believers who live only for themselves rather than the glory of God. But you and I are going to learn that by contrast, we as believers have to live differently. That by being dedicated to the truth and by being dedicated to believing the promises of God, we are filled by the Spirit who enables us to love God and love neighbor and therefore overcome the evil ways of the last days. Brothers and sisters, the only way that you and I will overcome, as Bob has been teaching this congregation for 40 years, is by believing the promises of God. That's how we overcome. That's what we're going to be learning at the end here today. Now, Paul begins today in verse 1 by reminding Timothy and all Christians the epoch of time that we find ourselves in. He says this, 2 Timothy 3, 1, He says but realize this that in the last days difficult times will come now. Let me pull up my pointer I want you to notice brothers and sisters at the very beginning of this verse when Paul says realize this I Want you to know that that's a command. It's an imperative form of good nose go So literally Paul is commanding Timothy to have understanding that these are the last days and what the last days are about Now, when Paul uses the phrase last days that you see highlighted in red, I want you to realize that the apostles knew that the last days began with the first coming of Christ. And so the last days, if you think about it, were inaugurated with Christ's first coming they will be consummated or finished with his second coming. So you and I are the people of God who live between the comings. That's the last days. Now we'll be talking more about that and some implications regarding that in our application, but I want you to see here what Paul describes as being the last days. He says they're difficult times. The term difficult there, kolepos in the Greek, can literally be rendered violent. they're violent times. In fact, the only other usage of the term Kallepos is found here in Matthew 8.28 at the very end of the verse, where it says they, the they there, would be the demoniac men who were demon possessed. It says they were so extremely violent, there's Kallepos, that no one could pass by that way. And so literally, we can say the last days are going to be exceedingly difficult or even violent. Why? Because this age, the last days, are dominated by the thinking of the unregenerate. Now, how do I say that so confidently, that in every generation that you live in, during the last days, it's dominated by the thinking of unbelievers? Because Jesus himself said, In Matthew 7, 14, he said, wide is the path that leads to destruction, and many enter in through it, and narrow is the path that leads to salvation, and few find it. So what that means is that in any generation, the vast majority are unbelievers. And because they're unbelievers and think like unbelievers, these days are going to be difficult. they will persecute the people of God, they will hate the things of God, and they will live only for themselves. Now, I want you to turn your Bibles, if you will, to 1 Timothy chapter 4, verses 1 through 2. I wanted to do a reminder of what Paul said there about the last days. So this is a reminder of what we've already studied. 1 Timothy 4, verses 1 through 2. And again, as you're turning to 1 Timothy 4, 1 through 2, I'm going to make three points from this text about the last days that I think are important to tag on to what we're learning here. Notice 1 Timothy 4, 1 through 2, Paul says this. In verse 1 he says, But the Spirit explicitly says that in the latter times, that would be the last days, some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons. Now let's stop there for just a moment in verse 1. Notice there will be those who fall away. Realize that these are not true Christians. How do we know that? Well because Jesus himself said in John 10 27 through 28 my sheep hear my voice I give to them eternal life, and they shall never perish no one can snatch them out of my hand so true believers will never apostatize So, these are those who appear to be believers, but they were unbelievers all along. So, they are not going to follow the true doctrines of Christ, but what will they be buffaloed by? What will they follow? Paul said, the doctrines of demons. I want you to think about today, in our day and age, how prevalent Marxism is, and so many other religions. They're all doctrines of demons, distractions away from the gospel. Now, what I want you to see here next, is notice in verse 2, a very important point. Paul says, by means of the hypocrisy of liars, seared in their own conscience, as with a branding iron. Notice, the unbeliever that dominates the last days, according to Paul in 1st Timothy 4.2, has a seared conscience. A conscience that does not function correctly. Why? Because the conscience has to be informed by something outside of itself. If your conscience is informed by the Word of God, it will function correctly and you'll act morally. But if your conscience is informed by doctrines of demons, well, that's why you're going to live ungodly lives and that's why we're going to have difficult or violent days. in the last days. Dear brothers and sisters, the days that you and I live in, you and I are seeing the vast majority of people have consciences that are not informed by Scripture, but doctrines of demons. That's why these are difficult days. Now, what Paul is going to do here is he's going to begin to explain why the days are so difficult. He's going to flesh out for us what the unregenerate look like. 2 Timothy 3, verses 2 through 4. He says, ìFor 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.