Let us now turn for our scripture reading. We turn for our scripture reading which is found in the book of 2nd Timothy and the chapter 3. 2nd Timothy chapter 3. Commencing our reading at the verse 1. Let us hear God's holy word together. The Lord help us and give us ears to hear and hearts to receive his precious word this night. 2nd Timothy chapter 3. Commencing our reading at the verse 1. This know also that in the last days perilous times shall come, for men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemous, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God, having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof. From such turn away, 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. Now as Janus 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. But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience, persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra, what persecutions I endured. But out of them all the Lord delivered me. and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them. that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. The man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. Amen. This is the word of the Lord and may the Lord be pleased to bless that public reading of his holy, most holy, infallible, inerrant and sacred word. All to the glory of his name and to the good of our needful and never dying souls here this night. Let us pray. Dear congregation, I invite you now to please turn your prayerful attention to the second epistle of Timothy and the third chapter. We arrive in this third chapter now after many months of going through 2 Timothy, week by week, consecutive exposition of God's Word, studying through this most important epistle. Of course, all the epistles are important, and I trust that The Lord will continue to help us to understand his word. Now it's always necessary, isn't it? As we come to God's word, we don't pluck verses out of context, but we fit everything into context. We go on the scene in our mind's eye and we try to understand with the Spirit's help what was being conveyed to young Timothy here, a young pastor of the church at Ephesus. He's been there for some time now. This is, as we've said, the second epistle given to Timothy. Paul wrote to him already whilst he was elsewhere. He wasn't actually in prison in the first occasion, but some years have passed now. Paul has had his first defense before Nero, and he knows that his time is short. His departure is at hand. Titus has been written, the epistle of Titus, now this we understand to be the very last epistle that the Holy Spirit would give the Apostle Paul. Now, just reading the verse 1 through to the verse 6 this evening, once again, so that these things are fresh upon our minds. Know this also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God, having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof. From such, turn away. For they saw to they which creep into houses and lead captive silly women, laden with sins, led away with divers lusts. Now often it is conceived or thought of others by many that the words here simply are referring to the world, but they're not. There will be those in the church that will be of this sort, and we'll seek to prove that this evening. The Apostle Paul is warning young Timothy that in the last days, perilous times will come, and there will be those that creep into churches that are of this sort, of this kind. This is true of people in the world, ungodly, unsaved people, but as we will see tonight from the very lips of our Lord Jesus Christ, as the world waxes worse and worse in the last days. When we think of the last days, what we mean is, and the Jews understood this, to be the last epoch. The first epoch was since the fall, right up till the coming of the Son of Man. From the creation of the world and the fall, which was soon after, right up until the coming of the Son of Man. That was the first epoch, but the last epoch, the second and the final advent, is the last days. Leading up until that time, until the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ, from the ascension until his coming, are really the last days. These things have really started to take place at Ephesus. These things are true. The world has seen terrible, perilous days, perilous times. Now, what we have before us is a very clear and succinct prophetic word. What it will be like until the end of time as we know it. As I've said just a moment ago, the last epoch, the last event, the time now somewhere between 66, 67 AD, and as I said, Paul, is ready to depart. He says in verse six of chapter four, for I am now ready to be offered and the time of my departure is at hand. He is sent for Timothy, he is asked for certain items to be brought with him, but he doesn't know for a certainty that he will see Timothy. And he is therefore writing to him about very, very important things and how he and other ministers are to conduct themselves and what they are to teach in the church of Jesus Christ as the last days have come upon the churches. And as I said, we are ready in those last days now. The hour of the Lord Jesus Christ coming, we don't know. We don't know for sure. But the Apostle Paul, as is every believer, being a faithful servant of Almighty God, Though he was once a blasphemer of God, though he was once a hater of the Christ, and of his church, he shall not receive the righteous judgment of God, but as he says in this epistle, he shall receive a crown of glory. A crown of glory that awaits him and all them that love the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank