2 Timothy 3:1-16

Terrible Times and the Scripture
2 Timothy 3:1-16 An Adaption of a message delivered by David Kim of Yonsie UBF
Key verse: 16-17, Adaption done by Kevin Jesmer of NIU UBF 6-26-11
"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."
The following is an adaption of a message delivered by David Kim, the pastor of Yonsie University in Seoul Korea. He delivered his message at the closing of the UBF 50th Anniversary celebration. This is not exactly the message. There have been some changes, but it is essentially his message. I pray that you may leave here today with the same spirit and vision that our shepherds and missionaries in Korea carried away when they attended the 50th anniversary celebration live in Seoul Korea. And so here it is….
I give thanks and glory to God who called us out of darkness, appointed all Christians as a royal priesthood in our generation. I thank God for using us greatly for campus evangelism and the campus discipleship ministry. I thank God for helping us to participate in world mission through sending out self-supporting, lay missionaries for the last 50 years. I thank and praise God who helps us to look back on the spirit and the ministry of God among us for the last 50 years and who gives us clear spiritual direction and vision for the future. I earnestly pray that we may hold firmly to the spiritual direction and vision that is given to us by the Holy Spirit and carry out our mission faithfully as a kingdom of priests, until we can send out 100,000 missionaries to 233 countries in the whole world including 140 countries that UBF has not yet sent out missionaries to.
The book of 2 Timothy is a letter that Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy who was in charge of the church in Ephesus when Paul was in the prison right before being martyred. At that time there were conflicts and arguments inside the church because of the teachings of false teachers. Moreover, worldly corruption began to sweep into the church. The foundation of the truth began to be swayed and some people began to lose their faith (2 Tim 2:18). Paul prayed and wrote this letter for Timothy who served the Ephesus church in this terrible time. Let’s learn some of the things that Paul set out to encourage young Timothy with.
Part l: There Will Be Terrible Times In The Last Days (1-13)
Paul did not look at the world with rose colored glasses. He saw it the way is. Look at verse 1. "But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days." Paul tells Timothy to mark this. This means to take special note of and don’t forget it. In other words, “Remind yourself of it.” He also said, “…there will be terrible times in the last days”. Apostle Paul was very cognizant of the spiritual reality. He looked ahead into the future and reminded Timothy of the danger that the churches were submerged in and the hard times ahead. He had in mind the church in his age as well as the church in the future. Timothy had to be alert and constantly pay attention, because when spiritual leaders are negligent or ignorant of the present and future dangers that churches are falling into, churches will be in great danger. So let’s open our own spiritual eyes, in this, our own generation, and see what is happening to the church and respond accordingly.
Paul includes a description of the times that he is referring to. Look at verse 2-5a , "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 pleasure rather than lovers of God-having a form of godliness but denying its power…” Some may say that every generation is marked with these characteristics. Indeed there are terrible times in every generation. But there is a root cause of every terrible time. They stem from loving ourselves too much. Lovers of themselves cannot love God and their neighbors. Fights and arguments inside churches and in communities start from loving ourselves. Terrible symptom will occur among those who love themselves. Personal pleasure becomes the prime focus of people. Look at verse 5a, “lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God-having a form of godliness but denying its power…” Loving pleasure rather than God means indulging in forbidden pleasure. People who love pleasure more than God are hedonistic. Indulging in pleasure without control darkens people’s souls, ruins their moral and spiritual consciences and brings destruction upon their lives and the societies in which they live. A pleasure seeking society is one of the factors that brought down the Roman Empire. It may be one of the factors that his contributing to the decline of the American empire. A pleasure seeking hearts become corrupt and are against the truth. They don’t like the good. Even though they are alive biologically, they are actually dead, spiritually. When it comes to the last days, there will be more people like them and they will make their generation terrible.
But these kinds of people are not only in the world. Look at verse 5a again, “…having a form of godliness but denying its power” This means that these kinds of people are also inside the church. The fact that they have a form of godliness means they may look like people of faith and spiritual leaders outwardly. But the fact that they deny the power of godliness means that they have no spiritual power and no inward strength to follow and obey the truth and the faith that they confess with their mouth.
