told not to judge you're right you are told not to judge unto eternal damnation that is not your calling that is you don't sit on the judgment seat of christ only christ sits there but you are told paul says what do i have to do with judging those who are in the world do i not judge those who are in the church right that is to have a discernment not to cast out you have no right to look at a brother and sister and say oh well you're you are eternally condemned but you can discern you can question and you can say my brother my sister i'm i'm concerned about your profession but where does judgment begin first look what the godliness that you profess does in your own life right is it causing these things to abound more and more in your own life well then you're holding to a form of it but denying the power so what is the power of godliness because there are a lot of people who preach godliness who declare godliness who love this word power it's oh i'm godly it makes me powerful no it's the power thereof that is the power that is self-contained in godliness there's no power in me or no power in you but it is the power that is self-contained power that derives from itself what does godliness do godliness makes us righteous it purifies us it cleanses us it renews us it restores us if that which we profess is not causing us to be more christ-like if it is not causing us to be molded and conformed more and more to the glory of christ then we're not living in the power of the gospel the longer we profess the gospel we don't become more prideful the longer we profess the gospel the more we realize we need the gospel i've been a believer now longer than i was a non-believer but i lived long enough as a non-believer that i understood what life could be like i came i became a christian shortly before i turned 21 i'll be 45 this year and i understand the reality but after these years one thing i know i need a savior more today than i needed him then i know more

[27:58] of myself now than i knew of myself then because of this thing called the gospel and the power of the gospel is that it's not a one-time event that it does its work and it leaves you alone the power of the gospel is that it's a relationship with jesus christ and the longer you walk with him the more he conforms you the more he shapes you the more he he molds you and the more he moves you and the more you have to get rid of this and this and this and all of a sudden the godliness contains the power thereof it is the power to cause you to give up things you never would have given up oh this this past week i've had people testify to me i've had i've met with people in their conversations one on a phone call one in person and each of them testified the same thing say you know you know pastor when the first time i sat down and talked to you there were all these things that you probably didn't agree with what i said but you didn't say anything pastor you just kept kept pointing me to the word kept pointing me to the word kept pointing me to the word said the more i read scripture the more i understand wow there's some things i have to give up well now who told him to give them up not me i didn't do it why because if you come to me and say pastor should i do this or should i do that you know what i'm not going to do i'm not going to look at you and give you a list of check marks and say don't do these things and you'll be okay you know what i'm going to do i'm going to tell you to get into the word of god and you come back to me and tell me what you think and when you come back to me after reading scripture now if you come back to me and you say well pastor i haven't read the word of god and i'm gonna say okay then we're going to read it together but if you're getting into word this is what i believe i believe that the word of god if you get in the word of god the word of god are getting you and all of a sudden what needs to happen and you he'll do it and i don't have to you know what that does that frees me from responsibility i don't make you godly because i can't i'm having a hard time being godly myself but the spirit of god through the word of god as we walk with the son of god can produce within us a righteousness that we can never attain to so what is godliness with power it is godliness where we surrender ourselves where self is moved out of the way and we say here lord jesus do what you want to with me and you look up one day and say wow how did i get here you notice what you don't know you're not talking about yourself you're not saying well i did this and i did that and i got rid of this and i did that no everything friend i've ever given up that's why i say when we sing i surrender all i don't like singing i surrender all with our faces all ho-hum and gloomy and doomy like it's something terrible everything i've given up christ has given me so much more in return i surrender all i give up my filthy rags and my my dirty things and christ gives me righteousness and gloryness and the crown and rewards in heaven right what do i give up that is worth keeping in comparison to what he gives me nothing it is not about what i gave up but it's rather it's about what he has given friend listen to me there are people who deny the power they want the form of godliness they want to look the parts because it fits their objective of self but they don't want the power of godliness and what does paul say avoid such men as these that's pretty clear avoid such men as these friend i don't tell you this much but if you meet a professing christian that their godliness is only for self-benefit avoid such men as these that's pretty black and white if it becomes all about themselves then walk away number four look at the deception of others why do you avoid them he's all we know i ought to reach them oh they're already denying the power of godliness what is the unpardonable sin it's the

[32:04] blasphemy of the holy spirit right that's the only unpardonable sin what is the blasphemy blasphemy is to deny the existence thereof so to blaspheme the holy spirit is to deny the existence of the holy spirit and the reason it's an unpardonable sin is because if i deny the existence of the holy spirit then i am saying that the very thing that god uses to draw me to himself does not exist because men are drawn by the Spirit of God to the Son of God so that they may be in the right relationship with Father God.

