Please turn with me to 2 Timothy chapter 3.  As your turning I’d like to start with a pop quiz.  See if you know who this person is.

This person’s grandfather was a Christian.  That narrows it down.  This person’s father was a church deacon and a government official.  This person was born in a town called Kilpatrick - just south of Scotland - in Britain - in probably the year 389 A.D.  At the age of 16 - while working on his father’s farm - he was kidnapped by a band of marauding Irishmen and hauled off to Ireland to become a slave - as a shepherd.

Yesterday was Saint Patrick’s day.  Are we together - Saint Patrick - right? 

It was while he was a slave that Patrick came to trust Jesus as his Savior.  Patrick wrote, “The Lord opened to me the sense of my unbelief that I might remember my sins and that I might return with my whole heart to the Lord my God.”

After six years Patrick escaped slavery and returned to Scotland.  While there he saw a vision of the Irish calling him back to Ireland.  After preparing himself - studying for the ministry - being set apart by the church for ministry in Ireland - after being prepared - Patrick returned to Ireland and spent 30 years traveling all over Ireland sharing the Gospel.  Significant numbers of people came to Jesus - churches were planted - monasteries started.

As Patrick traveled around sharing the gospel - just as there many who received him and the gospel - as he traveled he came up against fierce opposition.  Heated - hostile opposition from the local chiefs and Druids.  His life was threatened.  Difficult times.  There were times when he could have very understandably packed his bags and headed back to Scotland.  Shook the dust off his shoes and headed on home.  But he didn’t.  He remained faithful to what God had called him to do.

Coming to 2 Timothy 3 - as we’re looking at The Character of a Committed  Christian - thinking about what it takes to keep going - to be consistent in our walk with God - to go the distance with Jesus - this morning we’re going to look at what that means for us in difficult times.

2 Timothy 3 - starting at verse 1:  But realize this - Timothy - understand this - examine what I’m saying - Timothy, think about it.  Say that with me, “Timothy, think about it.”  Realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.

Verse 2 - begins the description of difficult times - For men will be lovers of self - me, myself, and I - lovers of money - self-indulgence - focused on our own possessions and enjoyment of life - boastful - proud - drawing attention to ourselves - arrogant - self-righteousness that looks down the nose at others - revilers - verbally abusive - disobedient to parents - Paul touches on the breakdown of the family - disobedient to parents - ungrateful - young people who take for granted the hours of dedication and commitment that their parents lavish on them -  <>unholy - flaunting ungodly actions - shameless - unloving - lacking normal human affection - irreconcilable - beyond being able to reason with - malicious gossips - people who slander others - without self-control - controlled by their passions and lusts - brutal - savage - haters of good - opposed to anything moral or Godly - treacherous - scheming - conniving - reckless - impulsive - not caring about the consequences of their actions - conceited - people with swollen heads - lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to - an outward - form of godliness, although they have denied its power.

They talk spiritual - act Christian - or at least religious - quote Scripture - sing the songs.  But its all a big show.  Inside they’re still in love with themselves rather than God.

Bottom line - this really is the theme of Paul’s list.  Ultimately - those in the world have rejected the power behind true godliness.  They’re living for themselves.

Jesus said, “If anyone wishes to come after Me - to be true follower of Jesus - inside where its real and not just an outward show - he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.  For whoever wishes to save his life will - what?  lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the Gospel’s will - what?  save it.”  (Mark 8:34,35)

To be a true follower of Jesus Christ means that we’ve given up our lives - turned the control and authority over our lives over to God - turned from being lovers of self to being lovers of Jesus - so that the power to live our lives doesn’t come from our efforts and all the attitudes and actions that come as we’re taking care of number one - ourselves.  The power to live life comes from God - it flows into and through a life that’s totally given over to Him.

Those in the world - living for themselves - have no clue what it means to live life like that - with God - by God’s power.

All that is a description of what Paul means by “Difficult Times.”  Paul writes that “in the last days difficult times will come.”  Let’s think about what Paul means by that.