the Lord for his mercy. It's all because of sovereign grace that we have been saved. It's all because of God's mercy. It's all because of God's election. And that election is because of his everlasting love for his people. We can trace election to love. Love is the foundation of our salvation. And it is all of grace. The Apostle Paul, as he has said before, has run the race that is set before him. He has been a witness for the Lord Jesus Christ. He's been a faithful teacher. He has contended for the truth. He has defended the truth. He has been in prison. He has been in tumults. He has been beaten. We've read of Lystra. We've read of these places where he has suffered for the sake of Christ. He has faced fierce men who have opposed the truth. Paul knows what it is to face an angry mob, a whole city. We think of those at Ephesus that stood against the Apostle Paul. He knows what the people are like at Ephesus. He understands what Timothy is going to have to go through. All of the apostles suffered martyrdom apart from John. And as he has said even at the close of this epistle, or this chapter should we say, this epistle, all that desire to live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. And he's already warned young Timothy even in the first epistle that there are false teachers. In fact, that's one of the reasons why he was to abide at Ephesus. 1 Timothy 1, verse 3, he said, I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus when I went to Macedonia that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine. The church, dear friends, has always known those who have sown heresy. Ever since the truth was published, it needs to be said the truth has been under attack. It's no different today. The devil is real. He hates the Word because the Word is given by Jesus Christ. He hates Christ and he hates the church. And he is full of wrath, as we read in the book of the Revelation, knowing that his time is short. And as the end of the age rolls on, we don't know when, things do seem to be getting worse and worse. there will be an attack against the truth. There have already been, we notice in 1 Timothy 1, verse 19, two men named there, Hymenaeus and Alexander, who had already blasphemed the Lord. How they blasphemed, we don't know. Was it by their life? You can blaspheme God by your life. As you name the name of Christ, as God is your God, as Paul says to the Romans, He says how the Jews blaspheme God, saying that they are keepers of the law, but they break the law. We can blaspheme. Do we know what blaspheme means? It means to speak evilly of. And we can speak evilly of God by living a duplicitous life, by saying that we're Christians and living contrary. We're not adorning the doctrine of God. The doctrine of God is that he changes his people. He truly works from the inside, doesn't he? And so there's an outward change in the life. He reminds us that there are those that have erred, even in this chapter, in this epistle, chapter 2, verse 17. Two men there named also, Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have erred concerning the faith, saying that the resurrection has already passed. These men, were unlearned and unstable, as Peter says. Unlearned, they weren't studied in the Scriptures. They speak off the cuff and they rest the Scriptures, as Peter says, as do others. Unstable men, changing doctrine from one day to the next. That's really what an unstable man is theologically. He never has a consistent position on theological matters. that never ought to be said of us. We've got to be firmly rooted and grounded in the truth. You know, not an Armenian one day and a Calvinist the next day. We've got to be men who are established in the truth. Now remember in chapter 2 what the Apostle Paul has done is he has exalted Timothy to be a teacher who seeks to gently instruct those who oppose him verse 24 and verse 25, not to be a brawler, but to gently instruct those and correct those who err concerning the truth. Notice what he says there, verse 24, and the servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, and notice, in meekness, instructing those that oppose themselves. That's him, the teacher. Gently instructing them. If God, peradventure, perhaps will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth. People have very hard hearts and very proud sometimes to acknowledge the truth. They don't want to admit they're wrong. If God, peradventure, will give them repentance, such people, that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil who are taken captive. by Him at His will. And so that's really how chapter 2 ends. And remember that as we read this epistle, there were no chapter divisions. So really, verse 26 flows straight on to the verse 1 of chapter 3. This know also, in light of this, in light of these false teachers and these men who are wise cats with their own doctrine and who are proud, conceited. What does Paul do now in Chapter 3? Well, he is going to speak about not only false teachers but those whom they lead astray. And we need to watch out that we are not these sort of people. He mentions here, silly woman. He mentions those who are easily duped and deceived. Now of course, for a time, God's elect may be a little deceived, but they will not fall away. They may stumble, they may be baffled a little by the false teachers, but they'll soon show themselves up for what they really are. So Paul, what he does here in chapter 3 is he delivers up, first of all, a prophecy concerning the last days. As I said, these last days, the Jews and the early Christians