Paul strongly urges Timothy deal with such people decisively. Look at verse 5a again. “…have nothing to do with them”. He means not to emulate them or have a relation with them. (Of course they should pray for them and study the Bible with them, if they will allow you to do that.) Some of these people, who deny the power of the gospel, gain control over weak-willed women who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires and teach them in their own way…their own false gospel, like the Judiazers or Gnostics etc. But these women are always learning something, but never acknowledge the truth. (There are people like this.) Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truth. They are men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected. They are not the ones who serve God with sincere gospel faith, but they are those who live hypocritical and superficial lives before people, drawing people to themselves with their false teaching. Their folly will be clear to everyone, especially to God. Paul clearly warns Timothy to turn away from them, that is don’t learn from them or include them in the leadership of your church.
Part II: Continue In What You Have Learned And Have Become Convinced Of (10-17)
Paul presents the example of himself that Timothy should imitate and follow. Look at verse 10-11. “You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecutions, sufferings-what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them.” To have a good example, in terrible times, is very important. Timothy needed a good example to follow since he was living in the godless world full of false teachers. Once Paul said, “Follow me as I follow the example of Christ.” ( 1 Cor 11:1) In reviewing Paul’s life, it is important to see why he was such a good example. Paul preached only the gospel while the false teachers testified falsely against Jesus. Paul lived a godly life as he preached. His life purpose was to glorify God. He had faith that Jesus’ death for our sins and his resurrection was enough. He loved weak people with patience and was willing to be persecuted and suffer for Jesus’ name’s sake. Once he was persecuted, almost to death, in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra. But God rescued him from all of them.
Through his own personal experience, Paul was certain about a particular fact. Look at verse 12. “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” Those who live for themselves and love pleasure more than God have only a form of godliness. They are undifferentiated from the world and thus they don’t receive persecutions. However those who want to live a godly life in Christ are different. They don’t compromise with the world. They are growing to be like Jesus. They are not surprised when persecutions come their way. In fact they are ready for them. What if we only hold onto a powerless form of godliness, avoiding sufferings and persecutions for Jesus’ name’s sake? Look at verse 13 “While evil men and imposters will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived” If we live like a hypocrite, we will not be able to flee from hypocrisy and corruption. We will go from bad to worse..
Paul gives Timothy some clear direction in regards to these matters. Look at verse 14 “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it.” Timothy was convinced of what he learned from Paul and he led the church and the flock of God standing firmly on this truth. It was not easy for Timothy to be a leader of the church. The world was full of sins, so much so, that the sins attacked God’s churches. Those who were infected with the sins were losing the power of godliness even though they had a form of godliness. Some of them wandered away from the truth. (2 Tim 2:18) The churches began to follow the trends of the world. People loved physical pleasures and sought new things that led them away from the truth. It got more difficult to lead God’s churches and ministry. Timothy didn’t know how to deal with these new situations and how to serve the new generation who were different from people in the past. Should he join the popular trends of the day or stick with what he learned and was convinced of? Should he understand the new generation and their circumstances looking for the new ways to serve it? His heart must have been troubled.
What did Paul say to Timothy to bring clarity? Look at verse 14a, “continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of”. Why did Paul say this? Look at verse 14b “…because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures”. What Paul learned and became convinced of is not human thoughts or ideas. It was the truth of God. Because Timothy followed Christ, he too learned many things from God himself. That is why Paul says, “Continue what you have learned and have become convinced of”. This is the best word and the best spiritual direction for young Timothy who was in trouble when serving the new generation.
