{"id":18211,"date":"2016-02-14T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-02-14T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/2-timothy-021-the-de-evolution-of-man-part-1\/"},"modified":"2022-01-12T17:18:02","modified_gmt":"2022-01-12T23:18:02","slug":"2-timothy-021-the-de-evolution-of-man-part-1","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/2-timothy-021-the-de-evolution-of-man-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"2 Timothy 021 – The De-evolution of Man – Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[100],"series_event":[454],"sermon_service_type":[472],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-18211","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-2-timothy","series_event-2-timothy","sermon_service_type-main-service","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"2 Timothy 021 - The De-evolution of Man - Part 1","sermon_date":"20160214","sermon_month":"2","sermon_year":"2016","sermon_notes":20082,"sermon_slides":20083,"sermon_mp3":20084,"sermon_id":"21416101226","series_or_event":454,"service_type":[472],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":100,"chapter_and_verse":"3:1-2a","sermon_transcript":"Andy Woods\nThe De-evolution of Man\n2-14-16 2 Timothy 3:1-7 Lesson 21\n\nGood morning everybody. If we could take our Bibles and open them to 2 Timothy 3:1. And the title of our message this morning is The De-evolution of Man, probably part 1. And of course, I want to thank Dr. Jim McGowan for filling in last week; I trust you benefited from his ministry. Happy Valentine\u2019s day to everybody. And also sort of a difficult week for me, even though my wife and I were on vacation, my cousin died at age 45 and of course we had the Babs Miller memorial service, I think that was on Friday and then we had the graveside service in Austin Saturday. It\u2019s always hard to say goodbye to a close friend like that, or family. But they are at a much better place.\n\nAnd then to sort of top things off I learned that one of my judicial heroes died, Justice Antonin Scalia, who was one of the few voices of reason left on the Supreme Court (in my humble opinion, you\u2019re free to differ with me if you want to and I\u2019ll pray for you if you differ with me). But you know, live is very temporal, isn\u2019t it? The things that we think are certain really aren\u2019t that certain. So it\u2019s just a great time to, in light of deaths to really focus on what matters, which is God, and also to pray for the direction of our country. Most people know that we\u2019re at a very precarious place. People have different visions of where the country should go and we just really want to seek God\u2019s will and ask that His perfect will be accomplished.\n\nWe are in the book of 2 Timothy which is a book about completing the race. The book almost seems tailor made to our times as Timothy, a young man, is struggling, not with his salvation, that\u2019s clear, but he\u2019s struggling with his calling and whether he\u2019s in the right place because he\u2019s having so much opposition. So Paul writes this book, the very last book Paul penned, to encourage Timothy to endure in his calling.\n\nChapter 1, as we have seen, is a general call to faithfulness. And then we moved into chapter 2, we spent quite a bit of time on chapter 2 where Paul gives Timothy ten metaphors or word pictures of what endurance looks like. And now we\u2019re ready to move into chapter 3, verse 1 through chapter 4, verse 8, where Paul switches topics and he\u2019s now talking about something called the apostasy. He doesn\u2019t tell Timothy the apostasy can be stopped, he just tells him it\u2019s coming like a tidal wave. And he tells him what he is to do in the midst of this apostasy.\n\nSo sort of as a lesson a couple of weeks ago to lay the foundation for this section we did a topical study on the last days apostasy of the church. We defined apostasy as a departure from known truth, occurring in God\u2019s church, and we went through about ten characteristics of apostasy. The moment that sermon went up on the internet we started getting messages and e-mails from people all over the country saying you\u2019re describing my church. And I think people react that way because we\u2019re in the general season that Paul predicted regarding this apostasy. So what to do in the midst of the apostasy is really the subject from 2 Timothy 3:1, that slide says through verse 6 of chapter 4, it really goes through chapter 4 verse 8\u2014what to do in the midst of the apostasy.\n\nSo here\u2019s sort of how I\u2019ve outlined that section. We have the apostasy described, verses 1-9, and then we have the antidote for apostasy, how to handle the apostasy once it comes, chapter 3 verse 10 through chapter 4 verse 8, just moving into the first part of our outline today. So we have described here, number 1, the evil that\u2019s coming, and then Paul, we won\u2019t get to these verses today but towards the end of that section, verses 8-9, he gives some examples of the evil that\u2019s coming.\n\nBut let\u2019s focus on the evil that is at hand, that the Spirit of God expressly says would come into the church in the last days. And as Richard was reading those verses no doubt you got a little depressed; it\u2019s kind of like reading the newspaper, very depressing. And Paul gives 19 characteristics of the apostasy; 19 characteristics of what people become like when they move away from God. So when society moves away from God and when the church follows society in moving away from God, these are the 19 characteristics that you can expect to happen. And this is why I\u2019ve entitled this The De-evolution of man, because what you\u2019ll discover is man, humanity in general, becomes just like the animal kingdom. They are not animals genetically but they become animals morally as they move away from God.\n\nSo we\u2019re kind of in a cultural worldview which says we\u2019re on the upward ascent, we\u2019re getting better and better every single day, we\u2019re told, as we evolve upward. And the Bible is saying the exact opposite; the Bible is saying as you get further and further away from God you don\u2019t become less like the animals, you become more like the animals. Which is a tragic thing because God originally, when He created the world, put man and woman in authority over the animal kingdom. So we are quite different than the animals; we are made in God\u2019s image and we were designed to rule the animal kingdom. And yet if you don\u2019t have God in your thinking or relationship with God you become exactly, not genetically, but morally like the animals you were designed by God to govern.