î Here, brothers and sisters, Paul heaps up 17 different adjectives and then other terms in this vice list to show us what the unregenerate looked like in the last days. Now, one of the reasons he does so is because in antiquity, oftentimes Hellenistic Jews would use vice lists just like this in order to impugn the false teachers that they were dealing with. And I think that's exactly what Paul is really doing here. He's going to show us that these are what the false teachers were like as we proceed in Ephesus. Now notice he begins by saying that men, and by the way I hate to break this to you ladies, but you're in this as well, this is mankind, men and women who are unbelievers, they're going to be lovers of self. Now, contrary to the popular opinion among the psychologists, they believe that the greatest problem humanity has is always self-esteem. That really began in the 1970s. But no, that's not what the scriptures declare. The greatest problem humanity faces is not that we don't love ourselves, but rather that we don't love our neighbor as ourselves. That's our real issue. If you ask a criminologist what the people on death row are like, they'll say, yeah, they have tremendous self-esteem. The problem is they don't love anyone else. That's the problem that characterizes the unregenerate in the last days. In fact, notice, I want you to see, I think there may be an inclusio intended here with the theme of love. Notice here in verse 2, people in the last days are lovers of self. Notice what brackets it in verse 4, rather than lovers of God. That's a good summary of people who dominate the last days in the unregenerate state. They're lovers of self rather than lovers of God. That's who they are. Now, notice in verse 3, you see another point that they are unloving. So that seems to be a major theme through this whole section. Now, why are we different? Because when we believe, we are filled by the Spirit, and when we are filled by the Spirit for the first time, we are enabled to love God and neighbor as ourselves. That's what happens to us. We're no better. were just those who have been changed by the power of God. Now, I don't have time to get into all of the vices here on this list, but I want to hit some that I've never hit before. I want you to notice in verse 3, one of the sins in this list is being irreconcilable. The term in Greek there, aspandos, literally means to be without a truce. These are human beings that don't want to be reconciled to God and they don't want to be reconciled to other human beings. And as our culture becomes more post-biblical and more dominated by the doctrines of demons like Marxism, you're going to see people devolve further and further into race, class, and gender distinctions where they don't want reconciliation among groups. They want tribalism to prevail and rule the day. How many in here have heard this new book that's out? It was put out in 2020, and there's many different contributors to it, but it's called A Rhythm of Prayer. a rhythm of prayer. Right now it's being sold. I don't recommend it, but it's being sold at Target stores. But one of the contributors to it is a woman named Dr. Shaniqua Walker-Barnes. She is a professor of practical theology at Mercer University. And she's a contributor to this book, and I want you to hear what she says in her prayer. This is her prayer that's in the book. She says, quote, Dear God, please help me to hate white people, or at least want to hate them. At least I want to stop caring about them individually and collectively. I want to stop caring about their misguided, racist souls, to stop believing that they can be better, that they can stop being racist, unquote. The reason why that's acceptable today in our culture is because the culture is dominated by a spondos thinking. People who don't want the racial groups to be reconciled because then you can't break them according to race, class, gender into haves and have-nots. they're irreconcilable. They won't be reconciled to God, nor do they want to be reconciled to other human beings. Notice here another term, malicious gossips, literally the diabolos. The diabolos is the one who slanders. Now, up here, revilers, they slander as well, but that's more often a slander of God. Yes, it can be humans as well, there's some overlap. But here, the Diabolos is one who slanders human beings, making accusations that aren't true about people made in the image of God. And again, if I look at our culture today, there are whole swaths of our population being accused of things without any evidence of all. Why? Because again, what dominates the thinking of the last days are all of these types of sins. Notice also they're without self-control. The unbeliever lives by the motto, if it feels good, do it, rather than by the commands that come from Christ. Notice they're also called brutal, anemorose. These are people who are the opposite of merciful. That is going to dominate the last days as well. I don't know if anyone has seen this video. In Washington, D.C., there was a 13 and a 15-year-old girl. And somehow, they end up carjacking this 66-year-old man's car. He's a Pakistani man who is an Uber Eats driver. Well, he's hanging on to the outside of their car, and they go speeding away. They crash the car. They flip it on its side. His body goes flying. He's instantly killed. And then in the video, as it proceeds, the 13 and the 15-year-old are just stepping over his body. Where's my cell phone? Anemorous. Brutal. They don't care. They're just lovers of self rather than lovers of other people or God. How many in here have ever heard of a man named Brandon Elliott? I just became aware of him. A few weeks ago, he viciously attacked a 65-year-old Filipino woman. Why? Because he's a man without mercy. The people that are anemorose, brutal, attack people merely because they can. This is a man, this Brandon Elliott, who was let out of jail after murdering his own mother by stabbing her to death. But you see, those who run New York State, they're anemorose. They're brutal. The scriptures say that if you shed a person's blood, so by man shall your blood be shed. And so the scripture says, no, you don't be decent to the brutal, you take the brutal out. But as the culture becomes more unbiblical, the pagans are decent to the brutal, but they're brutal to the decent. That's what happens in the last days. Notice they're haters of