understood the last days meant, as I said, the last epoch from Christ ascending to heaven to his second coming. The first epoch being from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zacharias in the Old Testament, and then That's the first days as it were, but the last days from Christ's ascension to his second coming, to his glorious return to judge the world in righteousness. That's the last time, that last final day. We don't know the day, the hour, nobody can predict it. It is written in heaven, God knows it, and God alone. It'll be that day when our Lord will come. on the clouds of heaven, and he will usher in the new heavens and the new earth, where his redeemed shall dwell forever with him." And so the Apostle Paul here, what he does is he describes the sort of persons that live in these last days that will seek to deceive the elect if possible. It's not possible, but they will seek to. Now, there's so much here in these verses, we'll see at least 18 features of these people. He's already told Timothy to follow doctrine and right way of life. But here notice how this prophecy begins. As it begins, this know also that in the last days perilous times shall come for Now the word therefore is very important because it's a connecting word. Because men shall be lovers of their own selves. In other words, these perilous days have to do with sin. Not so much the earthquakes and the famines and the things of this world, but because of sin, because of deception, men shall be lovers of self. And what we will see, you'll notice in the verse 8 and 9, These men will eventually expose themselves. The elect will not fall away. These men will expose themselves just as the enchanters, just as the magicians in Moses' day were shown up for what they really were. These men, Janus and Jambres, we'll look at in the Old Testament. These will show themselves for what they really are. And often in this life, And in this time, as we know from Paul's epistle, his first epistle, some men's sins go before them. And it's seen in the life. Some men's erroneous teaching are open beforehand. Chapter 5, verse 24, some men's sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment. And some men, they follow after. False teachers will be exposed in this life. Chapter 5, 1st Timothy, verse 24. Some men's sins go before them, some after them. Just like these two men as we'll think of tonight in the Old Testament, these magicians of Pharaoh, they were exposed for their folly. So it is. Now let's get straight to these descriptions of men in the last days. This know also that in the last days perilous times shall come, for because men shall be lovers of their own selves and so on. Now, again let me just stress as we begin to open up these, what we see here is a description of those, and this might come as a real shock to you tonight, a shock to those who are actually in the church. Paul here is primarily speaking about empty professors in the church. Let me begin to illustrate. If you turn with me to Matthew 24, and the Lord Jesus Christ is there upon the Mount Olivet with his disciples, and they're showing him the Temple of Herod, and he tells them about the destruction of the temple, which will take place somewhere around AD 70, and that happened. according to our Lord's word. And then he speaks about the events that lead up to his final coming and the gospel going out in all the world. I'll read from verse four, Matthew 24, verse four. And Jesus answered and said unto them, take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name saying, I am Christ and shall deceive many and ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you be not troubled, for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you, and shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. Now notice, and many false prophets shall arise. The word there, prophet, can also mean teacher, and shall deceive many. Now notice, and because iniquity shall abound, that's in the world, by and large, as the world gets worse and worse, the love of many, That's the professing many who profess to love the Lord shall wax cold. Now, what is love? We've said it before, love is the moral essence and directive of the law. To love the Lord our God with all of our heart, our soul, our mind, and our strength. That's the first table of the law. Second table of the law is to love our neighbor as ourself. There's an increasing resistance against the moral law of God, an increasing lack of conformity to God's law, which means what? Lawlessness. And lawlessness, we are told by John, is sin. Sin is anomia. Lawlessness. So what you have in the last days is iniquity abounding. Literally, the word there means exponentially, increasingly. abounding. And as it does in the world, the world's sin is pervasive. You will see it coming, worldliness, into the church. And you will see the church becoming more and more worldly as the age rolls on. And that is really what we see here in 2 Timothy chapter 3. abounding iniquity, and therefore the love of the many, of the professing many, shall wax cold. There never really was a love. There was a pretentious service and love to the Lord. But notice, but he that shall endure, that is endure in love and commitment unto the end, the same shall be saved. Well, how do endure? Well, we are told by Paul in Galatians that faith worketh by love. If we have been saved by grace through faith, which is the gift of God, we will also have love. You know, James reminds us, if a man says he has faith and he has no works, works are a sign that we love, aren't they? You can't say