\n\nSo 19 characteristics, Paul hadn\u2019t gone to a good preaching school because you don\u2019t have 19 points in a sermon, right? You\u2019re supposed to have three points and a poem; Paul gives us 19 points. So just in order to help guide our thoughts here\u2019s sort of an outline that is helpful in terms of putting these 19 characteristics together.\n\nFirst of all you have a warning of difficulty and danger, verse 1. Then you have a collection of attributes related to misplaced love. As the last days unfold there is going to be misplaced affections in people; most of those are in verse 2 one of them is in verse 4. Then we\u2019ll have a collection of attributes or characteristics related to pride, verse 2. And then we\u2019ll have a collection of attributes, about nine there, called alpha privitives. You say what in the world are you talking about, alpha privitives? It has a very simple definition and I\u2019ll explain it to you as we get there, and you\u2019ll see the concept and you\u2019ll say oh, that word is a little intimidating at first but the concept is very easy to understand. And then finally the whole thing will wrap up, verses 5-7, through four concluding characteristics. Now we won\u2019t be getting through all of these today but we can at least make a start.\n\nBut notice the warning of difficulty and danger that is on the horizon. Paul says, 1 Timothy 3:1, \u201cBut realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.\u201d You\u2019ll notice that he says right at the beginning of that verse, \u201crealize this,\u201d in other words, know this. This is not something that you can opt out of, this is something that is going to come. The question is not a matter of \u201cif\u201d but \u201cwhen.\u201d And these difficult times are going to come \u201cin the last says.\u201d\n\nNow what are \u201cthe last days\u201d? Many people think that\u2019s the seven year tribulation period, and the millennial kingdom that follows. But you see, that tribulation period is related to God\u2019s program with Israel. This is a church age letter written by Paul to a pastor so he is not talking about the tribulation period and the millennial kingdom that follows, he is talking about what is going to happen as the church age reaches its conclusion.\n\nWe are living in a very unique period of time in God\u2019s program, called the age of the church, it started with the day of Pentecost and it will end with the rapture, and as we get closer and closer to the rapture we enter into this time period called \u201cthe last days.\u201d Technically speaking \u201cthe last days\u201d started in the first century. Hebrews 1:2 says, \u201cin these last days has spoken to us in His Son\u2026.\u201d So the last days are already started, but you see, what Paul is getting at here is not the last days just in terms of the church but the last days in terms of how the church is going to end.\n\nFor example, in 1 Timothy 4:1 it talks about the later times. The later times of what? The later times of the church age, the whole thing is referred to as \u201cthe last days,\u201d the tail end of it would be the latter times. [1 Timothy 4:1, \u201cBut the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons.\u201d]\n\nNow these characteristics started in Paul\u2019s day because as you drop down to verse 5 Paul tells Timothy to \u201cavoid such men as these.\u201d So these characteristics aren\u2019t brand new, they were going on in Paul\u2019s day. But as you drop down to verse 13 it\u2019s very clear that Paul is not just talking about things happening in his own day, he\u2019s talking about things that will increase with greater prevalence as the church age is ready to wind up because it says in verse 13, \u201cevil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse\u2026.\u201d So yes, Timothy, it is bad but cheer up, it\u2019s going to get worse, and it\u2019s going to get a lot worse.\n\nSo that\u2019s, I think what he means by these \u201clast days.\u201d Every time you see the word \u201clast days\u201d in the Bible you need to ask yourself what is the context of that phrase? In context I believe \u201clast days\u201d is a reference here to not simply the beginning of the church age but the tail end, if you will, of the age of the church.\n\nSo what is going to happen? \u201cRealize this, that in the last days difficult seasons\u201d it\u2019s sometimes translated, or \u201cdifficult times will come.\u201d I can\u2019t tell you how many preachers I know that preach a message that we\u2019re bringing in the kingdom. The Christian church is succeeding and missionaries like to talk about their success and boast their numbers. A lot of their numbers are what I would call exaggerated; I like call that \"evangelastically\" speaking, because generally what is happening is the church is losing\u2026 everywhere the church blossoms the church eventually loses a foothold over that culture.\n\nFor example, how many people do you know that are attendees of the church at Ephesus, or Laodicea, or Colossae? Those are all churches in the Asia Minor area that were vibrant churches. I don\u2019t see\u2026 I can\u2019t go and attend a worship service at Ephesus today, those are piles of rock. In fact, as those churches died out they were replaced by Islamic strongholds. The fastest growing religion in the world today is not Christianity; the fastest growing religion today is Islam. Now they can cheat on that because they can convert you through the sword and we don\u2019t do that, thankfully. But that\u2019s why they\u2019re growing, to a large extent, and God\u2019s church is shrinking. I don\u2019t mean to be too much of a pessamillennialist here today because people are still getting saved, Jesus said, \u201cI will build My church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. God is always at work. But don\u2019t look for this planet to become Christianized prior to the return of Jesus Christ. [Matthew 16:18, \u201cI also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.\u201d]\n\nThe only kingdom that will be ushered in will be the kingdom that Jesus sets up on His own. And so many Christians have bought into this \u201ckingdom now\u201d belief system where they actually think they are setting up the kingdom of God on the earth without the King. And they ignore passages like this that says, \u201cin the last days difficult time will come.