God has a similar message to us. We are living in a world that is changing rapidly. The circumstances where we live are totally different from those in 1960’s when UBF was founded and in 1970’s and 80’s when campus ministry flourished. We encounter difficulties and limits in serving this new generation, who tend to follow the popular trends of life, even if they are infected with sins and follow the mainstream of secular society. For this reason many began to wonder if we should look for alternatives and changes, different from what we had in the past. If there are better ways and alternatives to serve this generation, we should try to find them. From 1990’s we have made every effort to find better ways and alternatives to serve the rapidly changing generation. New programs were sought out. Some UBF chapters gave up raising disciples through one-to-one bible study and shepherding because it was so difficult. Other chapters tried to live a religious life without implementing the spiritual discipline of sharing daily bread and writing Bible testimonies. There were also some chapters that tried to attract the attention of the young through praise and worship rather than focusing on profound Bible studying and deep testimony writing training. However, they have not shown their methods to be able to bear good fruit. In the last 50 years of ministry, we have not found other ways or alternatives better than one-to-one bible study, daily bread devotionals, writing testimonies, fostering a life giving spirit that offers God our five loaves and two fishes, having a pioneering spirit, a community spirit, and a self-supporting spirit. These are the characteristics that we have had from the beginning of UBF history. These have shown to bear fruit that lasts.
We learned and have became convinced of the fact that the spirit and ministry that worked among us for the past 50 years was not a typical UBF spirit or UBF ideas, but it was from the eternal truth of God’s words. Therefore we should continue in the truth that we learned and stand firmly on it. We should repent of becoming spiritually weakened by the world. And we should stand firm on the truth that God has revealed to us all the more. When we continue to stand firm on the truth of the Bible, without being swayed by this changing generation, what great hope and blessing will be given to us through the Gospel! Let’s think a little about the blessings that will be poured out on us when we hold onto the Bible’s teachings.
First, the Holy Scriptures are able to make you wise for salvation. Look at verse 15 “and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” Wow! Wisdom for salvation! All people want to be wise for salvation. Even though a person gains the whole world, he would still be the poorest and the most pitiful person if he is not saved from his sins. Although we are lacking in possessions our missionaries and shepherds, are the happiest and most blessed because we are saved through faith in Christ Jesus. Where did we get the wisdom leading us to salvation? Did we get it from a lot of books or human knowledge? Or from enjoying romantic love or marriage? Or from money and success? None of these things could save our souls from spiritual poverty, fatalism, a sense of inferiority, meaninglessness and emptiness of life. But when we studied the Bible and believed the word of God in the Bible with humble minds, we received wisdom for salvation. I thank and praise God who has done great work of salvation among us only through the Holy Scriptures for the last 50 years.
Second, the Scriptures educate a servant of God so that they can be fully mature. Look at verses 16, 17. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” All Scripture is God-breathed. 2 Peter 1:21 says, “men spoke (prophecy) from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit”. How great is the word of God in the Bible. These words are “God-breathed”! Because all Scripture is God-breathed, it is good for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. Theodore Roosevelt once said, "A thorough knowledge of the Bible is worth more than a college education."
There are so many educational institutions and teachers and books in this world. But what is truly useful for teaching us? Look at verse 16, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.” Teaching without the “heart-moving” spirit of God but only makes our mind complicated and our heads big. That kind of teaching is not good for changing our inner hearts and lives, nor for making us mature. In fact it can be harmful for our souls rather than useful. The problem that we confront is that there is a flood of knowledge so that our heads become bigger and bigger until they are about to burst but our hearts become smaller and smaller and our love and passion for God becomes cold. But because all Scriptures are God-breathed, His breath opens our narrow minds, fills our hearts with love and passion for God and enables us to love our brothers and neighbors. This is the whole point of Bible study.
All Scripture makes the inner heart and character of a Christian mature and enables them to do every good work. It means that it changes one person completely into one who is fully prepared to do every good work. What a great encouraging word this is to us! When we truly love the Scriptures and devote ourselves to being educated by the Scriptures, we will be mature and thoroughly equipped for every good work, and that includes all good works, not just preaching and teaching.