[32:31] But if I deny the very thing that he's using to draw me, then there is nothing that can reach me. So he says, avoid such men as this. Why? Because they are not content to live in isolation, but rather they live in deception.

[32:46] It says, these men, for among them are those who enter into households. And by the way, ladies, this word literally means women. They enter into households and captivate weak women.

[32:58] Some translations say silly women, but the wording there is weak women. Weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses. So the implication is these are the men who come into the houses deceptively through the back door, so to say, and they find people that are vulnerable.

[33:15] They find people with a guilty conscience. They find people weighed down by sins. They find people who can never learn. They're always seeking, Scripture says, but they never come to the knowledge of the truth. And they find these people who are desperate.

[33:27] Oh, they need something. And they need something that will set them free. And these people who have a godliness without power, but rather are living for self, they find them and they lead them astray. But that shouldn't surprise us because one of the descriptions of these people are revilers.

[33:42] Do you know what that word reviler is in the Greek? That word reviler is the same word we get Satan from, right? It is diabolos. It is the word for Satan. So they are reviling just like their father, that is, Satan is reviling.

[33:56] And the way Satan worked is he approached Eve first. So this, men, is where we come into context because where are the men at? Because the deception is starting in the home.

[34:12] And deception is starting in the home with those who need some help. But evidently, the men are not filling the need.

[34:24] And it is a deception that is coming through. And it is leading them astray. They are opposing the truth. And he names two people here. The only time in Scripture we found them named, just as Janice and Jambor supposed Moses.

[34:37] Nowhere else in the Old Testament are we told. Nowhere else in Scripture are we told their name. But Jewish history tells us, very early Jewish history, as a matter of fact, right after this time period, the Jewish scribes began to write these two names down.

[34:50] Tradition tells us these are the two magicians that withstood Moses in Egypt during the time of the Exodus event. And they opposed the truth. And it is deception that is being weighed down.

[35:03] We don't have to look very far. And we see this deception takes place. Look throughout church history. And I challenge you sometimes. Men, this is why I say, we need to empower our men to be the men that God calls them to be.

[35:20] Why? Because if you look throughout church history, deception starts in one place. And it usually starts with weak women weighed down with burdens of sin, guilt and shame upon them.

[35:35] And next thing you know, it's not that men cannot be deceived. Quite often they are. But the tactics to attack men are usually something much different.

[35:46] It's busyness. It's being distracted. It's not so much isolation because men are always doing something. But we need to understand our days.

[35:58] Understand what's going on here. And see the danger therein. Fifth and finally will be done. We see the difficulty of the days. We understand the degree of rebellion, the denied power, the deception of others.

[36:10] But I've got good news and we'll end on this one. Look at it. It is the devastating end that awaits them. Because just as Paul says, but realize this.

[36:23] He is giving an emphatic statement that this is happening. Verse 9 says, but they will not make further progress. The word not there is the word that carries with it power.

[36:37] It is a word that means absolutely it is not going to happen. And it is this realization that just as certain as their existence presently is, so too is certain will their devastating end be.

[36:54] But realize this. Difficult days are here. But they will not make further progress. Paul wasn't a doom and gloom pastor.

[37:06] Paul is awaiting his death. Paul knows that his earthly ministry is done. Paul is encouraging Timothy. And he's telling Timothy, it's not going to get any better. But know that in the end, the truth will be known.

[37:20] He says, but they will not make further progress. Progress further beyond what? These last days. They will not make any further progress for their folly will be obvious to all.

[37:32] Just as Genesis and Jambres' folly was also. Friend, listen to me. The truth will endure. The deception, the lies, the godliness without the power, all the trickery and mockery of Christ, it will come to an end someday.

[37:54] There will be a day of ending. It is certain. But in that day, those who hold on to the truth, as Peter would say, they hold on to that which cannot be shaken and it will endure.

[38:07] We understand, as we grasp the reality of the times, that sure, it may be difficult, but there will be a day when it comes to an end. And on that day, when it comes to the end, those who profess and hold on to the truth will stand in glory with the Savior, declaring it for all of eternity.

[38:26] The only question remains, where then do we stand? What impact does godliness, the godliness we profess, have on our own lives?

[38:40] What is it doing? Where is the power of it? And what is it giving testimony to? Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day.

[38:53] Thank you for each one that is here. Pray you speak to our hearts and minds that you draw us closer to your side. May it be for your glory and yours alone.

[39:05]  In Christ's name, Amen.