\u201d Well, difficult for who exactly? Difficult for anybody, man or woman, but in this case Timothy who wants to stand for truth. Standing for truth within an environment where things are deteriorating makes life difficult for a person that cares about God, cares about spirituality, cares about truth. And this word here, \u201cdifficult\u201d times is an interesting word, the word \u201cdifficult,\u201d it refers to two things. Number 1, difficulty and number 2 danger. So it\u2019s a word that refers to both of those ideas, difficulty and danger.\n\nNow let me see if I can illustrate this for you. I just spent the last week walking all over the Orlando Disney world Amusement Park. Now what if I had to do that with a 50 pound backpack on my back, my wife actually was carrying a backpack, it probably was 50 pounds, but what if I had a backpack on my back and then someone put a boulder inside of it. That would make my journey difficult. And then someone says guess what, all over this amusement park are landmines, and if you step on one you could die. So that adds the concept of danger. So I\u2019m walking around with this 50 pound backpack and any moment I could step on a landmine and lose life or limb. So it\u2019s not just difficulty Timothy is going to face, it\u2019s danger he\u2019s going to face as well.\n\nAnd the primary danger that Timothy is going to face is in the church. This is a pastoral letter; Timothy is a pastor. Paul is describing a time when the spirit of the world will invade the church. And the church, in essence, will become just like the thinking and the value system of the world. And once that time hits Timothy and all those that are seeking to live a godly life in Christ Jesus, you will encounter difficulty and danger.\n\n\u201cBut realize this, that in the last days difficult times\u2026\u201d notice this last expression, \u201cwill come.\u201d This is not something that you can opt out of; this time is on the horizon. 2 Peter 3:3 talks along the same lines and it says: \u201cKnow this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come [with their mocking, following after their own lusts].\u201d The mockers and those who ridicule the things of God are coming, you can\u2019t opt out of this; they\u2019re on the horizon. It\u2019s inevitable is what he\u2019s saying.\n\nIn other words, we can put it this way, this is actually a promise from God. What is a promise of God to us? Here it is\u2026 you ready? \u201cBut in the last days difficult times will come.\u201d Ironclad promise from God, who cannot lie. So what are people going to become like once these days of danger and difficult arise?\n\nNumber 1, and this is my first category, people will be involved in misplaced love, misplaced affections. And there are actually three areas of misplaced love that Paul highlights here; the first two are in verse 2, the last one is in verse 4. The first thing that people will become like is they will become \u201clovers of self.\u201d And notice verse 2, I\u2019ll read the whole verse, \u201cFor men will become lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy.\u201d\n\nThe first characteristics that Paul highlights are misplaced love. The first misplaced love that people will be enraptured by is a love, not for God, but a love for self. If we were using a modern day psychological vernacular we would call this narcissism, a total preoccupation with one\u2019s self. And part of this is a doctrine that we call humanism. Humanism is the idea that man is the center of all things and God, if He exists at all, is either non-existent, if He doesn\u2019t exist He doesn\u2019t exist at all, or if He does exist He\u2019s sort of irrelevant. Kind of like the clock-maker, or watch-maker view of God, He kind of wound up this universe and set everything in motion and then departed and we\u2019re to live our lives down here and if God exists at all, He is not someone that we submit to, He\u2019s not someone we believe in, He is not someone that we pray to, He is not even someone that intervenes in society. We calla this deism, deist, deism.\n\nAnd when God is dismissed from the equation what takes over is humanism. Now people are all upset because religion got thrown out of the public schools in the 1960\u2019s. The Supreme Court threw out the Bible, threw out prayer, and all of those kind of things from the public schools. My own mother, who grew up in the Houston area, tells me of how her own teacher, as I believe a first grader or second grader or even in kindergarten would read to the class from Psalm 23. And I said to my mom, did she do that in front of the whole class. She said yeah, that was the standard operating procedure.\n\nWell, one day the Supreme Court got ahold of these practices and just ended them all. And so people say well, we threw religion out of the schools. May I just beg to differ with you on that? The public schools today are as religious as they\u2019ve ever been; it\u2019s just the religion that is being taught today is not Christianity or Biblicism, it is a doctrine called humanism.\n\nIf you want to know what these schools are teaching you just read a couple of very short books: Humanist Manifesto 1, signed in 1933; Humanist Manifesto 2, signed in 1973, and Humanism 2,000 signed by leading thinkers Isaac Asimov, like Lester Mondale, the brother of our former Vice President, Walter Mondale. And you read those volumes and they read like creeds of a church. They read like doctrinal statements, except the doctrine that is being communicated is not biblical doctrine, it is humanistic doctrine. And the overarching belief system in humanism is that man is the center of all things and God, if He exists at all is completely irrelevant. Therefore, ethics are situational, we make up our own ethics as we go.\n\nAnd of course, humanists believe that the end game to everything is a one-world government, and don\u2019t take my word for it, read these documents yourself, they\u2019re fairly short. You can find them easily on the internet and you\u2019ll see a set of creeds. But the thing that is so frustrating to me is the humanist society has 501C3 tax exempt status. Well, that\u2019s what we have, don\u2019t we, as Christians? Most of our churches and organizations, 501C3 tax exempt status. They can teach their religion in school but we can\u2019t teach ours. And see, we\u2019ve been completely ripped off and cheated to a very large extent.