that you have love to God if there's no proof of it in the life. The one that endures to the end in this life of principled obedience to God shall be saved. Now notice, and this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations. And then shall the end come. So these are the signs of the end of the age. And within the professing church there will be these ungodly men that we will look at here tonight in these verses. Very briefly, there are many of them. There are at least 18, some say 19 traits here. We could even say 20, but I suppose the first part here describes, the first clause here describes these men. What is chiefly to be said about them? Verse 2, for because men shall be lovers of their own selves. That's what you could put, as it were, as a title to these ungodly people. That's a mark of somebody who's not saved. Now the Bible is not speaking about the fact that we should hate ourselves, but the Bible does in a sense say that. We should not love our own lives. How do we view ourselves? We view ourselves as sinners. We don't love what we used to be. We love Now, the work that God has begun in us. We thank the Lord for what we are, and we acknowledge that what we are, we are by the grace of God. Perilous times come because of self-love, not love to God. That's the sense, and that's how we're to understand it. People put themselves before God. That's truly the mark, isn't it, of an unsaved person. Somebody who puts themself before God. Remember what Paul says, I count my life to be as nothing. The life I now live, he said, I live by faith in the Son of God. So here, this know that in the last days perilous times shall come, for because men shall be lovers of their own selves. Now it's clear, as I said, from the context and from what all the best commentators say, the apostle here is speaking primarily about the church in a sinful world. Those empty professors in a sinful world, an increasingly sinful world, but who are in the church, who have crept in, as we will see. And this is descriptive of them. There's a form of godliness. But there's a denial of the power of God in them. There's no power of God in them. These are dead men. So men should be lovers of their own selves, not in a good way, not in a good sense, but in a bad sense. They only love themselves. They put themselves first. They don't love the Lord's people. They don't love God. They are always looking out for their own selfish mercenary ends. Love for self. You know, the world will tell you today, won't it? It's one of the sayings today, you need to love yourself more. That's the problem. The problem is people love themselves too much. We need to have a proper view of ourselves. Well, they look for the applause of men. It's all pride behind it, isn't it? Lovers of self. They don't merit anything. Really, what have sinners merited? Wrath. But they, any good that they have, any gift, if somebody has good looks, it's pride, isn't it? I love myself for my looks. Some people pride themselves on their height, a tall person. Who gave you your height? Don't boast in it. Who gave you your looks? God gave you your looks. All these things are from God. But you see, this kind of mindset can creep in the church because people think somehow that they're good. Maybe they've received some gifts, some ability, some talent, physical ability, and they take pride. It's the pride of life, isn't it? Part of the pride of life. And so everything they do in this life is for the glory of themselves. You can tell very often how A young person, how he has his eyes set on things in this world. You know, very often we're guilty as older people saying to the young people, what would you like to do with your life? Rather than saying, what would God have you do? That's how we need to speak to our young people. What will glorify God in your life? What's pleasing to Him? He's given you life, he's given you time. It's all a gift from God. We have a culture today that is constantly promoting self, promoting each other, promoting man, but not promoting God. We owe God everything. He's the reason for our existence. You know, I'm sure this gets on your nerves. Often you hear of people doing things for charity. Maybe it's a race or something like that. It's a long distance run. And so it's a good cause. But often they'll take pride in it. Will you sponsor me? Why not just ask somebody to give money to that cause? Why do you have to prove your heroship by going on some long run, on some long expedition somewhere? You know, that's all part of pride. Just give your money. Much easier. Give it in secret too. Don't give it openly. And what you do, don't do before men. These sort of things have crept in, haven't they? In the last few years. They ought to bring shame. What do we do? And what do we do it for? That's the big question, isn't it? Are we promoting self? Often people promote themselves on social media and these things. Lovers of self, lovers of pleasure, and so on. So that's the first there. And in this self-love is covetousness. That's what we see here. Lovers of self. It's covetous. That's at the heart, isn't it? Secondly, covetous. They want the applause. They want the praise, they want things. They're lovers of things, they're greedy. Greedy for stuff, they're not happy with God. And this is... You're speaking about people in the church. We expect this from people in the world. But would we expect it from the church? Well, Paul has to warn Timothy, charge them that are rich, or that would be rich in this world. Not to be rich. not to set your sights on things here on this earth. Well, it's good to be industrious, but what do you do with what you have? There are those that don't do for the good of others, but for themselves. Covetous, we read here. Lovers of things more than lovers of God. Covetousness is idolatry. We're reminded of this, aren't we, in Colossians 3, 5. Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Covetousness is idolatry. Why is it idolatry? Well, you want things that are going to please you. That's at the heart. You don't want the things to please God and to use them for the glory of God. Although sometimes people disguise that. But it's not always the case, is it? Something else, boasters. You see how that's connected? The person that is covetous is also a boaster. When they have these things, they boast in these things. They boast of their wealth. They boast of their riches, their honor, their grandeur. This could be in the church, and there's warning about those in the church like this. But there can also be people who boast in their poverty. We have to be very careful there. Oh, I'm poor. I'm humble. We have to be very careful. Pride is in the heart of every one of us. Boasters. You can boast in your poverty. You can boast in your riches. We have to realize that everything that we have is from God, and it's to be used for God's glory. Proud. There again, see? Proud. It's why the person boasts, he's proud. Well, it's been the case, think of the Church of Rome. We're thinking of the Church here, aren't we? The Pope, the Cardinals, the Vicars, to be a bishop in the Church of England, these people who postulate and who pontificate, these people that stand, the pope who stands in the place of God, as we're told in the Scriptures, a man exalting himself in the place of God, putting himself in the place of God, overthrowing the word of God, that's what the pope does, his word is over the word of God. But you know there are people who are like popes in the church, that think that they are higher than the Word of God, think they know more than God's Word. Proud, that's all it is, not humble. Proud. You don't have to be a pope to be proud. Blasphemous. That's the fourth there. Again, the word blasphemer means One that speaks evil of. And as I said, you can do this by your life just as Paul spoke of the Jews in Romans chapter 2 verse 23. Thou that makest thy boast in the law through the breaking of the law dishonest thou God. For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, through your life. And you can do this as a Christian in a reformed Baptist church. You can be a blasphemer. by saying you hold to these doctrines, but you don't live them out. You blaspheme God's Word. You blaspheme His name. You bring the church into disrepute. Or we can easily look at the church of Rome, in all of its wealth, in all of its pomp, and the Pope claiming to be Christ's vicar on earth. We can look at all that and rightfully say it's wrong. But where do we stand in these things? We're God's people. Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. We can blaspheme God in so many ways as we will think tonight by claiming that we're Christ and showing that we're not. 2 Thessalonians 2, 4, concerning the man of sin who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is God or what is worshipped, so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Remember ye not that when I was yet with you, I told you these things, and now ye know that what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. Now, some of us have come to the conclusion, and I'm of that opinion, that the man of sin has perpetuated down through the ages. And the 1689 Confession, which we hold to as a church, we believe that that man of sin, I'm not saying everybody should hold to this, but a number of us do, has continued on. The Pope has set himself over the Word of God since the beginning of the Church of Rome. And there's been that succession of papacy here upon earth. The man setting himself in the temple of God is a clear description, I believe, of the Antichrist who has come, who claims he can absolve sins. Of course, only Christ can. Disobedient to parents' fifthly notice. Now, there's no need to prove this one, is it? is there today in our day and age. This we see more and more as we look at the rising present generation of young people. I have to say in my 55 years of life, I have never known such wickedness in this world as I do today. What comes out of the mouths of young people, the way they speak, what they watch and what they allow themselves to watch on TV and even in the church, in the church, should never be tolerated. Would you be happy for the Lord Jesus Christ to sit next to you and watch what you watch? We should always ask that question. What do we watch? What do we allow to go through the eye gate, the ear gate? And when our parents say we shouldn't watch these things and we go ahead and do them, you're being disobedient to parents. And this is the mark, you see, your parents, God has given them over you for your good, for your benefit. Answering back. I dare answer my father back when I was young. that I hear today, young people, and even of some professing young people. Professing Christians the way they speak to parents is despicable. It's a blight on the church. As time gets on, it gets worse and worse. Well, you see it in the world, and because it goes on in the world, I think it's okay to practice that in the home. Home should be completely different to the world. But these things are even tolerated in the church, sadly. Unthankful to God. Think of it. God has given us parents. Everything is a