Paul is writing to Timothy.  Its about 66 or 67 AD.  Who’s on the throne in Rome?  Nero.  Nero is really a piece of work.  Hates Christians with a passion.  Uses them as lion food.  Uses them as decorations at his parties.  Persecution against Christians is growing throughout the empire.  Paul is in Rome.  He’s in a dark cold stinking prison cell waiting to die.  How much more difficult could it get?

And yet, Paul’s description of difficult days - his list - is pretty contemporary.  Isn’t it?  We see what Paul writes about going on every day right here in Merced.  Then there’s the world we live in.  People today - look at what’s happening - ongoing conflict in the Middle East - terrorism - what if Iran gets nukes - ethnic cleansing - the unrest in the world.  And all the natural disasters - floods, hunger, epidemics - earthquakes - all brought into our homes in high definition - one click away - people today wonder, how could it get more difficult?  Way too often someone speculates, “We must be near the end.”

The last days is a phrase the Bible uses to describe the whole season of time between the first coming of Jesus and His second coming.  For just about 2,000 years we’ve been living in the last days.  100 years from now - if Jesus hasn’t come back and any of us are still here - we’ll look back and remember that these days were the good old last days.

The word “chalepoi” is the word Paul uses for “difficult.”  It means hard to deal with - hard to bear up under - painful - grievous.  That describes human history - certainly for the last 2,000 years.  There are some interludes when the difficulty is less than that.  Those times are the exceptions.  And certainly “difficult” describes seasons of our lives - the lives of those we know and love - maybe even today.

The world - self-loving - apart from God - is a difficult place.  Difficult to live in as a follower of Jesus Christ.

Going on in verse 5 - Avoid such men as these - Say that with me, “Avoid such men as these” - make the choice to turn away from them.  For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses.

What makes them weak?  They’re weighed down with sin.  They’re wounded - guilt ridden - addicted - struggling - easy pickings for  those who will enter in and offer them some solution to their burdens.  They’re open to anyone - they’ll believe anyone - who offers any religious teaching - form of godliness - or philosophy - that seems to offer hope.

Verse 7 - going on about those men who enter in and captivate weak women - they’re - always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 

We need to be clear on who these men are that Paul’s writing about.

Vincenzo Richardo - age 70 - had lived alone since his wife died.  His neighbors thought that he was in a hospital or nursing home.  Diane Devon - one of Vincenzo’s neighbors said, “We never thought to check on him.”

While investigating a report of burst pipes - last month - police in Hampton Bays, New York - discovered the mummified body of Vincenzo Ricardo - who had been dead for more than one year.  Vincenzo was found in a chair in front of his TV set - which was still on. (1)

You’ve hear the phrase, “The lights are on but nobody’s - what?  home.”  Paul puts it this way, “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.”  All this knowledge is passing right in front of their eyes.  All this understanding about God and life with Jesus.  But they could be dead - staring at the tube - for all the good its doing them.  Images are playing across the face - but nothing’s sinking in.

Who are these people?  Look at verse 8.  Just as - they’re just like - Jannes and Jambres - who - opposed Moses, so these men - the one’s never coming to the truth - these men also oppose 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, just as Janne’s and Jambres’s folly was also.

Back in Exodus when Moses and Aaron are in front of Pharaoh.  As a sign that Moses is speaking on behalf of God - Aaron throws down his staff in front of Pharaoh and it becomes a snake.  Pharaoh’s magicians throw down their staffs - what become snakes.  But Aaron’s staff snake swallows the magician’s staff snakes.  Do you remember that?

That goes on - the water of the Nile gets turned to blood and Pharaoh’s magicians do some kind of magician thing and turn water into blood.  Then God sends frogs and the Pharaoh’s magicians do some kind of magician thing and make frogs appear.

Which really doesn’t seem like much of trick - does it?  Since the water was already blood and the frogs were already there.  But they’re trying to keep up with God - trick for miracle.  Discredit Moses and Aaron.  Bring God down to size no matter how silly they may look in the process.

Then God hits Egypt with gnats.  An uncountable number of little bugs that are everywhere - on the animals and on the people.  Merced during bug season.  Pharaoh’s magicians have run out of tricks.  They tell Pharaoh, “We can’t keep up with this.  We don’t know how to do that one.  This is a God thing.”