\n\nBut Paul predicted it would come. The dominant viewpoint would come when humanism enters the picture. And there\u2019s even a magazine out there called Self Magazine, and I was going to put some of the covers of Self Magazine on the screen for you and I searched through cover after cover after cover and the covers were so sexually explicit I couldn\u2019t put any on the screen because I couldn\u2019t find a neutral cover. And this is the type of thing that would come in the last days, a total narcissism or a preoccupation with self, \u201clovers of self.\u201d\n\nNow the church growth gurus have figured this out. The church growth gurus have said look, there\u2019s more unbelievers out there than believers, right\u2026 basic marketing. So what we have to do to get the church to grow is we have to create a marketing mix that appeals to all of these unsaved, unregenerate people. And that\u2019s just basic textbook marketing, you come up with a marketing mix to satisfy the masses and we\u2019re told that if you do this as you are building a church that your church will grow.\n\nAnd once that happens, and by the way, it works in the sense that you can fill up auditoriums with this style of ministry, but once that happens what happens to God\u2019s church? The church becomes just like the world. The spirit of the world invades the church and Timothy, once that happens it\u2019s going to be difficult on you because you\u2019re the type of person that wants to hold to the truth in that kind of environment.\n\nAnd as the church becomes man-focused they will demand doctrines that appeal to them. This is why the doctrine of works is so popular in Christianity because it is an appeal to my pride. If I can do something to earn favor before God then I get part of the bragging rights. This is why the doctrine of grace falls into hard times in such an environment because grace means unmerited favor. If it\u2019s unmerited favor then I have nothing to boast in and that contradicts basic human pride. In fact, Paul, in Romans 3:27 talks about the doctrine of grace and he says this: \u201cWhere then is boasting? It is excluded. [By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith].\u201d\n\nSo as the church becomes like the world they begin to demand things that appeal to a humanistic viewpoint and understanding. The church becomes identical to the world that it\u2019s supposed to reach. And by the way, let me say this: if the church becomes like the world it has no moral authority any longer to speak to the world. Once the church is just like the world the unsaved world says well, those so-called Christians are no different than us, their message has no value.\n\nWhat gives our message authority is that we are, as Paul calls us in Titus, a peculiar people. [Titus 2:14, \u201cWho gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.\u201d KJV] Now weird people, not people that have weird social hang-ups and things like this, but a \u201cpeculiar people\u201d in the sense that we march to the beat of a different drummer. We have a morality and a value system that is different than the world. The unsaved world looks at that and they say there must be something special about this Christianity. And consequently we have a prophetic voice to the world when we are separate from the world.\nAnd that\u2019s why Satan\u2019s game is always to get us to be just like the world because yes, you can fill up buildings but your prophetic voice is neutralized the moment we become just like the world.\n\nOne of the things that\u2019s very interesting to me to see develop in this environment is the demand that people have for relevant Bible teaching. They are not interested primarily today in Bible teaching; they want it to be relevant, that needs to speak to me, it needs to speak to my life, it needs to speak to exactly what I am going through. And I think God, in His grace, provides that through the faithful teaching of His Word. But let me just tell you something, that is a new development. Prior generations were happy just to hear the Word of God at all.\n\nThis generation is very different in the sense that I don\u2019t want to hear the Word of God, I don\u2019t want to hear about the genealogies, I don\u2019t want to hear that stuff in Leviticus, what I want is for the preacher to take a text and immediately apply it to my life. I\u2019m not against application but what I\u2019m saying is there\u2019s a shift taking place in our thinking, particularly here in the West where hearing the Word of God is not enough. There is a demand for immediate relevance and application and if you don\u2019t serve it up and deliver it I\u2019ll go somewhere that will. That is the spirit of the times in which we live.\n\nAnd this is exactly what Paul said, people come to church focused not on God, not on His truth, but focused on myself and my own narcissistic tendencies. And the marketing mix had better cater quick to me, and if it doesn\u2019t, just like in the business world or in the world of retail I\u2019ll go find someone that serves up the right marketing mix. God help us to see what\u2019s happening. It\u2019s tragic but at the same time it\u2019s very well predicted.\n\nWell, what else is going to happen? Back to verse 2, \u201cFor men will be lovers of self,\u201d notice this next phrase, \u201clovers of money\u2026.\u201d \u201clovers of self\u201d is narcissism, \u201clovers of money\u201d is materialism. Materialism is this idea where your whole preoccupation in life is the acquisition and the accumulation of money and material things. Now this word translated \u201clovers of money\u201d is really a compound word which simply means two words combined into one, and when you look at that word the way it\u2019s written in Greek what it translates as, or how it actually reads is \u201clovers of silver.\u201d Not \u201clovers of money\u201d but \u201clovers of silver.\u201d\n\nNow why would Paul use this terminology \u201clovers of silver\u201d? I believe it\u2019s designed by Paul to conjure up memories of one of the disciples. Judas, and as you know the story from Matthew 26:14-16, Matthew 27:3-10, Judas sold out\u2026 could you imagine selling out the Second Member of the Godhead? Selling out the greatest treasure that has ever walked on this earth? Selling Him out for what?\n\n[Matthew 26:14, \u201cThen one of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests, [15] and said, \u2018What are you willing to give me to betray Him to you?\u2019 And they weighed out thirty pieces of silver to him. {16] From then on he began looking for a good opportunity to betray Jesus.