9. People will be without natural affection (astorgoi): abnormal affection and love; heartless, without human emotion or love; a lack of feeling for others; abuse of normal affection and love. Others become little more than pawns for a man's own use and benefit, pleasure and purposes, excitement and stimulation.

Man has been created to be affectionate—to have affection for others. It is normal and natural for a person to have affection for his family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, and to a certain extent for the stranger and fellow-citizens of the world. But in the end time, people will be so set on satisfying their flesh and pleasure that they will forget family, friends, and everything else. They will be so set on doing their own thing and so self-centered that they will have little affection for anyone or anything else.

Þ There will be little affection for the normal and natural. People will turn to the abnormal and unnatural in relationships and behavior, pleasures and sex.

Þ There will be little affection for the home. Home will be nothing more than a place to change clothes and sleep.

Þ There will be little affection between husband and wife. A spouse will be little more than a person to help pay the bills and to keep up a front for social acceptance. Men and women will become unfaithful and perverted.

Þ There will be little affection for friends, country, and earth. All will be abused and ignored, neglected and polluted. Selfishness will be the law of the last days.

Þ There will be little affection for God and the church. God and church will be fitted in when they do not interfere with personal desires and pleasures, rest and recreation.

"And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these" (Mark 12:30-31).

"A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another" (John 13:34-35).

"Let love be without dissimulation [hypocrisy]. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another" (Romans 12:9-10).

"Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord" (Ephes. 5:22).

"Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it" (Ephes. 5:25).

"Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth" (Ephes. 6:1-3).

"And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment" (1 John 3:23).

10. People will be trucebreakers (aspondoi): breakers of promises and agreements; untrustworthy, faithless, treacherous, and untruthful. A trucebreaker is a man or some organization or body of people who tragically do not keep their word or promise. They are simply untrustworthy and undependable. What happens when a person's word can no longer be accepted?

Þ What happens in a home when the husband or wife breaks the truce of marriage?

Þ What happens between parent and child when one of them breaks their promise time and again?

Þ What happens when an employer breaks his promise to his workers?

Þ What happens when a worker breaks his truce and slacks up in his work?

Þ What happens when a nation breaks its agreement with another nation?

The last days will see what we are seeing in our society today: a barrage of broken truces, covenants, and promises.

"Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another" (Ephes. 4:25).

"The lip of truth shall be established for ever: but a lying tongue is but for a moment" (Proverbs 12:19).

"The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant" (Isaiah 24:5).

"These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbor; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates" (Zech. 8:16).

"The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips: he walked with me in peace and equity, and did turn many away from iniquity" (Malachi 2:6).

11. People will be false accusers (diaboloi): slanderers. Note that the Greek word is diabolos, the very word for the devil. William Barclay says:

"The devil is the patron saint of all slanderers, and of all slanderers he is chief. There is a sense in which slander is the most cruel of all sins. If a man's goods are stolen, he can set to and build up his fortunes again; but if a man's good name is taken away, irreparable damage has been done to him. It is one thing to start an evil and untrue report on its malicious way; it is entirely another thing to stop it....Many a man, and many a woman, who would never dream of putting his or her hand in other peoples' pockets and stealing their money or their belongings, thinks nothing—even finds a pleasure—in passing on a story which ruins someone else's good name, without even trying to find out whether or not the story is true. There is slander enough in every village, and not infrequently in many a Church, to make the recording angel weep as he records these cruel words" (The Letters to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon, p.217).

12. People will be incontinent (akrateis): undisciplined and uncontrolled; having no self-control or no power to discipline. It is being given over...

·to pleasure and indulgence ·to passion and sexual craving

·to lust and lewdness

It is a person who cannot control his passion for food, sex, pornography, sensuality, drink, drugs, smoking, whatever. It is a passion that grips and enslaves a person until it becomes an unbreakable habit and bondage.

"Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof" (Romans 6:12).

"All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any" (1 Cor. 6:12).

"And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible" (1 Cor. 9:25).

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law" (Galatians 5:22-23).

"He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city" (Proverbs 16:32).

"He that loveth pleasure shall be poor man: he that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich" (Proverbs 21:17).

"When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee: and put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite" (Proverbs 23:1-2).

