It's Hot, Don't Touch

2 Timothy 3-Part 2
For 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.  2 Timothy 3:2-3


LET IT GLOW

As I was reading over this list of how badly people will act in the last days, I realize that some are acting that way now. Since this list is not how good folks will act, I should be  the opposite-loving, reconcilable, not a gossiper, have self-control, be gentle. Keep that in your mind as you read the list- how not to act. It's like telling a child "It's  hot, don't touch." Then they touch it. Sometimes when told NOT to do something, I do it. Are you with me?


LET IT GROW

Today's lesson is a continuation from yesterday's lesson. We read about Paul warning of difficult and savage times ahead. What reasons did he give for such times? (You can find the first eight discussed in the previous lesson.) We can answer that question by using eighteen adjectives and descriptive phrases characterizing human depravity, spoken by Charles Swindoll in his book, Swindoll's New Testament Insights on 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus:

9.  Unloving. A person without natural affections toward others, or characterized by hardheartedness, offers
                     nothing to others without expecting something in return.

10. Irreconcilable. The Greek term used here literally means "without libation." When warring nations
                               signed a truce or feuding individuals reconciled their differences, they would pour out a
                               drink offering (a libation) before a god and swear an oath. The expression "bring a
                               libation" meant to bring an offer of peace. Someone "without libation" cannot admit
                               wrongdoing, refuses to forgive offenses, and therefore remains at odds with everyone.

11. Malicious gossips. The Greek word translated malicious is diabolos, which is "devil," the nickname
                                      given to Satan for his lying and his entrapment of people. The devil seduces people]
                                      into sin and then bears the tale to God so as to create a rift in their relationship and
                                      widen it as much as possible. A human diabolos does the same within a
                                      community, a church, a faculty, a family.

12. Without self-control. The term self-control appears twice in 1 Corinthians-7:9 and 9:25. Paul suggests
                                         people without sexual restraint should marry and the athlete diets for best
                                         performance. Those without self-control cannot remain ethically upright, for 
                                         morality requires a denial of self.

13. Brutal. The Greek word means the opposit of "gentle" or "tame," often used of wild animals, especially
                   lions.

14. Haters of good. Overseers in the church were to be lovers of good (philagathos), which means that
                                 actively seek the restoration of God's original order to creation, even if they are
                                 unseccessful. The Greek word means "not a lover of good."

To sum it up, Liberty Bible Commentary describes people living in the last days as:
without natural affection-an accepted way of life as found in Romas 1:26-28; the gay crowd, sex out of bounds from God's limits, is accepted by much of society; no restraint over oneself, with senseless killings and atrocious sex crimes give evidence to this today; the all-American boy is not emulated, but the radicals and immoral celebrities are; the honest, wholesome teenager is so often ridiculed; those who do good and act good are greatly in the minority.

I wonder if we are living in the last days.
Wow! What a list. That's only six to work on today.


LET IT GO

Let go of those ways so I'm not an un-person.

Be loving, reconcilable, not a gossiper, have self-control, be gentle, love good.