gift from him. Every moment, every moment of our lives is from God. Unthankfulness to God is proof, let me say, of the absence of God from your mind. It's what Stephen Charnock called practical atheism. You don't think about God. You see, a thankful heart is living in a conscious awareness that God is, that God is keeping me alive, that God is sustaining me, and everything that I have is from him anyway. How dare I boast? I ought to give thanks for everything. What do I deserve? I deserve hell. unthankful. So many people live as if everything they have in this life is derived from themselves. God has given you health, strength, the sound mind. Be thankful, Paul says, always. But the mark of the end of the age, even in the church, sadly, is unthankfulness. Why? Because they don't have God in their minds. They're not retaining God. And these are questions, or should we say proofs, acid tests as to whether we are the Lord's, whether we are saved or not. Are we thankful? If you're thankful, it is a mark that God is often in your thoughts. Unholy. But here's a person, and this is what unthankfulness produces, this self-aggrandizing life, this pomp, promiscuousness, unholiness. There's no God. He doesn't see me, but he does. A person that is unholy is not living in the fear of God. not living in the conscious awareness of God. Sin has become very commonplace in that person's life because, again, he's a practical atheist. God is in his Bible, but not in his heart. God is far from his thoughts every day. He doesn't pray to God, he doesn't have a relationship with God, he doesn't confess his sins. Sad, isn't it, to think that the love of the many, the professing many, waxes cold and even in the church. Men are so unholy today that when they sin, they forget what it is to blush, when they're ashamed. The scriptures speak about this in Jeremiah 8.11. where the Lord says, were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? Nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush. Therefore shall they fall among them that fall. You see, the conscience can become so seared, so hard, that we don't become ashamed of that sin that we've become so used to, that sin that we've just done over and over and over and over again. Jeremiah 8 verse 12. We move on to the next now, without natural affection. Well, we know even in Paul's day, as he had to write to the church at Corinth, this was going on. In the house of God, a man having relations with his stepmother. Wrong! Terrible! These things aren't even named among the heathens then. We hear of terrible things, don't we? As the world increases in this. It increases, sadly, even in the church. I heard my, a few years ago now, a well-known church, a good minister, good ministry, and there's a family. And husband and wife, marriage broke down because the wife decided to go off with another woman. And yet she still continued to go to the services. How could you do that? How can you do that? Because what you do, you see, is you say, well, that part of the word doesn't apply to me. You know, the person has lost all sense. People can sit under God's Word. People can have a Bible that clearly condemns homosexuality and live in relationships. And all these kinds of things in the church because they just deny the truth. Is that possible? It is possible. Sad. Here, unnatural affection. I believe primarily what he's speaking about is what he writes in Romans chapter 1 verse 26 and verse 27. For this cause God gave them up to vile affections. For even their woman did change the natural use to that which is against nature, and so on. And likewise the men also, leaving the natural use of the woman. These things go on in churches, you have homosexual clergy, you have people that say that they're Christians, that practice these things, vile affections, inordinate affections, evil concupiscence, Colossians 3 verse 5. And this is what happens when the world departs, but you also see more and more, and waxes worse and worse in its sin, and then the church begins to depart from the truth. We mustn't think that somehow the church is detached from the world. It ought to be. You know, we're in the world, but we're not to be of the world. But what you see, as the Lord Jesus said, as iniquity abounds, the love of the many waxes colder and colder in this world. These things should never be tolerated. Number nine, truce breakers. Word really means covenant breakers. Those who, their word and their promise is not their word. You know, the old saying used to be, a man's word is his bond. In the old days, you used to be able to shake hands on an agreement. These days, people change. They're so fickle. You get people that come into a church. When we have members, everybody signs a covenant, signs the Articles of Faith, signs these things, and people change. People say, I didn't mean my marriage vows. Truce breakers, that's really what is under this. What they're saying is truth doesn't matter, my promise before God doesn't matter. That which I promised my brethren doesn't matter. Selfishness is at the heart of it, isn't it? Sin is at the heart of it all. People are increasingly making void their oaths and their agreements. We thought recently of David and Jonathan making their oath, making their vow in the field to give each other that security that they needed. There are lawful oaths, lawful vows. I've come across a number of Christians who are of this foolish notion that it's wrong to make an oath, wrong to make a vow. My friend, it's so clear in the word of God. Oaths and vows done lawfully are a good thing. And we are to