The Scripture moves hearts with the Spirit of God because it is God-breathed. Look at verses 16 and 17. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” When God moves one person’s heart, even an ordinary person begins to become fully equipped and great. When God works by moving people’s hearts, people who could not do even one good thing well begin to be thoroughly equipped for every great and good work. When God worked by moving the hearts of our missionaries, they left their homes, extended family, good jobs and future security on this earth and went to Africa, CIS, middle east, India, China, South America, Australia, Europe and North America. And they have been dedicating themselves to serving campus discipleship and world mission sacrificially so far while supporting themselves. When God worked by moving people’s hearts, so many native Bible students repented and were raised up as shepherds and Bible teachers for their own people. When God moved their hearts, great works of God began. These native Bible students went to others countries as self-supporting missionaries and now serve the campus discipleship ministry and world mission.
The Scripture brings the breath of God because it is written by the breath of God. People’s hearts become hardened because of sins and because they love themselves and pleasures more than God. We cannot minister to such people in this generation by depending on our own strength, wisdom and power. But when God works, by moving their hearts, their hearts will be melted and changed and they will be raised up as a holy nation and a royal priesthood.
When we look back on U.B.F. history for the last 50 years, the amazing and great work of pioneering all the campuses in Korea and the sending out of self-supporting missionaries to over 87 countries has been done only by God who moved people’s hearts. Could we send even one person to Africa, CIS and India as a missionary? Could we enable missionary Peter Kim and Sarah Kim to decide not to leave Kiev but to stay there as martyrs when the fear of Chernobyl’s radioactivity spread through all of Europe? This happened only when God moved their hearts. When God works, a great work happens beyond human imagination. We confront many obstacles and difficulties in our ministries in this terrible time. Sometimes a sense of despair and frustration creeps into our hearts. But when we look back on the U.B.F. history for the last 50 years, we learn that the great and amazing work of God was done not because the spiritual environment and condition was good or by depending on our own strength or power. It was done only when the Almighty God, the sovereign Lord who has all power and authority in heaven and on earth, worked by moving sinners’ heart through the word of God.
When Late Dr. Samuel Lee started pioneering Seoul National University, he studied the Bible and meditated on the word of God and wrote Daily Bread wholeheartedly every morning until noon for 6 years. Then God anointed him with the Holy Spirit that enabled to bring the fire of God and the breath of God to SNU students. Then, messages and announcements of Dr. Samuel Lee moved SNU students` hearts. Great works of God were ignited. Young students in SNU, moved by God, dedicated their time, money and youth to God. They regarded being called to be shepherds and missionaries as the greatest honor. They became full time shepherds by leaving everything behind and were willing to establish a missionary family with anyone and were ready to go at anytime as missionaries. God did truly great and unsearchable works, beyond our human ideas and reasonings. He did it by moving their hearts.
The hope of this generation of Christians is not in having a better spiritual environment on the campus. It is not found when each one of us has all kinds of knowledge and information. The hope of this generation is found when each one of us becomes moved by God and become servants of God who can bring the word of God to the young people of their generation. When each one of us is full of the word of God and becomes a servant of God who can bring the word of God to others, God will use us greatly whatever our situation. God will use us as great pioneers, great disciple-makers and great servants of God who can send in turn can raise disciples and send out great missionaries.
In order to do this we need to go back to the Bible, which is God-breathed. We have to love the Bible wholeheartedly. We need to give our whole hearts to study the Bible and meditate on the word of God. We need to do our best to be professionals in the Bible. The word of God says, “ But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.” Psalms 1:2,3 When we delight the law of the LORD and meditate on it day and night, we will not be withered. We will be like a tree planted and flourishing by streams of water even in the dry and terrible times of last days. We will bear much fruit in season. I earnestly pray that we may give our whole hearts to love the word of God so that we can be filled with the word of God, as our lungs are filled with breath. May we become servants of God who can share the word of God that moves hearts. May we be able to serve the great and heart-moving work of God in our own mission fields. May God move students’ hearts so that they can go out bringing the gospel to the 140 countries that do not yet have a UBF ministry. I pray that God may send out 100,000 missionaries to 233 countries by the year 2041 because of the heart-moving work of God.
Let’s read our key verse together, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16,17)