good. Remember Isaiah 520 warned us, woe to those who call evil good and good evil. We see that in our own day and age. That which is good is called evil and that which is evil is called good. Notice they're also called treacherous. The term treacherous in Greek, according to the great scholar of Second Timothy, Phil Towner, he says, quote, this describes those who betray a cause to which they had once been committed. How many times do we see today those politicians who have said that they swore an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution, only to reject that oath in order to degain politically and financially? Why? Because they're treacherous. And you can think of so many other examples. And by the way, this is why Jesus teaches us to let your yes be yes and your no be no. Be people of your word, otherwise what? You're treacherous. Notice he says, the reckless conceders conceded they're lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. That's the issue. The unregenerate are dominated by not loving their neighbor and not loving God, the great commandment. Now, what Paul is going to do, as we proceed in verses 5 through 7, is he is going to show us that this is what the false teachers in Ephesus are like. So he's taking the general principle of what the unregenerate are like in the last days, and now he's going to meld that into, hey, this is what the false teachers are like that I'm contending with, and that Timothy are contending with. 2 Timothy 3, 5-7, he says, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power. Avoid such men as these, for among them are those who enter into 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. Now, brothers and sisters, I want you to notice here this first phrase where Paul says that they hold to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power. I want you to remember that the false teachers in Ephesus, they were teaching a form of godliness. For example, they were telling people that they couldn't eat certain foods. And for a lot of people, that would buffalo them and say, wow, these guys are really godly. They don't eat chicken, or they don't eat ham, or whatever it was. But I want you to realize that that is not a command that comes from Jesus Christ. Let's talk about food laws for just a minute. Do you remember back in Genesis 9.3, the mandate that God gave to all of creation is that we can eat anything. If it lives and moves, other than a human being, it's fair game, right? We can eat it. That's Genesis 9, 3. Every creature has been given to us for food. But what happens in the 15th century, under the Mosaic Law, is for a period of time, Israel is prohibited from eating certain foods. And from the food laws, and from circumcision laws, and from Sabbath laws, the Israelite people are so distinct and eccentric that they can't intermingle with Gentiles. And that's deliberate by God to protect the Messianic lineage. But once the Messiah, Jesus, comes on the scene of history, the food laws are no longer necessary. And so that's what God was teaching us in Ephesians 2, 14 and 15. Now we have the one new man. Believers in Christ, both Jews and Gentiles, and what was gotten out of the way and abrogated? The Mosaic law. So Jesus, now the new lawgiver in Mark 7, He declares all foods clean. the crater of heaven and earth under the new covenant Jesus Christ says all foods are clean you can eat anything but these jokers come on the scene in Ephesus and say no no no we're the law givers Christ is out we're in you can't eat ham again and these guys are the pious ones But you see, brothers and sisters, that's the way the legalists operate. They will bend over backwards to follow their own laws, laws that God never gave, and they will bend over backwards making you follow their laws, but all the while, they're usurping Christ as the lawgiver, and they won't, ironically, follow the laws that Christ actually gave. That's what's going on. That was the racket in Ephesus. Now I want to focus on that phrase where he says that they have denied its power. Does everyone see that? They have denied its power. What does that mean? Well, I think what it means is that through the actions and the false teachings of the false teachers in Ephesus, they were demonstrating that they were devoid of the Holy Spirit, the power of God that would enable them to both believe and obey. That's what Paul is pointing out. They don't have the Spirit in their life. Remember, it's only through the Spirit, 1 Corinthians 12, 3, that anyone can say, Jesus is Lord. That's what they don't have. Now, this is why, notice Paul says to Timothy, avoid such men as these. That's a command. What is fitting for false teachers is not that you give them an ear or listen to their half-baked ideas, but what they're fitting for is church discipline. And we'll talk more about this. This is one of the problems in Ephesus, is they're not doing church discipline. Sadly, they're too often tolerating the false teachers. Notice Paul further describes them, he says, for among them are those who enter, literally worm their way into households and captivate weak women, weighed down with sins led by various impulses. I want to make a point here, one is that when Paul says that these men, these false teachers have wormed their way into these women's homes, and he calls them weak, Paul is not saying that all women are weak intellectually or emotionally. That is not Paul's point. It's these particular women that were weak simply because they were weighed down by various sins. And more than likely, the sins that they were engrossed in was sexual promiscuity. Now, how do we know that? Well, notice here the term various impulses. Impulses comes from epithumia, the same term Jesus uses in Matthew 5, 28 for a man lusting after a woman. And so, what was going on, I think, in Ephesus is, remember, these false teachers were saying that the resurrection had already occurred. the resurrection has already occurred. Well, it wouldn't take a rocket scientist to figure