make promises. But remember that when we make a vow or an oath, the scriptures say better that we pay it, better that we keep it. God is not mocked. Truce breakers, many people are truce breakers. Paul here again is speaking of the church. False accusers. You know, people today in the church aren't afraid of accusing people falsely. It's nothing to accuse a minister of something today. It's nothing to accuse another church member and get away with it. Nobody's going to challenge you. What happened to people in the Old Testament who were false accusers? Deuteronomy 19.16, if a false witness rise up against any man to testify against him, that which is wrong, then both the men between whom the controversy is shall stand before the Lord, before the priests and the judges, which shall be in those days, and the judges shall make diligent inquisition. And behold, if the witness be a false witness, and hath testified falsely against his brother, then shall ye do unto him as he had thought to have done unto his brother. So shalt thou put the evil away from among you. See, that's very clear, isn't it? If that person had evil intent against the other, treat them the way they intended to treat the other person, if they were guilty. Of course they're not. They've been found out to be a false accuser. This is why we must learn not to speak rashly or lightly, or make false claims about people. Timothy certainly had his false accusers, Paul had his liars, just like Satan. You know, we have to treat sin for what it is in the church. Another word, eleventhly, incontinent. A person who can't control his sinful appetites, that's really at the heart of this Greek word. You can't control sinful appetites and people make all kinds of excuses. There are all kinds of things that men don't try to control. Of course, the Holy Spirit teaches us what? Self-control. Some people say, well, I can't help swearing. You don't do that as a Christian. Thou shalt be judged for every word. What did the Lord Jesus say? For every idle word thou shalt utter, thou shalt be condemned. There are all kinds of sinful appetites, even gluttony. That's a sin. You know, our bodies are the temple of the living God. They're not ours to do just what we want with them. People indulge themselves in all kinds of things that are wrong. Dear friends, our body belongs to God. Hands, feet, eyes, they belong to God. Job said, I have made a covenant with my eyes. Young men, make a covenant with your eyes. What did the Lord say? If thy right eye calls thee to sin, plug it out. He didn't mean literally do what it takes. To deal with sin. Mortify your sin. Put it to death. Sin shall no longer reign in you, says the apostle Paul. Something else, notice, fierce. That is, these people have no gentleness. As soon as they see something's wrong, they don't know how to exercise grace because they don't know grace. They don't know, they've never been shown mercy themselves, they're in fact merciless people. What did the Lord Jesus Christ say? Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy. Well, he's not saying you earn mercy, but the merciful shall obtain it because they have been shown mercy. Haven't they? I mean, we respond to different people in a kind way because God has kindly dealt with us. But in the last days, there will be fierce people. These are unsaved people. There's no love, there's no grace. They're constantly attacking people and it shows that they have never truly been forgiven. We have to watch our spirit. When others fall, be very, very slow. As you correct them, Galatians 6 tells us, to restore a brother in a gentle manner. These men are like beasts of prey, wanting others to fall. Do we want others to fall? Do we want other Christians to fall? We shouldn't want that. Even our enemies, we should pray for them. Be gentle. Remember the mercy God has shown you. Notice 13, despises of those that are good. The word here, despise, means to lightly esteem. It doesn't mean to hate, but it means to lightly esteem those who do good. They say, oh well, that's not a big deal. It's a wonderful thing when we seek kindness, And we see goodness in others, isn't it? We should rejoice when we see kindness shown to other people. And we don't say that's a small thing. We highly value it in the church. We highly value love and kindness and equity. We don't highly put it down. We highly value love, gentleness. Something else, traitors. Traitors. Oh well, what is a traitor? Somebody that can be your friend in the church one day and the next day he's an enemy. You know, you've shown them kindness for years and then all of a sudden they like Judas. They were never saved. We read of Judas in Luke 6, 16. And Judas, the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, which was also the traitor. traitors. We believe that the church will have traitors, yes, because some people, remember, are not saved. And there will be those. And we have to watch and make sure we don't have that same spirit. He mentions traitors elsewhere. Some people that will say things good about you one moment and then stab you in the back the next. These are traitors. Which you read Romans 16 at some point. There are 29 fellow workers that the Apostle Paul names there. His fellow workers. And it's wonderful as you read the commendation that he gives to each one. Really is a tremendous passage. So encouraging. But he does mention traitors elsewhere. And there are times to name them. Because they will cause harm to others. that we should speak a word of kindness. If ever we have something to say, it should be a word of edification, an