\u201d\n\nMatthew 27:3-10, \u201cThen when Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that He had been condemned, he felt remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, [4] saying, \u201cI have sinned by betraying innocent blood.\u201d But they said, \u201cWhat is that to us? See to that yourself!\u201d [5] And he threw the pieces of silver into the temple sanctuary and departed; and he went away and hanged himself. [6] The chief priests took the pieces of silver and said, \u201cIt is not lawful to put them into the temple treasury, since it is the price of blood.\u201d [7] And they conferred together and with the money bought the Potter\u2019s Field as a burial place for strangers. [8] For this reason that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day. [9] Then that which was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: \u201cAND THEY TOOK THE THIRTY PIECES OF SILVER, THE PRICE OF THE ONE WHOSE PRICE HAD BEEN SET by the sons of Israel; [10] AND THEY GAVE THEM FOR THE POTTER\u2019S FIELD, AS THE LORD DIRECTED ME.\u201d]\n\nFor thirty pieces of silver. Everybody has their price, we are told. For Judas the price to my mind wasn\u2019t all that high, thirty pieces of silver and I\u2019m gone from Christ. That is what this word \u201clovers of silver\u201d communicates. So in the last days people would not just be \u201clovers of self,\u201d they would become \u201clovers of money.\u201d\n\nNow once again, the church marketers have this one figured out. If people in the last days will become \u201clovers of money\u201d let\u2019s design a gospel, called the prosperity gospel, which appeals to people\u2019s materialistic impulses. We will take a lot of Scriptures out of context, mostly from the Old Testament and God\u2019s dealings with Israel and we will get on so-called Christian television and we will make a case for the fact that if you are a Christian you are a child of the King and consequently you are entitled to a life of health, wealth, prosperity and leisure.\n\nHow many people do we know that have been sucked into this devilish doctrine, which frankly has no support whatsoever, particularly in the New Testament. Paul says in the book of Philippians if I get along with much--great, if I get along with just a little bit that\u2019s fine too, for \u201cI have learned the secret\u201d of contentment. [Philippians 4:11, \u201cNot that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. [12] I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.\u201d]\n\nIt doesn\u2019t sound to me like Paul had bought into prosperity gospel. When prosperity came Paul was eager to accept that, but when times of scarcity came he accepted that from the hand of God as well. Paul never lived his life as if there was some ironclad promise from God to get rich.\n\nAnd isn\u2019t it interesting that the prosperity gospel ends at the borders of America. You go to Mexico, you go to some distant third world country where people are poverty stricken and you tell them that God wants them rich and you see how much traction that doctrine will have. It works in America because we have an economy to sustain the doctrine. Well what about other places of the world where that doctrine cannot be sustained economically? The prosperity doctrine, no matter how you analyze it pragmatically or biblically it simply is a false doctrine concocted by men to appeal to man\u2019s materialistic impulses.\n\nAnd let me tell you this much also, based on the authority of the Word of God, if your life is wrapped up in material things then frankly you\u2019re going to have a very difficult time serving the Lord, and walking with the Lord. Matthew 6:24, you all know the verse, it says, \u201cNo one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.\u201d\n\nNow let me give you the other side of this equation. Is money wrong? The Bible never condemns money; what it condemns is the love of money. There\u2019s a big difference between those two. In fact, in 1 Timothy, chapter 6, beginning at verse 6 dealt with this very issue. He says, \u201cBut godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. [7] For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. [8] If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. [9] But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. [10] For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.\u201d\n\nYou\u2019ll notice that the Bible never condemns money; what it condemns is a materialistic attitude where the love of one\u2019s life is money. If you are a Christian that happens to be blessed financially of the Lord, and there are many people in this church that are just like that, then praise the Lord, but understand that the money could be here today and gone tomorrow. And the focus of your life is not on money; the focus of your life is on the Lord and He may choose to bless you with a certain abundance so you in turn can be a blessing. But the focus of one\u2019s life is not money in and of itself.\n\nPaul continues on in 1 Timothy 6, verses 17-19 and he says, \u201cInstruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited, that would be rich in this present world, not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.\u201d Nothing wrong with enjoying financial abundance if our hearts are in the right place. Verse 18, \u201cInstruct them to do good, to be rich in good works,\u201d you see, if you have a financial surplus you have an ability to bless, and one of these days God is going to call you to an account regarding how you use those resources He entrusted to you. \u201cInstruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share [19] storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed.\u201d\n\nYou know, one of the followers of Jesus Christ was extraordinarily wealthy, a man named Joseph of Arimathea. In fact, Christ was buried in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea and Matthew 27:57 says this, \u201cWhen it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus.\u201d You\u2019ll notice there that Joseph of Arimathea, Matthew 27:57, is called rich, and in the same context he is called \u201ca disciple of Jesus Christ.\u201d So being wealthy and being a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ is a possibility.\n\nThe Bible is not condemning money; what it is condemning is when money becomes our focus, it becomes the preoccupation of our hearts. And as that happens there is no longer any room for God. But what is going to happen in the last days is people will not just be \u201clovers of self\u201d but they will also be \u201clovers of money.