"Hast thou found honey? Eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith, and vomit it" (Proverbs 25:16).

13. People will be fierce (anemeroi): savage and untamed. It is the word that describes the savage beast of the wild that is unrestrained in its fierceness. It is a word that should never be true of people, yet tragically it is. Never in the history of the world have men become as fierce and savage as they are today.

a.People no longer just murder...

·they mutilate

·they torture

·they kill at random

·they kill by twos and threes and by thousands and millions (for example, Hitler, Stalin)

And they take pleasure in their torture and savagery.

b.People no longer just correct and rebuke children, spouse, friend, neighbor, employee, or stranger...

·they curse

·they abuse

·they attack

·they damage

·they act violently

The last days will see an increase in fierce and savage behavior.

"And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you" (Ephes. 4:32).

"Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering" (Col. 3:12).

"Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him" (1 John 3:15).

"But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death" (Rev. 21:8).

14. People will be despisers of those who are good (aphilagathoi): this refers to people despising both good people and good things. In the last days people will be embarrassed...

·to speak up for what is right.

·to take a stand for what is good.

·to be known as a good person.

·to be a friend to good people.

People will want to fulfill their desires and to satisfy their flesh; they will want to party, indulge, look, feel, taste, experience, possess, take, and fit in and be acceptable with the crowd. They will let morality and justice go and reject whatever restraint they feel. They will actually despise righteousness and want nothing to do with anyone who speaks up for what is right.

Think how far a person and a society have fallen when they...

·are embarrassed to say "no" to what they know is wrong and not good for them (cp. drinking, smoking, cursing, immorality).

·are embarrassed to stand up for what is good.

·are embarrassed to speak up for what is right.

·are embarrassed to be a friend to a good person.

"Beware therefore, lest that come upon you, which is spoken of in the prophets; behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you" (Acts 13:40-41).

"Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?" (Romans 2:4).

"Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?" (Hebrews 10:29).

"But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government [discipline, authority]. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities [leaders]" (2 Peter 2:10).

15. People will be traitors (prodotai): betraying a trust refers to a person who...

·betrays his country

·betrays his team

·betrays his friends

·betrays his family

It refers to a person who betrays any trust or any commitment. The most tragic betrayal of all is the person who betrays Christ and the church—who turns his back upon Christ and returns to the world and its crowd. The last days will see an increase in traitors.

"And forthwith he [Judas] came to Jesus, and said, Hail, master; and kissed him" (Matthew 26:49).

"Now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death" (Mark 13:12).

"Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin" (James 4:17).

"For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning" (2 Peter 2:20).

"Ye therefore beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness" (2 Peter 3:17).

"They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us" (1 John 2:19).

"Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent" (Rev. 2:4-5).

16. People will be heady (propeteis): headstrong and reckless, rash and hasty—all without giving thought to the consequences. Reckless is probably the best description. A heady person is a person who thinks he knows best and can live and act recklessly, without paying any attention to the consequences. The reckless person thinks little about what he is doing; he just enjoys the feeling and pleasure. He enjoys the stimulation and excitement; the consequences matter little in the midst of the pleasure and excitement.

Think how much hurt and damage is done when a person lives for the pleasure of the moment. Think of the hurt and damage done because of the pleasure of...

·reckless driving and boating

·reckless work and recreation

·reckless passion and lust

·reckless eating and drinking

Being heady—thinking that one knows best and can live and act recklessly without consequence—has led to more hurt, accidents, damaged bodies, and death than could ever be imagined.

"And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry" (Luke 12:19).

"There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?" (James 4:12).

"Also, that the soul be without knowledge, it is not good; and he that hasteth with his feet sinneth" (Proverbs 19:2).

"The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness; but of every one that is hasty only to want" (Proverbs 21:5).

"Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth" (Proverbs 27:1).

"Seest thou a man that is hasty in his words? There is more hope of a fool than of him" (Proverbs 29:20). "Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few" (Eccles. 5:2).

17. People will be highminded (tetuphomenoi): puffed up and conceited; having feelings of self-importance. It is a person who feels so educated, so scientific, so advanced, so high in position and authority, ability, and gifts that he feels completely self-sufficient. He feels no need for God. He is above God and above most people.

"Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits" (Romans 12:16).