out, well, wait a minute. If the resurrection has already occurred, why are there so many people who seem to be believers who are in the tomb? Well, more than likely, they had to say it was a spiritual resurrection. And you're therefore living in the spiritual age. And therefore, your body doesn't matter. And if you want to live a promiscuous life, it's only your body that doesn't matter anyway. Go ahead and do it. and the women were all too willing to buy into it. Now, notice Paul further says about these women who were captivated by these sins, he says they're always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. What Paul means by that is he is upset that these women were not willing to put their feet down and say, no, I will no longer listen to the false teaching. You think about it this way, the apostle Paul says that the resurrection was future and bodily, These false teachers come in and say, no, the resurrection is spiritual and it's already happened. Well, both those things can't be true at the same time. As soon as these women had heard that disparity in the teaching, they just said, I won't listen to you anymore. That's the way it should be with us. Yes, we can listen to false teachers in the sense that we want to understand them to refute them, but we don't listen to them in order to give them quarter or say, well, maybe you have something to offer. No, that's not what the church is to be about. Again, what was fitting for these false teachers was church discipline. And Paul was upset that it was too often being tolerated the doctrines that contradicted the gospel. Now, as we proceed in verses eight through nine, Paul says that the power of God's word that he was preaching would reveal who these false teachers really were. Paul says 2 Timothy 3 through 9, he says, ìJust as Janus 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, just as Janus and Jambresí folly was also.î Now letís begin by asking who in the world are Janus and Jambres? Well, these were apparently magicians that had faced down Moses when Moses was giving the truth of God's Word to Pharaoh in Exodus chapter 7 through 9. Now, to be fair, we never see their names, Jonas and Jambres, in the Bible. They're not listed. But there was an apocryphal book, an extra-biblical book, called, fittingly, the Book of Jonas and Jambres. And more than likely, Paul knew of that work. So how do we think about that? How do we understand Paul citing this, and yet that book is not canonical? Well, here's how I think we should think about it. Think of this example. Do you remember in Titus, the book of Titus, Paul quotes from Epimenides, a Cretan philosopher? Now, when Paul quotes Epimenides, he does not infer by that that Epimenides is infallible or inspired by the Spirit. Paul was simply saying what Epimenides said at this point is true. In the same way, Paul is not affirming the book of John and John Braves, but he is simply, I think, affirming that these were historical figures. that they really were there and these names happen to be correct. I think that's what we could infer. Now, I want you to notice in this text the two things we have to understand to understand what is being stated here by Paul is he's making two comparisons. Now, how do we know that? Well, notice the Greek phrase, just as. So, there's one comparison. Notice there's another one down here, just as. So, what we have to do is figure out what's the point of Paul's comparisons. Well, the first comparison is just as Jonathan John raise these magicians through their false power or opposing the truth of God's word that was being spoken by Moses in the same way in Paul's day you had false teachers who seem to have power. opposing the truth of God's Word that Paul was speaking. That's the point of comparison. Now, why do we say that Jonas and Jambres and the magicians seemed to have power? Well, remember that incident in Exodus 7 where Moses takes his staff, he throws it down and it becomes a snake? Well, the magicians did the same thing. They end up doing some of the same powerful things. So, it seemed that they had power, but yet they were teaching something that was opposite to the truth. Now, what's the point of the next comparison? Well, what Paul is saying here, notice he says, but they will not make further progress. That's the false teachers in Ephesus. For their folly will be obvious to all, just as John and John Bray's folly was also. Here's the point that he's making there. What Paul was saying is, at the end of the day, the magicians that faced down the truth of God's word in Moses' day, there was a limit on their power. Do you remember Moses throws down, I think it was the staff of Aaron, he throws it down, it becomes a snake. This is in Exodus 7. And then the magicians of Pharaoh do it, Johnis and Jambres, they throw down their staff, that becomes snakes. But do you remember what happens? Moses' staff, his snake ends up swallowing theirs. showing that, no, there was only so much power that these magicians had. And what's more, notice this. This is Exodus 9, 11. Exodus chapter 9, verse 11, it states this. It says, the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils were on the magicians as well as on all of the Egyptians. At the end of the day, the magicians ran out of power, and God showed that he was top dog. In the same way, As the Apostle Paul preaches the truth powerfully and gives us the truth in his word that comes from Christ, it will powerfully expose the false teachers for who they really are. That is the power of the Word of God. And brothers and sisters, that's why you and I, living in the last days, have to be those who are dedicated to the truth that's found in Scripture. Because it will expose the falsehoods from the false teachers and the heretics for what they really are. Yes, we have to believe the truth, and we have to defend the truth. Because that is how you and I will overcome the evil ways of the last days. Okay, now let's come into some application points that I have here for you this