Dangerous times ahead

Today, while we are talking about dangerous times, we'll mention rebels with religion, and also apostate leaders.

Quite a word salad, no?

Let's dig in . . . 

We stopped last time when we reached verse five of II Timothy 3:

“Having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.”

The word that is translated "form" there is a Greek word which carries a meaning of "having an outward appearance" of godliness.  What Paul seems to be saying is that in the last days, as men and women turn away from God, they will become more religious, but not any more godly. Religion will become more popular; it's rituals and buzzwords will become the latest fads as people seek some type of refuge in a world that has lost its way. They may ask the right questions, but they will be drawn to (and follow) the wrong answers. 

It will be religion for religion's sake, instead of people hungering and thirsting to know our Savior. They will join one or more church organizations as they search, they may even be baptized. They'll attend services, sing, pray, and give. They will DO all of the things that they are "supposed" to do, but they will not BELIEVE in the One Who can save them. Their hearts won't be in it. Paul says they will deny His power at the same time they profess to believe. In particular, they will embrace church groups whose religion allows them to do anything, believe anything, and live any way that they choose - as long as it makes them happy. They will say things like, "We don't need the outdated rules in the Bible." Or they may say, "The Bible was written 2,000 years ago, so I don't need to obey what it says, or use it to guide my life."

Wow.

How do we respond to that? Well, Paul tells us! That last part of verse five . . . what did it say? "Have nothing to do with them." Ouch! That's pretty clear - and in the eyes of many people today, it is narrow-minded, unkind, and judgmental! But the word of the Lord remains: if people do not believe the Bible and accept its authority over every area of our lives, then we are to have nothing to do with them. We can gently explain why. But we are not to join hands and sing Kum-ba-yah while biting our tongues and remaining silent about God's Word. If this makes people uncomfortable, I'm sorry. But it's what the Bible says we are to do.

Of course, we are happy to work alongside believers in Jesus, who worship Him as Savior and Lord and accept the Bible as God's Word. But there are some people with whom we cannot join hands: those who deny Jesus is the only way to heaven, those who are not born again, those who do not accept the Bible, those who do not believe we are sinners saved by God's grace and Jesus' blood, and those who place public opinion in higher value than God's Word. These are the people Paul spoke of: "Have nothing to do with them."

These people are led by apostate leaders. The followers should be aware; they should be comparing what the leaders say with what the Bible teaches. But here is a description from Paul:

For among them are those who slip into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, 7always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 8Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of depraved mind, worthless in regard to the faith. 9But they will not make further progress; for their foolishness will be obvious to all, just as was that also of Jannes and Jambres. (IITimothy 3:6-9, NASB)

These false teachers spread spiritual sickness just as a virus spreads . . . first, they prey on weak people.  That Greek word there, that the NASB translates "weak" and other translations include "weak-willed," can also be translated with a meaning of silly or unstable. It certainly does not describe all women, but rather a particular category who are unusually gullible -- and today that includes men, as well. These folks carry around a huge load of guilt for their sins, and this guilt makes them easily led astray and confused. They are constantly grasping at straws, anything that will make their guilt go away - or at least, be easier to deal with.

Second, these false teachers spread their spiritual sickness because they, themselves, are nothing new. Paul is referring to Jewish tradition here when he names the two men who led the Egyptian magicians who opposed Moses in the book of Exodus. The tradition holds that their names were Jannes and Jambres. How did they oppose Moses? They counterfeited or duplicated some of the plagues. As an example, when God told Moses what to do, and he turned the rivers into blood and brought forth a plague of frogs, the magicians did the same things. 

This could indicate (and this is personal opinion, here, so please don't take this as firm truth) that in the end times, there will be some spiritual leaders who are so in touch with demons that they may somehow counterfeit the miracles of God, and many people will believe their deceptions. At the end of the day, the false teachers in Moses' day, and the false teachers in Paul's day, and the false teachers of the final days are all cut from the same bolt of cloth. They're nothing new.

Lastly, the false teachers' success will be temporary. They won't be around forever. God will make it clear who is serving Him and who is serving themselves (and the devil). In Moses' day, God reached down and parted the waters so the children of Israel could pass safely across the river bed. Then He allowed the water to rush back and drown the Egyptian army that was pursuing Moses and the people. 

In the same way, God's hand will provide stern judgment on the false teachers of our day. It will be obvious to all who they serve.

We've established that the perilous, dangerous times are coming - some would say that they are HERE. In II Timothy, Paul gives some instructions on how to survive these times - join us next week as we explain.