encouragement to each other. Fifteen, heady. The word really means headstrong. You can't teach this person. Heady, proud, rash, daring, bold, impudent. A man who can't hold his tongue, he always thinks he's right. Does everything in a rush. The man lacks meekness. Heady. Headstrong. And that's why he moves now to 16thly, high-mindedness. High-mindedness. Well, this is the person really described. He thinks of himself better than other people. High-minded. He says in 1 Timothy 16, 17, "...Charge them which are rich in this world that they be not high-minded." You think yourself above, better than other people, simply because you've got a bit of cash. It's not right. The wisdom that we have is from God. Some people think, well, I'm successful. I've come from a family or a line of Christians. I'm better than the rest. That's folly, isn't it? Well, maybe some of your line of Christian family aren't saved. Don't know, do you? The Lord knows. People take pride in heritage, in family, tradition, high-mindedness. People are high-minded. Romans 11, 20, be not high-minded but fear. 17, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God. Getting to the heart of it, isn't it? When you look at their life, there might be outward religion, there might be a form of religion, but really, if a man's love of pleasure outweighs his love for God, he can't be saved. Hear what I'm saying. If a man's love for pleasure outweighs his love for God, He cannot be saved. Why does he make the choice he makes? And very often, our choices betray our heart, don't they? The choices we make in life, the decisions we make. If the decision we made was because it's more comfortable for us, as opposed to something that is pleasing to God, it exposes the fact that the heart is not for God. And the man is all likelihood not saved. Why does he make a career change? Why does he make a house move? Why does he make a decision? Was it for God? Or was it for his own comfort? Was it for his own ends? Or was it for the glory of God? Something else, verse 5 there, having a form of godliness. You see, it's all pretentious. This is connected to the lovers of pleasure. You see that? Having a form of godliness. He's speaking about the same people. He's speaking about people that are actually in the church, who have a form of godliness. Notice, denying the power. Outwardly, they look like the real deal. They look like the real McCoy. But they lost. He says, from such turn away. These people just have a show of religion. It's all pomp and pretense. It's not real. Pretending holiness, but being outwardly different. You can tell by the decisions he or she makes. Well, having a form of sound words even, a scheme of sound words. And people can do this in prayer. People can pray very eloquent prayers. That's what the Pharisees did. They loved to pray on street corners. They knew, they learned the lingo. They learned the sayings, they learned how to impress people. And you know, we can do that with eloquent words. But that's not godliness. Godly prayers aren't godliness. It's what a man is on his own knees in private before God. That's all he is. For this sort are they which creep into houses and lead captive silly women, laden with sins, led away with divers' lusts. It's these people that easily impress, that lead away many. And here he's speaking about those who are in the way and they're being led away. These silly women, these simple women, that's all he's saying, these women that are spiritually gullible, This is not to put women down, but we must remember women that the scriptures say that women are the weaker vessel. And Eve was deceived and not Adam. Adam took of his own volition. We have not time for much more this evening. We'll leave it there. This is a whole lot more to look at. I hope that these things have given us food for thought. And as we'll see, they must be resisted, just as Moses resisted these two men, Janus and Jambres. And you can read about them. And by the way, there is the Talmud of Jonathan, which the Jews have within their Talmud. And there is reference to those names. I know those are extant biblical books, but mention is made of those names. And that's where Paul gets them from. They are not named there in Exodus. But that's more than likely where the apostle Paul from the historians got their name from. They deceived Pharaoh. But remember, there was a time when they weren't fooled. And Aaron took his rod out. And Aaron showed them for what they were. Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods, and their snakes, and those magicians were covered with boils. They had some power. But those men were brought to shame. And in the same way, false teachers will be brought to shame, and in the same way, those who live these kinds of lifestyles who are not godly in Christ Jesus will be exposed in this life for what they are. We ought to live in the power of God. Trusting in his word. Knowing God will perform his will. Ultimately live to please God. To glorify his name. And that's where you will find joy and contentment in this life. As you honor God. And as you do His will, may God help us in these last days to live to the glory of His name and to the praise of Jesus Christ, who has called us from a selfish life now to walk in His footsteps, a selfless life, a self-abasing life, a God-glorifying life, a God-honoring life. A life lived for God is a life worth living and a savior worth loving. May God help us and may we hear those words as the Apostle Paul would hear, well done, good and faithful servant. May we seek to be so with God's help. Amen.