morning. I have two points. Number one, we must understand that the last days were inaugurated with Christ's first coming and will be characterized by difficulty for the people of God. One thing I want us to learn here is, you know there's false teachers in the Word of Faith movement that claim that if you're a Christian, everything should go swimmingly with you here and now. Well that's contradictory to what Paul is teaching us, that actually the last days are going to be rough going, often times for the believer. So that's an important point we'll learn there. Second, we must recognize the need as believers to be people of truth and love during these last days. If you and I believe in the truth, you and I will believe the promises of God it sets us free to be those who love God a neighbor and overcome. Let's begin with this first one, the first application point. You know, dear ones, in my ministry for the last, I don't know, probably ten years of my life, I've often seen Christians make the mistake by believing somehow the last days began in 1948 when God brought Israel to be a nation again. And I want you to realize that I do think that that was significant, providentially it was important that God brought Israel to be a nation. But I want you to understand that biblically, that is now how the biblical authors understood the beginning of the last days. There's two things that had to happen for the last days to be ushered in. The sending of the Son, the Christ, number one, and His subsequent sending of the Holy Spirit. That's what ushered in the last days, and that's what Paul was talking about today. The last days would be difficult times. So, I want you to see some of the data here. Let's look at Hebrews 1, 1 through 2. And notice what Hebrews says. The writer of Hebrews says, God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers and the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. So notice here in red you see this connection to the last days, but to the writer of Hebrews it's connected to the sending of the Son. Why? Because after all the only way that the Son could speak to us is that he was first sent. And so from the beginning of Christ's first coming into the subsequent sending of the Holy Spirit, that's what ushered in the last days. So you and I have been living as the church in the last days and we will until the second coming of Christ. Now what this means to us is then the next event on God's redemptive calendar is the consummation of the last days by Christ intervening by coming through the clouds for us. And so this is why we have the doctrine of imminence taught in the scriptures. Because you are living in the last days, the next event on God's redemptive calendar is the second sending of the sun. And so this explains then why the apostle Paul says in Philippians 4 or 5 he says let your gentle spirit be known to all men for the Lord is near. Now when Paul says for the Lord is near he's not talking about the Lord's omnipresence although that's certainly true but rather he's talking about the nearness of Christ's return. Why? Because we're living in the last days, we're living between the first and second advent. How close are we to the second advent? We have no idea. Maybe it's tonight, maybe it's tomorrow. That's why he could say the Lord is near or literally at hand. Brothers and sisters, I really hope that the church reestablishes the doctrine of imminence. And I think that doctrine of imminence really stems from believing properly what the last days are. The last days are characterized by expectancy, because the next event is the sending forth of the Son. Now, two things that I want you to learn more about the last days. Again, it was the sending of the Son, but we also need the sending of the Holy Spirit. But second, I want you to know that the last days were promised to be difficult times for the people of God. Years ago, I knew people that were in the Word of Faith movement, and they would teach... Remember, the Word of Faith movement is heresy. They take faith and they turn it into a force. So you can control your own life because you use faith like a force. Like Star Wars, you're going to move things around. Right? So therefore, you should always have a Cadillac in your garage, and you should never get sick, and you should always have financial prosperity. And if you don't have those things, it's because you don't have enough faith. And so when things go bad, and they inevitably do in our lives, It ends up being a crisis of faith for those who are in the Word of Faith movement. Well, that's rank heresy. Because the Apostles are teaching us the last days are characterized by difficult times. Okay, so I just want to point that out. Now, let's begin here, though, talking about the sending of the Spirit and how important that was for the last days. Here the Apostle Peter says this at Pentecost. He's citing Joel 2.28. He says, and in the last days it shall be God declares that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy and your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams. Peter is quoting right from the book of Joel. But I want you to realize that this expectation that one day in the last days the Holy Spirit would be sent on all men, is a promise that we see all the way back in the law. Do you remember in Numbers 11, in verse 29, Moses says, Oh that all of God's people would have the Spirit upon them. And so then, in the ninth century, Joel prophesies that indeed that day would come. And sure enough, Jesus ascends into the heavens, and He subsequently sends the Spirit, and Peter records, this is the great fulfillment. Yes, the Holy Spirit just isn't upon Moses, the prophet and the mediator of the Old Covenant. Now the Holy Spirit is upon all of God's people so that we can believe in the Messiah, so that we can be empowered to love God and love neighbor, and therefore we overcome the evil ways of the last days. That's why it was necessary to send the Holy Spirit. Brothers and sisters, look at the