Craggy range sophia 2006

1ALL SCRIPTURE IS GOD-BREATHED2 Timothy 3:1-17Key Verses: 16-17“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” In the previous passage, Paul commandedTimothy to do his best to be an approved Bible teacherwho correctly handles the word oftruth. And Timothy’s mission wasto pass the torch of the gospel to reliable people who werequalified to teach others. In today’s passage, Paul explainsthe nature of the Holy Scripture and its usefulness.Paul also teaches us what to love the most in the last days. May God help us to understand the value of God’s word and strive to go back to the Bible. I.Terrible times in the last days(1-9)Look at verse 1. “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.”Here, the last days refers to the time from Jesus’ ascensionto the time of his second coming. The phrase ‘terrible times’ sounds very terrible. The ‘terrible times’ was translated in other versionsas perilous times(KJV), times of stress(RSV)or very difficult times(NLT). These days, technology has advanced so much that people watch Brazil world cup soccer games in their phones on the street. People buy things through internet shopping and enjoy considerable leisure time. So the world must be better and better. Then, why did Paul address the last days ‘terrible times’? It is because these are the times not for physical sufferings but for mental and spiritual sufferingscaused bysinful natures. Look at verses 2-4.“People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.”The first nature of terrible times is lovers of themselves. Here, “the lovers of themselves” means they love themselves more than they love God. NLT says “for people will loveonly themselves.”‘I, my, me’ generation would arrive. In others words, peoplebecome selfishand self-centered.
2The second one is lovers of money. A godless man put money in God’s place because he thinks that money can bring him happiness and security. But often we hear the tragedy storiesthat people who wonlotteryendedtheir life in misery-like sudden death by heart attack, divorce, bankruptcy, drug-overdose, thieves’ attack, reckless spendingwith drinking and gambling, murderand so on.... because people couldn’t handle money correctly.1Timothy 6:10 says “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.”The goalof these people is self-glory. Theybecome arrogant, rebellious, unthankful and unholy. Verse 3 starts with the phrase “without love.” This means “unloving, heartless, and inhuman.” Jesus said in Matthew 24:12 regarding end times,“Because of the increase of wickedness, theloveof most will growcold.” People will be easily emotional and angered without self-control. One of the striking signs of the last times is loversof pleasure. People seek pleasures that stimulate their sensual desires through indulging in consuming excessive alcohol, immoral relationship, abusingdrugs, gameaddiction, watching violent movies and so on. Peoplesing ‘YOLO song’-‘You only live once’trying to rationalize impulsive or reckless behavior. Their life philosophyis ‘let us eat and drink for we die tomorrow’(1Co 15:32).Paul named 19 natures of the last times. It tells the conditionsof men’s heartwithout God. In this list, the word ‘lovers’ repeats 5times andthe word ‘love’ appears 1time. People seem to have unsound love problems. Times are terrible when people love the wrong objects. If the object of love is switched into wrong, then spiritual and moral chaos would occupy men’s heart. There were terrible times in the Bible. The times of Noahwas terrible becausethe earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence.(Ge 6:11) People married any of them theychose based on instinct and outward attraction. They became flesh. Then, God sent flood destroying all the ungodly people except Noah and his family members in the ark. The times of Sodom and Gomorrahwas also terrible becausetheir sinswas so grievous,especially homo-sexuality was rampant. People regarded God’s word as a joke. God sent rain of burning sulfur from heaven and wiped out these cities and itspeople. Those times are characterized by no spiritual life. Genesis 6:3 says,“My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they aremortal.”God’s Spirit left sinful people and only freshlydesires remained in men’s heart. These terrible times brought God’s imminent judgment.These examples are the foreshadowsof terrible times of the last days.