\u201d You know, I know very, very wealthy people that don\u2019t love money; I know very, very poor people that do love money. Whether you have money or don\u2019t have money, that\u2019s not the issue. The issue is what is your heart communicating? What is the priority of your life? What is your focus? From what or from who do you derive your self-image?\n\nAnd the reason why, when the stock market crashed in the 1930\u2019s people began jumping out of buildings and committing suicide is because those types of people weren\u2019t just people that had money, they were people that loved money. And riches can take wings, \u201chere today, gone tomorrow\u201d and we need to monitor our hearts very carefully on this issue of finances. But in the last days people will become not just lovers of self but lovers of money.\n\nThere\u2019s another characteristic of misplaced love and this has to do with \u201clovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.\u201d That\u2019s all the way down in verse 4. You say well, wait a minute, why are you skipping down to verse 4? I\u2019m skipping down to verse 4 because the thought begins in verse 2 and concludes in verse 4. It\u2019s what you call an intercoluthon. And the rest of the material in verses 2, 3 and 4 fills out the complete thought. So it\u2019s sort of like a sandwich, you have the thought beginning, verse 2, you have the thought ending, verse 4 and everything in between, characteristics that we haven\u2019t spoken of yet fill out that complete thought. So what is the complete thought? In the last days people will become lovers of self rather than lovers of God. That\u2019s the whole thought. And so that\u2019s why I\u2019m skipping down to verse 4.\n\nThe third characteristic of misplaced love that will manifest itself in the last days and actually enter Christ\u2019s church is that people will be \u201clovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.\u201d So the first attribute, \u201clovers of self\u201d is narcissism, the second characteristic, \u201clovers of money\u201d is materialism. The third characteristic, \u201clovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God\u201d is hedonism. Hedonism is a lifestyle where the focus in your life is the pursuit of pleasure.\n\nNow let me tell you something that you\u2019ll never hear in a legalistic church: you ready? Here it comes: sin is fun. Did you all hear me correctly? Sin is fun! Sin is enjoyable. I am not going to sell you a line that says sin is not fun; sin is fun. There is always a window, very temporary window I might add, of pleasure that sin introduces. And the devil is so good at getting us to focus on that short window of pleasure and to take our eyes off of the long-term consequences of sin.\n\nAnd by the way, the long-term consequences of sin are going to stick around in your life a lot longer than the momentary window of pleasure that sin introduced. You go out and you are sexually promiscuous, there\u2019s some fun in that. But isn\u2019t it interesting that the venereal disease, the unwanted pregnancy, the guilt, all of these things that the devil doesn\u2019t tell you about, those things stick around, do they not, a lot longer than the window of pleasure that closed a long time ago.\n\nNow, this is pure biblical teaching. Hebrews 11:25 puts it this way concerning Moses: \u201cchoosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin.\u201d Hebrews 11:25 is very clear that there is \u201cpassing pleasures of sin.\u201d And a hedonist is one who is focused primarily on this brief momentary window of pleasure. In fact, their life is spent focused on this window of pleasure. In fact, they go from experience to experience to experience seeking this window of pleasure.\n\nIt\u2019s a lot like, going back to my amusement park example, I have a little personal experience with this given what I did last week, standing in line at the amusement park waiting to get on the ride. You stand and you stand and you stand, sometimes up to an hour, you get on the ride, you blink and it\u2019s over. Was it fun? Sure it was fun, but the fun certainly disappeared quickly. It\u2019s like jumping off a two story building, it\u2019s a lot of fun until you hit the ground, then it\u2019s not so much fun anymore. That\u2019s sort of what sin is like.\n\nAnd the problem with the hedonist is they love, listen to me very carefully, they love their sin. And consequently they stay away from God because they know that God, if you move into His Light, is going to confront you about your sin. John 3:19 puts it this way, \u201cThis is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world,\u201d watch this, \u201cand men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.\u201d What an astounding verse that is. The Light, Jesus Christ, came into the world. You would expect the world to stand up and applaud. You would expect if Light entered the room that people would embrace Christ, they would embrace the Light. John says it\u2019s the exact opposite.\n\nJohn 3:19 says \u201cthe Light has come into the world, but \u201cmen loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.\u201d A lot of people stay away from God, the heathen stays away from God because they love the momentary pleasure that sin introduced.\n\nLet me ask you something? Is there something going on in your life right now as a Christian? Something that you keep yielding to over and over and over again and yet you have not submitted that to God and the reason you have not submitted that habit to God is simply this, you have to be honest with yourself and say I love this pleasure, I love this pleasure more than I love God. That is a heathenistic lifestyle and this is the very thing that would come in the last days. There would be fewer and fewer amounts of people that would be willing to relinquish sin to God and under His control rather than give up the pleasure that sin introduced.\n\nWhat are the last days going to be like? They\u2019re going to be characterized outside the church and inside the church by misplaced love. Love of self\u2014narcissism. Lovers or money\u2014materialism. Lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God\u2014hedonism.