timeline. I've got a handy and dandy timeline for you. I want you to think of here the first hash mark is the first advent of Christ and the subsequent sending of the Spirit. So this ushers in the last days, and it will last until what? The second coming of Christ. Now, where are you and I in this timeline? We don't know. We just know we're in the last days. The next event on God's calendar, redemptively, is the sending forth of the Son. All right, now, second thing I want you to realize is we talked about earlier, remember 2 Timothy 3.1, Paul said these last days are gonna be difficult times. Remember, literally violent times. Now, I want you to know that that is indeed the case. Don't believe the false teachers who say if you're a Christian, you're never gonna have any problems here and now. Turn your Bibles, if you will, to Acts 14.21. I'm gonna show you further information that will show you, yes, these last days are difficult times. Acts 1421, please turn your Bibles there. As you're turning to Acts 1421, you have Paul here speaking at Antioch and encouraging fellow believers. Acts 1421, notice what it says. Acts 1421, it says, Paul was strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith and saying, through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God." Does everyone see the term tribulations there? The term there is thalipsis. Thalipsis. Hold on to that term. It's thalipsis. So what Paul is saying is that as, look at the timeline, as we're proceeding living in these last days, we're going to go through tribulations because the unregenerate are going to hate our gods. And they're going to live in evil ways because their conscience is informed by the doctrine of demons. That's what Paul is driving at. But there's another error that Christians can fall into. I've heard some Christians say that Acts 14.21 means that in the last seven years that Christ parousia, His coming, that we're going to go through the tribulation. what they say, hey after all Paul said through many tribulations we must inherit the Kingdom of God. No, the tribulations Paul is referring to is in the last days, but at the parousia, the coming of Christ, there is a reversal. So you, who have been going through thalipsis and affliction and tribulation because of the demonic doctrines of the pagans, all of a sudden God is going to do a reversal, and it's the pagans who are going to suffer, and you're going to be saved. Now, how do I know that? Well, turn your Bibles to 2 Thessalonians 1, verses 6 through 7, and you're going to see very clearly the reversal of thalipsis. 2 Thessalonians 1, verses 6 through 7. Again, 2 Thessalonians 1, we'll start in verse 6. Now as you're turning again to 2 Thessalonians 1 verse 6, here the Apostle Paul was really in a sense congratulating those at Thessalonica for having a godly faith, for having faith in Jesus Christ and persevering under pretty severe persecution. But here he's going to give them some hope. He says in verse 6 in 2 Thessalonians 1, He says, for after all, it is only just for God to repay with affliction. There's Philipsis. to repay with affliction those who afflict you. Stop there. Notice what Paul is promising. He's promising you and I who have been going, notice on the screen, we've been going through Philipsis in the last days, but there's a time where there's going to be a reversal, where those who have been putting us through tribulation in Philipsis during the last days, God is going to pour it upon them and you're going to be spared from it. Notice in verse 7 what time period he ties this to. He says, and to give relief to you who are afflicted, and to us as well, when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire. That's the Second Advent, the Parosee of Christ. So at the Parosee of Christ, you're not going to be going through tribulation. The unbelievers will. This is why Jesus promised to the church in Philadelphia, and by extension to all Christians, in Revelation 3.10, He says, because you've been faithful to keep my word. I will keep you from the hour of trial that comes upon the whole world to test those who dwell upon the earth." Brothers and sisters, you and I can bank on the idea that, yes, the last days are going to be difficult, but when Christ Jesus breaks through the clouds, the difficulty is over for you and I. That's the great news. Now, I want to come to my second application point for you, and that is, if you and I are going to be those who overcome in these last days, we have to be those who contend for the faith, to contend for the truth. One of the problems in Ephesus is you had people all too willing to listen to the doctrines of the false teachers. So what I want to do is give a little explanation practically as to how we as the church, whether you're a pastor, elder, or whether you're a layperson, because we're all a priesthood. Remember, every single believer is a priest. under Christ. How is it that we should withstand false teaching and sin in the church in the last days? Well, I've got two bullet points for you. First of all, believers have the right and duty to judge and correct sinful doctrine or deeds. And what I mean by the right is we have the privilege, but it's also a duty. That it's not just the pastor's job, it's every believer's job to contend for the faith once and for all. handed down to the Saints. Now, one of the most important passages that I think we should learn from, and most of you probably are aware of this passage and know it, but perhaps there's someone new that doesn't. It's Matthew 18, verses 15 through 17. Please turn your Bibles there if you will. Matthew 18, 15 through 17. Because here is practically how every believer can stand against false teaching and sinful behavior. Now, as we're turning to Matthew 18.15, we'll start there. We're going to see a three-step process that the people of God were to use in order to stand against either heresy or sin. Now, as I say heresy, again, we can have honest disagreements and eschatology and all sorts of things. I'm