2 Timothy 3 verses 1 through 5, these are God's words. But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come, for men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power, and from such people turn away." So far the reading of God's inspired and inerrant word. Paul is warning Timothy that the last days in which Paul has been ministering are going to continue to be the last days. in which Timothy ministers. One of the great reasons that this letter was written was so that he might recognize those whom the Lord is redeeming and giving to grow in grace and giving those qualifications that identify them as elders that they would be trustworthy men to whom the truth of Scripture, the truth of the Gospel, can be entrusted, that they might teach others in future generations, and so on. He's reminding Timothy that since they're already in the last days, these perilous times that have come will continue to come. Perilous means dangerous. And they're dangerous times because they're full of dangerous men. They don't just do the things that are listed here, particularly verses 2 through 4. They teach a form of quote-unquote Christian doctrine that says that these things are okay for Christians, but you shouldn't expect a difference in Christians. This is a continuation of what he has been saying in the end of chapter 2. And so it's not just that there is a moral problem, it's that the moral problem is actually defended by incorrect theology. That's why we had, in the last two weeks worth of portions, in the second half of chapter 2, these instructions about how to reason and help the people theologically from the Bible, and when not to argue with someone who is just being argumentative and so forth. But now we learn something about the sort of theology that he's especially concerned with. It's theology that doesn't recognize that Jesus is God. It's the theology that doesn't recognize Jesus as the Redeemer, and especially not just Jesus as the Redeemer from the guilt of sin, but Jesus as a Redeemer from the dominion of sin. That Christians are those who have been united to Christ and not only forgiven by being joined to Jesus, but they are those who are now able to and desire to live a holy life by their being joined to Jesus. the list of different sorts of sinners and sins in verses 2 through 4 actually has a lot of overlap with the list that is at the end of Romans chapter 1. And yet these are not people who don't use the name of God and don't use the name of Jesus, who commit an idolatry that is obvious in the way they talk, About God. These are people who have what we're inspired calls a form of godliness They know or at least they say that Jesus is Lord and they say That Jesus is powerful And they seem to celebrate that power they even think that they serve Jesus and that they serve his cause and advance his kingdom and How do we know this? Well, we know this because the Lord Jesus himself in Matthew chapter seven warns of the same people. He warns of false teachers and he warns that they are wolves and he warns against following them. And then he gives a warning about what the last day will be like for those who follow the false teachers. He says, in that day, many will say to me, Lord, Lord, In your name, did we not? In your name, did we not? in your name, did we not?" So they know that salvation is in Jesus' name, they know that Jesus is Lord, and they think that they have done many mighty works and that they have cast out demons. They think that they have advanced the kingdom, but what Jesus says to them is, depart from me, I never knew you, you workers of lawlessness." So they have a form of religion, but they're denying the power of it. The power to do what? Well, the power to recognize sin and put sin to death. And so what Paul is saying is that the danger of the times of Jesus having come is that now the name of Jesus is known. and now the kingdom of Jesus has come. And yet there are those who say, Jesus is Lord, but he's not Lord enough to make a difference in how I live. And Jesus is King, but he's not King enough to make a difference in how I live. And the difference goes especially to the heart. Notice that in this list, they have by comparison to the list in Romans 1, you have these bookends of love. lovers of themselves, lovers of money at the beginning of the list, and at the end, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. And so here is the great difference that the Lord Jesus makes as our Lord and King Jesus makes as our King. He becomes Lord and King of our heart. We're no longer slaves to sin. It is not our master. We have a new master. King Jesus, and as master of our heart, He teaches us what to love. He changes the motivations from which we live, so that we love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and being freed from selfishness, and being freed from pleasure-seeking, and being freed from property-seeking, we are enabled by love for God first and foremost. Also, then, to love our neighbor, including our neighbor who is our parent. Did you notice, Sophia, that one of the things that makes for dangerous times are people who say that it's okay for children to disobey their parents, that you can even have children who belong to Jesus but don't care to obey their parents. But if we love God because Jesus is master of our hearts, won't we love Him who made me the child I made my parents the parent. And what we want to obey, we won't be successful all the time, but as far as our identity goes, and these are the types of men that he is describing here, our identity will be over against our sin, not joined to our sin. And so we pray that the Lord would give us ministers like Paul and like Timothy, who teach the truth about Jesus, and that the Holy Spirit would make us to know the Lord Jesus by His Word so that we know that He knows us. And how do we know that He knows us? Because He does a work in us that only He can do. And you can tell those whom Jesus knows that the difference He has made in their hearts. and in their lives. Father, help us to recognize the danger in our own hearts and the danger in the times. We pray that you would, by your Spirit, give us to be safe in the Lord Jesus Christ. would you pray for your churches that the sorts of ministers that they need to recognize the doctrine and to teach it and to lead and disciple your people that you would give such ministers to your churches and you would make us such people who know Christ truly and do not merely use Christian language, and who give evidence of being known by Him in our hearts and in our lives. We ask this in Christ's name. Amen.