\n\nWell, cheer up, it\u2019s about to get worse, and we\u2019ll probably just make it through here these next three, most of which are in verse 2 related to pride. Not only in the last days would people become candidates for misplaced affection, but they would be wrapped up in pride. Notice three things that are brought up here, people will become boastful, they would become arrogant, and number 2, they would become revilers. Boastful, verse 2, has to do with prideful words; it has to do with the content or the quality of one\u2019s speech. Speech, which is always lifting up one\u2019s self, promoting one\u2019s self\u2014look at me, look at my accomplishments, look at my talents, look at how significant I am, look at how important I am. Going on and on, bragging about oneself; that is what boasting means. It\u2019s prideful words.\n\n1 John 2:16 makes this statement, \u201cFor all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.\u201d What is the world like? It\u2019s characterized by the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and notice this third category, \u201cthe boastful pride of life.\u201d\n\nIn fact, the human being that will be the furthest away from God in the future will be the antichrist. What is the characteristic of the antichrist that is brought to our attention over and over again in God\u2019s Word? The characteristic of the antichrist will be his big mouth; that\u2019s why some refer to the antichrist as Mr. Big Mouth. Every time you find a Scripture passage dealing with the subject of the antichrist you will see that attention is always called to his boastful, prideful words.\n\nDaniel 7:8 says this: \u201cWhile I was contemplating the horns, behold, another horn, a little one, came up among them, and three of the first horns were pulled out by the roots before it; and behold, this horn\u201d speaking of the antichrist, \u201cpossessed eyes like the eyes of a man\u201d watch this, \u201cand a mouth\u201d doing what? \u201cuttering great boasts.\u201d Boastful words. Revelation 13:5 says this: \u201cThere was given to him\u201d that\u2019s the antichrist, the beast, \u201cThere was given to him a mouth speaking\u201d what? \u201carrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him.\u201d\n\nLet me tell you something about God. I don\u2019t know a lot about God, believe it or not, but I know this much: God hates boasting. God hates pride and He hates the content of one\u2019s speech that is prideful. That\u2019s why when He designed the plan of salvation, which is unmerited favor, He designed it in such a way that a human being once receiving the free gift could never boast in it. Romans 3:;27 says this: \u201cWhere then is boasting? It is excluded. [By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith.]\u201d I think there\u2019s going to be a lot of variety in heaven but one thing you will not see in heaven is boastful speech because all of us will know that the reason we are there is not because of our own merits and what we have done, but because of what He has done and we simply receive it as a free gift.\n\nWe quote, oftentimes, Ephesians 2:8-9, most of you know this by heart, \u201cFor by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; [10] not as a result of works,\u201d most of us when we quote that verse cut it off right there, but have you read the reset of verse 10? \u201cso that no one may boast.\u201d When God put together the plan of salvation He did it in such a way that it would eliminate human pride and consequently eliminate human boasting.\n\n1 Corinthians 1:29, a very short verse, says this: \u201cSo that no man may boast before God.\u201d I don\u2019t know a lot about God, but I know this much, that God hates pride, He hates human boasting and tragically what will manifest itself in the last days and actually enter Christ\u2019s church would be men becoming lovers of self, lovers of money and very boastful.\n\nAnother characteristic related to pride is arrogance. Notice again verse 2, \u201cFor men will become lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful,\u201d now notice this next term, \u201carrogant.\u201d If boastfulness refers to prideful words, arrogance refers to a prideful attitude. The attitude that we have about ourselves oftentimes dictates the content of our speech, but the ultimate root of pride is not one\u2019s speech but it\u2019s one\u2019s attitude, a prideful attitude.\n\nA prideful attitude is the sin that sank Satan. If you want to understand about pride and its ugly consequences you would study the doctrine of the devil. Who is the devil? Where did he come from? Isaiah 14:12-15 puts it this way, referring to the fall of Lucifer, who ultimately became Satan. Isaiah 14 says, \u201cHow you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn!\nyou have been cut down to the earth, you who have weakened the nations!\u201d How did this fall happen? Verse 13 says, \u201cBut you said in your heart,\u201d there was something happening in the heart of this beautiful creature that God made called Lucifer and what was happening in his heart were what we call the five \u201cI will\u201d statements.\n\nThis is the origin of sin in the universe, when God\u2019s creature asserted his will against God\u2019s. What was Lucifer saying in his heart? \u201cI\u201d notice the narcissism, \u201c\u2018I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, I will sit on the mount of assembly, in the recesses of the north. [14] \u2018I\u201d looks like the fellow has an \u201cI\u201d problem doesn\u2019t it, \u201cI will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.\u2019\u201d Verse 15, \u201cNevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol, to the recesses of the pit.\u201d If you want to know what the sin is that sank Satan it\u2019s exactly what Paul is predicting here in the church in the last days\u2026arrogance! Not just arrogant words but an arrogant attitude. A parallel passage related to the sin that sank Satan is found in Ezekiel 28:17, which says, \u201cYour heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I put you before kings, That they may see you.\u201d If you, any of us, are people of pride we are on a collision course with the God of the universe.\n\nProverbs 16:18 says \u201cPride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before stumbling.\u201d You say well, can you give me something practical from the Bible? You want to know how practical this is? How do you pick church leaders? Aren\u2019t we voting on that? Aren\u2019t we filling out ballots and things and submitting names? How do you pick people? Talent? Looks? Socio-economic status? How do you pick elders and deacons within a church. 