talking about doctrines that are essential to the faith. That's when Matthew 18 would come in. And again, when I'm talking about sin, I'm not talking about little faux pas or idiosyncrasies of someone's personality. I'm talking about rebelling against the terms of the New Covenant. So these are things that we enter into when things are serious. Notice how it begins in verse 15. Jesus says, if your brother, and again implied would be your sister as well, if your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private. If he listens to you, you have won your brother. So imagine you have a brother or sister that's in some sin or heresy. The idea is that you pull them aside, you have the scriptures, and you say, hey, this is what the new covenant calls you to, and yet you're doing this, and I love you, and I don't want to see you proceed down that road. Well, notice the good news is they say, hey, you know what? You're right. The evidence is clear in the scriptures. I was doing wrong or teaching something that's wrong. I'm not going to do that anymore. Well, you know what? You've won your brother or your sister. Amen. You've helped them. But notice if they won't listen, and the implied is that you have the truth on your side from the scriptures. Notice there's a second part, verse 16, but if he, implied would be she as well, does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that, notice here, Deuteronomy 19.15, by the mouth of two or three witnesses, every fact may be confirmed. Stop there. Why do we want two or three witnesses? Well, remember today in the vice list, one of the vices that we learned that was prevalent among the unregenerate was that they loved to slander. They make false accusations against people, people made in the image of God. So one of the guardrails for us is that we have to have two or three witnesses who are seeing the same thing so that we don't end up bearing false witness against our dear brothers and sisters that's why now let's say the evidence is on your side you put you bring your two or three witnesses and they still don't listen here's the third step verse seventeen it says if he refuses to listen to them tell it to the church and if he refuses to listen even to the church Let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector." So the idea is that if they still won't listen to two or three witnesses, then it's to be brought in front of the whole church, so that the weightiness of the entire church can be brought to bear, so that they will no longer want to sin with a high hand. Sinning with a high hand says, I know that I'm wrong, but I have the right to do it. If the person is going to persist, say, I have the right to sin and I have the right to teach false doctrine, they're to be treated as a tax gatherer and a Gentile, meaning the only thing that's fitting for them is exclusion from the body of Christ. It's done so that they will, if they're true Christians, want to be back in the body and they'll repent. But it's also to be done to protect the sanctity of the church. that's to represent the truth of Christ's word. So, that is a process that every single believer should be aware of. Matthew 18, verses 15 through 17. Now, let me give you a little caveat. Years ago, when I was in seminary, I was in a class taught by a man named LaRon Schultz. He was a rabid heretic. In fact, he's come out lately. He's a rabid atheist. And I could tell that this man was seriously flawed because he was teaching things that were in error. And I brought this to the attention of the provost at Bethel Seminary. Well, right away, what was thrown in my face was, did you follow Matthew 18? The problem with that is this man's teaching was public. He had public books. He did public teaching in classrooms. I felt the right to rebuke it publicly, and that it should be handled by those who are paying his paycheck. Now, what I want you to understand is sometime you may have to deal with a public heresy, and someone may try to rub Matthew 18 wrongly in your face, saying, hey, you didn't follow this correctly. There's a principle that we see in Scripture, if there's a public heresy, it should be dealt with publicly as well. Let me show you the evidence of that. Turn your Bibles to Galatians 2, verse 14. Galatians 2.14, the principle that we're learning here is that the heresy has to be dealt with in the arena in which it was expressed. If it's private, yes, go in private. But if it's public, it should be dealt with publicly. That's why Bob doesn't have to follow Matthew 18 every time he exposes false teaching in someone's book, because their book is public of public domain. Galatians 2.14, now remember, here the Apostle Paul is going to call on the carpet the Apostle Peter. Listen to what he says. Galatians 2.14, remember Peter started to side with the Judaizers here. Galatians 2.14, Paul said, but when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas, that's Peter the Apostle, in the presence of all, literally in the Greek, before all of their faces, If you being a Jew live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews? The Apostle Paul said that publicly because Peter had a public heresy going. That's why Bob doesn't have to follow Matthew 18 when he rebukes a book. He doesn't have to go to the person privately. Now, you can if you want, but a public heresy should be dealt with publicly as well. Okay, so these are some things that I've learned over the years, and I hope, brothers and sisters, that you take this wisdom from the Scriptures, and you're better equipped today to contend for the faith looking at these various passages. And by the way, that's why I have all these verses listed. I encourage that you read these and use this as a resource if you ever have to deal with false teaching or sin in the Church. Now, let me give you a second bullet point here, and that has to do with the function of elders and pastors. Remember, biblically, elders and pastors are the same. Pastors are elders, elders are pastors. Well, elders