God exposes them for the cheap parlor magicians they were.  Humiliates them in the midst of their defiance against God.  Outs their foolishness.  Only took 3 plagues for them to admit it.  God’s still got 7 more. (Exodus 7:8-19)  Who’s God?  The God of the Hebrews.  Moses’ and Aarons’ God.

There were magicians in Pharaoh’s court named Jannes and Jambres.  In the Old Testament we’re not given their names.  But we are here.  We’re told that they opposed Moses - did what they could to ridicule and reject God’s word.  In the same way - here in Ephesus - are men who oppose God’s truth.  Who have depraved minds.  Literally, they’re minds have been destroyed through rejecting God.  What they believe is to be rejected.

Follow me with this.  Remember that in the Ephesian Church were men who we’re teaching a hybrid religion of Judaism and Christianity and Greek philosophy - a perverted form of Gnosticism.  They wanted to be known as great teachers of God’s law.  But they had no clue what they were talking about.  At every opportunity they opposed Timothy and what Timothy was teaching - God’s truth.  The result was quarrels and divisions and people stumbling in their faith.  Does that sound familiar?

These are the men that Paul compares to Jannes and Jambres - men with seemingly great knowledge but no understanding of the things of God.  Men who hold to a form of godliness but deny the power behind true Godliness.  Men who’re always learning but never coming to really know what God’s truth is.  Who - with their religious ideas - prey on struggling women and lead them away from the God.

When the difficult times come at us from the world - that’s hard to bear up under.  Yes?  When the difficult times come at us from those professing godliness that’s excruciating.

Paul really doesn’t draw a distinction between the two - the world and those professing godliness - even in the church.  Bottom line:  It’s all about self unsurrendered to God.  It’s the difficulty at the heart of humanity - behind the scenes of human history.

Timothy - think about what I’m writing and choose to avoid these people.

Verse 10 - Now you - Timothy - followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, perseverance, persecutions, and sufferings, such as happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra; what persecutions I endured, and out of them all the Lord rescued me.

Lystra was where Timothy was from.  Where Paul first met him.  Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra were three towns right next to each other in what is today central Turkey.  Paul is writing about Timothy’s neck of the woods.    Events Timothy was familiar with - may have seen first hand.

Antioch was where Paul had to leave town or die.  At Iconium a mob of Jews and Gentiles - wanting to beat Paul and then stone him - drove him out of town.  In Lystra Paul was dragged out of town - stoned - and left for dead.  Timothy was aware of all that.

Timothy followed - observed - how Paul conducted himself in the midst of difficult times.  When Paul was abused Timothy heard the words that came out of his mouth.  Were they colorful metaphors - four letter words - cursing - or did Paul forgive his persecutors?  Did he control his passions - his anger.  Did he stay on task in his teaching or did he respond in fear and shrink back from his calling.  Paul practiced what he preached.

Timothy also observed that Jesus rescued Paul.  The Greek word for “rescued” is “errusato.”  It means to rescue - to deliver - to draw to oneself.  Like putting your arms around a fearful child and drawing her close - arms of protection - rescuing from evil.

Hang with me here.  “Errusato” is a verb.  Its in the aorist tense - which means that the rescuing was continual - the arms of protection - the drawing close was always present.  “Errusato” is in the middle voice.  In Greek the middle voice is halfway between passive - when things are done to us - and active - when we have to do them for ourselves.  Middle is more cooperative.  In other words - as Paul chose to trust Jesus - during difficult times - Jesus always was there to rescue Paul.

Verse 12 - Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.  Absolute certainty.  Follow Jesus - be persecuted.

Verse 13 -  But evil men and imposters - those in the world - those pretending to be godly - evil men and imposters will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.  In the end, they’re going to be judged and perish along with all the ungodly.

Verse 14 - You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of.

To continue - in Greek - means to dwell - to lodge - like relatives who stop by for a short visit and stay for a lifetime.  Never leave the things you’ve become convinced of.  That you know from study and experience to be trustworthy.

Knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

Timothy had the Old Testament.  Probably the Gospels of Matthew and Mark were circulating through the Church.  He’d personally received the original of 1 Timothy.  Paul’s other letters were probably circulating through the Church.  Timothy was there when most of them were being written.  Imagine watching someone write Scripture.  That’s a mind blower isn’t it?  

Who did Timothy learn the things from?  Paul - first hand teaching from the great theologian.  First hand discipleship from the great missionary.  His grandmother Lois.  His mother Eunice.  Women of faith who taught him the Scriptures from childhood.

To learn means that he must have repeatedly read what was written.  Studied it.  Daily.  There’s no other way.  Then he lived it - learned to live it through the example he saw lived out in Paul’s life - his grandmother - his mother.  He became a doer of the word - not just a hearer.  He chose to allow God to take His word deep into Timothy’s heart - to change and transform his life.  What a great foundation for life.  Yes?

Paul writes, Timothy - think about what I’m saying.  When you face difficult times - from those outside the church - and those who claim to be godly - remember what you saw in me - how I kept focused on consistently living for God - whatever the difficulty - and remember that Jesus rescued me.  Never leave what you’ve learned - especially what it means to know Jesus Christ personally.  Keep faithfully serving Him.

Last Sunday the Modesto Bee ran an article about Gerald Storch.  Anyone know who Gerald Storch is?  Gerald Storch is the new Chairman and CEO of Toys R Us.

Toys R Us used to be - emphasis past tense - used to be the world’s largest toy seller - until 1998 when they lost that title to Wal-Mart - the world’s biggest retailer.  Toys R Us tried desperately to match Wal-Mart’s low prices.  Never was able to that.  They made a series of structural and marketing blunders.  They downsized.  They even closed their store in Merced.

Storch keeps three posters in his office.  He says those three posters underscore what Toys R Us is.  One poster states, “We are unique, no-nonsense toy stores who are in the toy business 365 days a year.”  Poster number two boasts that Toys R Us has the “world’s largest toy selection.”  The third poster Storch keeps to remind him of mistakes made by the company.  Poster number three proclaims, “You’ll never outgrow us.”  It advertises games for adults.

Storch says, “It’s wrong.  It’s trying to be a toy store for adults.  That’s not who we are.  We were the leading specialty player.  It was ours to lose.  And we lost it.”  (2)

Here we are - March 18, 2007 - here in this new sanctuary of God’s - strategically located on G Street.  God has blessed us so tremendously.  Over the past few months He’s taught us so many things.  Stretched us with lessons about finances - His timing of things.  Gave us times of joy - learning to work together - to put up with each other - growing closer to each other.

You all have done well.  You’ve remained faithful to the vision God has placed before us.

We live in difficult times.  Out there life is not easy.  There are difficulties we face in our homes - at work - at school - in our hearts.  Satan would love to create difficulty here - to keep us away from God and what God has called us to.

We’ve been learning what Paul tells Timothy.  Jesus rescued me.  He was there.  He had His arms out.  When I turned to Him, Jesus pulled me in.  God has been there for us - even through a building process.  Whatever difficulties you face - when you turn to Jesus - you’ll find He’s already there.

Paul writes - continue in the things you’ve learned and are convinced of.  You know God’s truth - the power of godliness - life in Jesus.  You know personally the Savior who draws you into His arms.  Don’t draw back from His ministry. 

We’re not the world’s largest toy store.  But we are the church of Jesus Christ.  As we move forward - using this building - we need to remain faithful to the vision God has placed before us.  Just as we need Jesus - people out there - in great difficulty - need Jesus.  We are Christians - who are called - regardless of what may be thrown at us by the adversary - to continue - committed to leading people into a relationship with Jesus Christ and equipping them to serve God - 24/7/365.

On this Sunday - as we share communion together - for the first time in this sanctuary - we have the opportunity to renew that commitment.  To say to God, “My life is yours.  I will remain faithful to the vision.  To the purpose you have placed here for.  To serve you.  To lead others to you.”

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1. The Modesto Bee, 02.18.07, A9
2. The Modesto Bee, 03.11.07, D5

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible®, © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation.  Used by permission.