"And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know" (1 Cor. 8:2).

"For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself" (Galatians 6:3).

"Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others" (Phil. 2:3-4).

"The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined" (Psalm 10:2).

"Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment" (Psalm 73:6).

"Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil" (Proverbs 3:7).

"When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom" (Proverbs 11:2).

"Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall" (Proverbs 16:18).

"A high look, and a proud heart, and the ploughing of the wicked, is sin" (Proverbs 21:4).

"Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? there is more hope of a fool than of him" (Proverbs 26:12).

"Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!" (Isaiah 5:21).

18. People will be lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God.

Matthew Henry says, "When there are more [pleasure seekers] than true Christians, then the times are bad indeed. God is to be loved above all. That is a carnal mind, and is full of enmity against him, which prefers any thing before him, especially such a sordid thing as carnal pleasure" (Matthew Henry's Commentary, Vol.6, p.844).

Oliver Green says, "The average church member today does not allow the church service to come between him and his pleasure. Prayer meeting, revival or church duties no longer interfere with social activities. Almost any minister in this country would agree with this, for it is the simple truth that the average church member does not let church interfere with his social life nor with anything he or she wants to do in the line of pleasure" (The Epistles of Paul the Apostle to Timothy and Titus, p.339f).

3. (3:5) Religion—Godliness—Last Days: the second mark of the last days will be a powerless religion. Note: there will be religion in the last days. It will be just like today, churches and temples and worship centers will be everywhere. People will claim and profess godliness, but their worship will be only a form, only an outward profession, only an appearance of godliness. They will not possess God; they will not have God in their hearts and lives. They will...

·profess God and Christ

·be baptized in the Christian faith

·attend worship services

·participate in the rituals and ceremonies

·recite the creeds

·sometimes talk about God

But they will deny the power of God. What is the power of God? It is the power to deliver men from the bondage of sin, death, and hell—all through the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the power of the cross and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ—the power to save people from perishing and to give them eternal life. This is exactly what Scripture says.

"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up [upon the cross]: that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:14-16).

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek" (Romans 1:16).

"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life" (Romans 5:8-10).

"Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures" (1 Cor. 15:1-4).

"For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God" (1 Cor. 1:17-18).

"For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!" (1 Cor. 9:16).

The point is this: in the last days there will be a powerless religion—a religion of form, ritual, and ceremony. The religionists will deny the power of the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ. They will deny that Jesus Christ can save men from perishing and give them eternal life. In describing the religion of the last days, Donald Guthrie says:

"Religion is not entirely denied, but it amounts to no more than an empty shell. There is an outward form...but no power....Its adherents [ministers and followers] are denying the power thereof which suggests a positive [deliberate] rejection of its...power. They have no conception of its generating force" (The Pastoral Epistles. "Tyndale New Testament Commentary," p.158).

"The meaning is that by their life and character and conversation they gave the lie to the Christian profession. Christianity with them was an outward form, not an inward living power of godliness"

Matthew Henry says:

"They will assume the form of godliness...but they will not submit to the power of it, to take away their sin. Observe here:

"Men may be very bad and wicked...they may be lovers of themselves...yet have a form of godliness.

"A form of godliness is a very different thing from the power of it; men may have the one and be wholly destitute of the other....

"From such good Christians must withdraw themselves" (Matthew Henry's Commentary, Vol.5, p.844).

William Barclay says:

"The final condemnation of these people is that they retain the outward form of religion, but they deny its power. That is to say, they recite the orthodox creeds, they go through the movements of a correct and dignified ritual and liturgy and worship; they maintain all the external forms of religion; but they know nothing of religion as a dynamic power which changes the lives of men" (The Letters to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon, p.219).

4. (3:6-9) Ministers—Last Days: the third mark of the last days will be a corrupt ministry. Three things are said about corrupt ministers.

1. Corrupt ministers lead gullible followers astray. Note the phrase "silly women" (gunaikaria). The Greek word means little women, little in the sense of being spiritually dead, weak, immature, and unstable. However, it should always be remembered that men are just as gullible as women, just as spiritually dead, weak, immature, and unstable. The present passage zeros in on women because of the local situation in Ephesus; some of the women in the Ephesian church were following the corrupt ministers. But the warning is applicable to us all: both men and women must guard against corrupt ministers.

