Lesson Six

“Press On!”
A Study of 2 Timothy

Paul lived his Christian life expecting to be alive when Christ came back for His church. Now, as
the day of his execution loomed large, he had few illusions of going to heaven by way of the
Rapture of the church.

Paul had already experienced terrible suffering and persecution for his part in sharing the gospel
and was about to die a martyr’s death. Yet, by the power of the Holy Spirit he knew he would
press on, faithful to the finish. Paul knew things in the world he would soon be leaving were
going to go from bad to worse, as the hearts of men grew colder and the moral decay of
humanity disintegrated into debauchery and depravity. He warned Timothy of the imminent
dangers and rallied him with the battle cry, “Press on!”

I. Dreadful Days-2 Timothy 3:1-4

Technically, the last days began immediately after the ascension of Jesus Christ and the coming
of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (see Acts 1-2:4). The coming of the Holy Spirit to indwell
believers at Pentecost ushered in the church age and began the countdown. The church age will
conclude with the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

Every generation since the advent of the church age has been taught to live looking for the
blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus (Titus
2:13). Every generation has wondered if the return of Christ was not emminant in their time. We
are all to live with an eye to the future, looking for that blessed hope and ready for the sure return
of Jesus Christ.

Some 2000 years ago Paul painted a rather bleak outlook created by the moral degeneration of
the lost world. On a global scale the moral decline has reached catastrophic dimensions since
Paul penned his letter to Timothy. At the basis of such moral decay is the lack of love for the
Lord. Outside a personal relationship with Christ, an unbeliever’s natural affections becomes
distorted. His/her self-centered nature is unrestrained. 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, treacherous, reckless, conceited,
lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God (2 Tim. 3:2). It is interesting that Paul mentions
disobedience to parents in the mix, but moral deterioration is seen in the degeneration of
obedience to all authorities, beginning in the home with disobedience to parents. When parents
are not respected, outside authority structures are ignored and terrible time follow.

II. Counterfeit Christians-2 Timothy 3:5-7

Many false teachers infiltrate the church by joining it and masquerading as counterfeit
Christians.
Run Well, Finish Strong – Passing the Baton of Faith to the Next Generation
A study in the book of 2 Timothy
They veil their hypocrisy with a facade of religious activities and rituals to hide an unchanged
heart, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power.

Not everyone who names the name of Jesus Christ is truly converted. In Matthew 7:21-23 Jesus
said, "Not everyone who says to Me, `Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who
does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, `Lord,
Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name
perform many miracles?' "And then I will declare to them, `I never knew you; depart from Me,
you who practice lawlessness.’ Some church members hide behind a form of godliness but they
have never been converted. These counterfeit Christians outwardly conform to external lists of
rules and regulations in order to invade the body of Christ and insidiously spread their brand of
false doctrine.

Paul warned Timothy of the propensity of false teachers to target nominal Christians. Immature
Christians are easily taken captive with high-sounding theology laced with doctrinal err. In
Paul’s day, women could not receive formal religious training. This made them particularly
vulnerable to false teachers. During this time in world history, women did not work outside the
home. These women were proving to be no match for the highly skilled false teachers who
sought them out during the day in order to take them captive with their defection theology.

The false teachers were especially interested in weak-willed women who were fascinated with
the teachers’ superior speech and intelligent arguments. These women were easy marks for false
teachers because they remained loaded down with guilt and swayed by all kinds of remnants of
evil from their pagan days. These women were striving and searching for the truth, but they were
never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. False teachers took advantages of the problems
these women had, promising them quick solutions.

Paul was not making a general statement about the naivety of women in general. He was
concerned for certain women who were being targeted by the false teachers in Ephesus.
Obviously we don’t want to be named in this category. The only defense against being taken in
by trickery and deceit is to be able to accurately handle the word of truth (2 Tim. 2:15).

III. Mimics and Magicians-2 Timothy 3:8-9

Paul warned Timothy to be on guard against false teachers and their brand of a counterfeit
gospel. According to Jewish legend, Jannes and Jambres were two of the magicians who were
able to mimic Moses’ miracles before Pharaoh (See Exodus 7:11-Exodus 8). Pharaoh’s
magicians were able to replicate Moses’ miracles up to a point. The miracle of the lice stumped
Pharaoh’s sorcerers. Paul’s reference to this episode was meant to expose Satan’s ability to
counterfeit God’s miraculous works and to remind us Satan has his limits. His satanic ability to
mimic the miracles and works of God is restricted by the hand of our Heavenly Father.

False teachers have always opposed the truth. There is a method to their madness. They typically
join the church in order to spread their brand of lies and half-truths under the guise of religious
respectability. However, they are not merely mistaken in their teaching and faulty in their belief
system; they are actively opposing the truth of God. They have rejected the truth, having
depraved minds and holding to a form of godliness while denying its power.

Our best defense against the enemy’s lies is the ability to accurately handle the Word of God.
Becoming a diligent student of the Word of God is required in order to run well and finish
strong.
Run Well, Finish Strong – Passing the Baton of Faith to the Next Generation
A study in the book of 2 Timothy
Run Well, Finish Strong – Passing the Baton of Faith to the Next Generation
A study in the book of 2 Timothy