Many years ago I was invited at attend a Rotary luncheon in Plymouth, Michigan. Three men spoke briefly, one of whom I had the joy of meeting personally–namely, the late Mr. Stanley S. Kresge, a son of the well-known S. S. Kresge who founded the chain of stores bearing his name. At the luncheon the question was asked, “Is the world getting better?” Of the more than 100 men present, only three or four–which included myself–indicated “no” by our raised hands. Mr. Kresge, a truly born again man, raised his hand with the majority who felt that the world is getting better.
The Bible, however, clearly reveals that the world is not getting better, 2 Timothy 3 and other Scripture passages categorically substantiating the worsening of world conditions (see Mt. 24:1-28; 1 Tim. 4:1).
“This know also,” wrote the Apostle Paul, “that in the last days perilous times shall come” (2 Tim. 3:1). To what does the expression “the last days” refer? Some say it refers to the period of time between Christ’s first and second coming, while others relate it to that period of time more immediately preceding Christ’s return. The latter is the meaning Paul most likely intended, and which agrees with Peter’s words in 2 Peter 3:3, “Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts.”
Paul tells us that as the “times” or seasons draw to a close, they will become “perilous,” this word meaning hard to deal with, difficult, savage. It is the same word in the Greek text used to describe the two demoniacs of Matthew 8:28, where the King James Version renders it “fierce,” the passage suggesting that the violence of the end times will be energized by demons.
Increasing apostasy will mark “the last days,” a period in which today there is every evidence that we are already living, and which will lead to the manifestation of the apostasy and the Man of Sin following the Rapture of the church (see 2 Thess. 2:1-4). It is noteworthy that what is described as a future peril was even in Paul’s day a fact (see 2 Tim. 3:5, 6, 8), the features of the end having been visible from the beginning.
Let’s look now at the first of three main indicators about the increasing apostasy of “the last days,” which the Apostle Paul has set forth in great detail.
The Description of the Apostates
“For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away” (2 Tim. 3:1-5).
Regarding these verses, H. A. Ironside has said:
But it may be here objected: ‘When have men in general been other than as here depicted? Is not this but a repetition of what Paul has already said in describing the heathen world in his day? (Rom. 1:29-32). In what special sense are they any more characteristic now than then?’ To these very natural queries I reply that such things, indeed, ever described the heathen; but in 2 Timothy 3 the Holy Spirit is describing conditions in the professing church in the last days! It is not the openly wicked and godless who are being depicted here. It is those who have a form of godliness, while denying its power. This is what makes the passage so intensely solemn and gives it such tremendous weight in the present day.1
Many Bible students and scholars, such as Warren W. Wiersbe, list 18 characteristics of the end times, while W. Graham Scroggie lists 20, H. A. Ironside 21, and H. L. Wilmington 22. The difference lies in whether or not the details of verses 6 and 7 are included.
One thing is certain, the clear command to God’s people is, “from such turn away” (v. 5), or as J. B. Phillips translates it, “You must keep clear of people like this.”
The Deception of the Apostates
“For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim. 3:6-7).
Through Satanic subtlety, false teachers representing various cults and isms of today “worm their way into homes” (v. 6, niv) to blind and bind their unwary prey. As to their adherents, “silly women” refers to unstable women, their consciences burdened down with the guilt of sins. Such persons are prime targets for the representatives of today’s multiplied cults and religions who go from door-to-door peddling their religious rot (e.g., Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons). Such women have a craving lust for anything new, there being an emphasis here on sexual lust. They are always searching for some new reality, trying this avenue and that, but they are never satisfied nor do they ever arrive at the truth.
False teachers take advantage of such cravings and problems, promising quick and easy solutions, all with a view to controlling people’s lives and money.
As Wiersbe has commented:
The fact that Paul described ‘silly women’ does not suggest that all women are like this, or that men are not vulnerable to the wiles of false teachers. In Paul’s day, women were especially susceptible to this kind of experience since they had a low status in society. Whether they are men or women, people who fall for this false religious system have the same characteristics.2
The Doom of the Apostates
“Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was” (2 Tim. 3:8-9).
Here, the magicians of Exodus are named, Jannes and Jambres, meaning “seduce” and “rebel,” respectively. Modern day followers also use magic (see Acts 19:19). Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses by imitating what he did. Satan is a great imitator or counterfeiter. As in Moses’ day, so today, false teachers also oppose God’s truth. They are further described as “men of depraved minds” (niv) and “reprobate concerning the faith,” the Greek word for “reprobate” meaning rejected after testing.
As the Apostle Paul predicted, such will advance only so far, and then God’s judgment will fall. Then, just as Jannes and Jambres were exposed for what they were, so shall these modern-day false teachers be exposed for what they are–counterfeits and fools, veritable dupes of the devil.
Why is it that so many people in the world today are “ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth”? (v. 7). Among the causes are:
1. They have rejected Him who is the Truth–the Lord Jesus Christ (Jn. 14:6).
2. They love their sin (Jn. 3:19-21).
3. They have been blinded by human pride and the vain reasonings and speculations of human philosophy (Col. 2:8).
What about you? Have you entered into a knowledge of the truth by faith in Him who personifies all truth–the Lord Jesus Christ?
Endnotes
1 H. A. Ironside, Timothy, Titus and Philemon, pp. 212-213.
2 Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Faithful, p. 155.
3 G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, p. 10.