Note what the corrupt minister does. He seeks after people...

·who are laden or burdened down with sins and guilt.

·who are easily swayed and led away by all kinds of desires and lusts.

·who are seeking after truth—who are listening and learning all they can from anybody who claims to have the truth.

This is the person the false minister goes after and eventually captivates. When a person begins to seek the truth because he senses a need in his life, senses that he has been living only for his own selfish desires and lusts—that person is wide open for a corrupt minister to step in and lead him astray. Unfortunately, this is exactly what happens ever too often. And note the great tragedy: the person never comes to the knowledge of the truth. Why? Because they never seek the truth in Christ. They only seek a "form of godliness," not true godliness. True godliness is found in Christ alone and nowhere else.

"And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory" (1 Tim. 3:16).

Note another point that needs to be given close attention: who the corrupt or false minister is. He is "of this sort"—one of those who has "a form of godliness, but denies the power thereof." He has the form and appearance of godliness: he...

·is a minister and fills the position of a minister.

·professes God and Christ.

·practices the rituals and ceremonies of religion.

·talks about and uses religious terms, perhaps even the terms of the Bible.

But he denies the power of godliness by his life and preaching. He does not live in nor preach the power of the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ. If he does not vocally deny the power, he denies it by what he preaches and teaches: a religion of works and self-effort and of new light—a religion for a new age of men, men who are enormously advanced in science and technology and in the understanding of man—a religion that can reach such levels of growth that God will accept him. In the simplest of terms...

·a corrupt minister is a minister who preaches and teaches that man can be good enough and do enough good to make himself acceptable to God; that man can secure the approval of God by doing certain works and keeping certain rules (laws); that man can reach such a level of growth that God will accept him.

·a corrupt minister is a minister who denies the power of godliness, that is, the power of the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ to save men and to give them eternal life.

Every generation has felt that it was a new age—that it saw more light and truth and was more enlightened than the former generation. In the area of science and techonolgy this is true...

· BUT IT IS NOT TRUE IN HUMAN LIFE AND BEHAVIOR.

How can we say this? Because man has not been changed. Man is still corruptible, aging, deteriorating, dying, and decaying. And he will continue to be a corruptible creature until his heart and soul are changed and made anew. This is where God's Son comes in, even the Lord Jesus Christ.

· Only Christ can change the human heart and soul; only He can make a person into a new creature.

The truth of human behavior (sin and death) and of its deliverance from evil and death through Christ has been revealed. This truth never changes. Advancements in science and technology, psychology and medicine cannot stop the process of sin and death. Only Christ—the power of His cross and resurrection—can change man and give him eternal life. Any minister who preaches any other message is a corrupt minister. He is a minister who is preaching and teaching a corrupt and false message.

2. Corrupt ministers resist the truth. Why? Because their minds are corrupted, that is, their understanding of the gospel is twisted, distorted, and depraved. They do not follow the glorious news and power of the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Note the reference to Jannes and Jambres, two religious leaders in Egypt who opposed Moses when he went to Pharoah to deliver Israel out of slavery. They stood toe to toe with Moses and resisted the truth, but in the end they were destroyed (cp. Exodus 7:1; Exodus 8:7; Exodus 9:11. The two men are not named in the Old Testament, but they are mentioned in other Jewish religious writings. Their names were apparently well known to all Jews.)

Thought 1. William Barclay clearly describes the resistence to the truth of the gospel:

"The Christian leader will never lack his opponents. There will always be those who prefer their ideas to God's ideas. There will always be those who wish to exercise power and influence over people and who will stoop to any means to do so. There will always be those who have their own twisted ideas of the Christian faith, and who wish to win others to their mistaken belief. But of one thing Paul was sure—the days of the deceivers were numbered. Their falsity would be demonstrated; and they would receive their own appropriate place and reward" (The Letters to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon, p.223).

3. Corrupt ministers and their corrupt religion will be exposed. In the end all false teachers and their teaching will be tracked down and exposed. God will catch and expose every corrupt minister. It will happen when the Lord Jesus Christ returns. Corrupt ministers and their corrupt teaching will proceed no further.

"And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power" (2 Thes. 1:7-10).

Evangelist Rick Robert.