Realize This: The Last Days List

In one paragraph

The pastor walked through the whole of 2 Timothy 3, letting the two paragraphs and their two lists do the work. The first list describes the character of people in the last days, and the second describes the antidote. Both are practical and neither is comfortable. Paul opens the chapter with a warning: "realize this, that in the last days, difficult times will come." The pastor noted that Paul was...

Read together

1. 1 Timothy 6:10 quoted to explain that the love of money, not money itself, is a root of all sorts of evil and pierces people with many griefs
2. Exodus 7:11 cited as where the pharaoh's magicians appear, opposing Moses by imitating what only God can do
3. Exodus 8:7 cited as a second passage where the Egyptian magicians appear opposing Moses
4. Acts 14:1-26 referenced as the account of Paul's first missionary journey covering Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, which Timothy would have known
5. Ephesians 2:8-9 quoted to contrast the gift of grace through faith with boastfulness, the first list
6. Ephesians 2:10 cited to show that believers are created in Christ Jesus for good works established beforehand
7. Luke 12:31 read from the New Living Translation at the close of the sermon: seek the kingdom of God above all else and He will give you everything you need

Talk about it

1. Paul's list in 2 Timothy 3 describes people who are 'lovers of self' and 'lovers of money' before anything else on the list. Where do you see those two traits showing up in your own life, and how do they tend to pull you away from God?
2. The sermon pointed out that 'reviling' means reversing spiritual and moral realities, calling what God has called good something evil. What are some examples from your own experience where you have seen that happen, either in society or inside the church?
3. Paul tells Timothy to 'avoid such men' who live according to that first list, while we also know Jesus was a friend of sinners. How do you personally try to hold those two things together in how you relate to people outside the faith?
4. The sermon described the second list, Paul's teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, and perseverance, as both the immunization and the antidote for the first list. Which of those qualities do you find hardest to follow in your own life right now, and why?
5. The passage says all Scripture is God-breathed and profitable so that the person of God may be 'adequate' or equipped for every good work in the present moment. Has there been a time when a particular passage of Scripture equipped you for something God put in front of you right then? What happened?