have the right and duty as well to protect the Church from sinful doctrines and deeds. We know that from 1 Timothy, notice the first passage there, 1 Timothy 1.3. The reason why Paul deposited Timothy as a pastor in Ephesus is so that he would, as Paul writes in 1 Timothy 1.3, instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrine. That's the role of the pastor and elder. Notice we have some ammunition in our clip, or our belt, or whatever you want to say. We've got a tool in our belt, maybe that's a good way of saying it, to handle false teaching that's a little different than the congregation. You can read about this, I won't have you turn to it, but in Titus 3.10-11, Titus, remember, was a pastor in Crete. And Paul said to Titus, reject the factious man, literally the hereticos, the heretic, after one or two warnings, knowing that he stands self-condemned. Sometimes the heresy is so egregious that you simply warn that the person's deviating from the truth, and if they don't heed the warning, They must undergo church discipline. That's another quiver in the arrow for the believers to root out false teaching. Brothers and sisters, it's not just the pastor's role, it's every believer's role to stand against heresy and to contend for the faith. One of the problems in Ephesus is that there were too many people willing to listen to the foolish teaching of the heretics. We can't be the same. if we will overcome in the last days. Now the final point that I want to talk about here is how you and I have to be dedicated to believing the promises of God. The only way that you and I will overcome in the last days is by believing the promises, and therefore we'll live to love God and love neighbor. And I want to show you that in the book of Jude, he says something very similar to what Paul wrote to us today in 2 Timothy 3. In fact, in Jude 18, Jude said in the last days, mockers would come and they would follow their own ungodly lusts. So, what's Jude saying? He's saying, yes, the last days are going to be characterized by unbelievers not loving God and not loving neighbor. Well, notice he provides a remedy for believers in Jude 20 through 21. He says, but you, beloved, who's the beloved? It's every believer. He says, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, to eternal life. Now, notice here two things. First of all, Jude calls us to build ourselves up in the holy faith. That's the truth. of the faith once and for all handed down to the saints. Now the question is how do you build yourself in the faith? Can you just beat yourself silly and get more faith? Can you just try harder? What he's getting at is that you and I can put ourselves in the realm, the arena in which God can operate on us. And so one way that you and I can do this is by submitting to the means of grace that God has given to the church. We see, remember, the means of grace, the four tools in Acts 2.42, where the early church devoted themselves to the assembling together, to the apostles' teaching, to prayer, and to the breaking of bread, which is what the Lord's Supper. And the idea is when you're submitting yourself to the means of grace, it is the arena in which God can operate on you in build you in your faith because the promises of God will always be before your face now what's interesting is notice right after that he says keep yourselves in the love of God and the question here is this a subjective genitive in other words it's God's love for us or is it an objective genitive our love for God and I would say yes I think it's what's called by Daniel Wallace a plenary genitive But accentuated here is probably our love for God. Yes, we only love God because He first loved us. Both are implied. But how is it that you and I are going to continue to love God? What was the problem with the heretics? They loved themselves rather than God. We learn that today. So what makes us any different than the unregenerate? Well, notice he says right after that through this participle that explains how we are to build ourselves up in loving God. He says, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. That's longing and waiting for the Second Coming. It's about believing the promises of God. You see, the reason why the unregenerate only love themselves and they don't love others or God, is because they don't believe the best is yet to come. And if the best isn't yet to come, they're going to get all they can here and now. That's why they're selfish. Brothers and sisters, if you believe the best is yet to come and that you're heading for the resurrection, you're going to be willing to suffer for God and love God and love neighbor. But if you don't believe the best is yet to come, you don't believe in the promises, you'll start living like the unregenerate. getting all you can here and now, being a lover of self rather than a lover of God. The battle to live a godly life, the battle to be holy, is not magical. It's simply a battle to believe the promises of God. And if you and I will believe those promises, you and I will be the people who overcome the evil ways of the last days. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, we do thank you for your word. We thank you, Lord, that you've given us truth in your scriptures and that they are powerful to show the falsehoods, to rebuke those who are in error, but also to lovingly correct and to train up in righteousness the man of God so that they may be equipped for every good work. We thank you, Lord. We pray, Heavenly Father, that we would be people who stand lovingly for the truth that we'd be those who would not tolerate error, but yet we would expose it in love. We pray, Heavenly Father, that in the weeks and months to come that you would give us opportunity to proclaim your truth to loved ones, friends, and family, so that they may, too, know the greatness of your Son, the forgiveness that's found through faith alone in His name. We pray that you would do that through us and for us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.