1 Timothy 3:6 tells you, it says: \u201cand not a new convert,\u201d he can\u2019t be a baby Christian in other words; why not, \u201cso that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil.\u201d\n\nWell, what is \u201cthe condemnation incurred by the devil\u201d? It is the sin that sank Satan\u2014\u201cpride goeth before destruction.\u201d Sadly I\u2019ve watched this in the number of years I\u2019ve been in the ministry, when somebody who is a fairly new Christian mistakenly is put into a position of influence over the church and because they\u2019re in that position many times God uses it and how quickly, if they\u2019re character has not been shaped and molded properly, they will quickly begin to take credit for what God is doing through them. And as they begin to take credit, as the focus turns off of Christ and onto themselves a very arrogant and prideful attitude begins to manifest itself and it\u2019s just a matter of time before such a person falls into the sin that sank Satan.\n\nThis is why Paul pleads with Timothy in the church at Ephesus, do not place a new convert into a position of authority within Christ\u2019s church because they don\u2019t have the character yet to handle their effectiveness, and they will quickly become enraptured with themselves and they will fall as a result.\n\nThe hall of the humble. Do a study sometime of all of the people in the Bible lifted up with pride; look at what happens to them. Satan lost his position in heaven. Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel 4, who took credit for the Neo-Babylonian Empire, he says is this not the empire that I myself have created? He became an animal, a mad man for seven years. [Daniel 4:30, \u201c\"The king reflected and said, \u2018Is this not Babylon the great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?\u2019\u201d] He became an animal, a mad man for seven years.\n\nTake, for example, Herod Agrippa, Acts 12, people were listening to him speak and as he was speaking with such eloquence the people were saying \u201c\u2018The voice of a god, and not of a man!\u2019\u201d And Herod sort of took a little credit for that and instantly he was killed, \u201can angel of the Lord struck him dead and his body was eaten with worms. [Acts 12:23]\n\nOne of the members of the hall of humbled that I don\u2019t have here is Uzziah, study his life. 2 Chronicles 26, he was lifted up with pride because of his success and he did something that he was told never to do\u2026he usurped the priestly prerogatives, he went into the temple and started, as a king, to do the things that only a priest is to do and God was very clear, kings do their thing, priests do their thing, the two offices are not to comingle. [2 Chronicles 26:16, \u201cBut when he became strong, his heart was so proud that he acted corruptly, and he was unfaithful to the LORD his God, for he entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense.\u201d]\n\nIn fact, the kings come from the tribe of Judah, the priests come from the tribe of Levi. And Uzziah, because of his success and reading his own newspaper clippings felt that somehow the rules didn\u2019t apply to him. And he violated the laws of God and was smote head to toe with leprosy and spent the remainder of his days as a leper. [2 Chronicles 26:19-20, \u201cBut Uzziah, with a censer in his hand for burning incense, was enraged; and while he was enraged with the priest, the leprosy broke out on his forehead before the priests in the house of the LORD, beside the altar of incense. [20] And Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, and behold, he was leprous on his forehead; and they hurried him out of there, and he himself also hastened to get out because the LORD had smitten him. [21] King Uzziah was a leper to the day of his death\u2026.\u201d]\n\nIf you in your heart are saying in your place of business, in your ministry, in your moral conduct that the rules that govern everybody else don\u2019t apply to me, I would say you need to get on your knees, we need to get on our knees and ask ourselves before the Lord to cure us of this prideful attitude that we have.\n\nYou know, Paul struggled with pride. 2 Corinthians 12:1-10, he was lifted into the third heaven, and he, in the third heaven heard things that a man is not fit to hear. And the things that he heard were so glorious he couldn\u2019t even put them into a human language. And he came back to the earth and he struggled all of his days with pride. And God said I\u2019ve got the remedy for that. You ready? The thorn in the flesh. It\u2019s something that bothered him and harassed him, we\u2019re not even sure exactly what it is except it hurt, ouch. It\u2019s something that he asked the Lord three times to take away but the Lord never took it away because the Lord wanted Paul emptied of self so he could remain useable.\n\n[2 Corinthians 12:1-10, \u201c1Boasting is necessary, though it is not profitable; but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. [2] I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago\u2014whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows\u2014such a man was caught up to the third heaven. [3] And I know how such a man\u2014whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows\u2014[4] was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak. [5] On behalf of such a man I will boast; but on my own behalf I will not boast, except in regard to my weaknesses. [6] For if I do wish to boast I will not be foolish, for I will be speaking the truth; but I refrain from this, so that no one will credit me with more than he sees in me or hears from me. [7] Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me\u2014to keep me from exalting myself! [8] Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. [9]And He has said to me, \u201cMy grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.\u201d Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. [10] Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ\u2019s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.\u201d]\n\nThere are things going on in your life where you\u2019ve asked the Lord, take it away, take it away, take it away, and somehow the Lord keeps saying no, \u201cMy grace is sufficient for you.\u201d [2 Corinthians 12:9, \u201cAnd He has said to me, \"My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.\" Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.\u201d] Perhaps it\u2019s an issue of pride; if that thorn were removed from your life think of the arrogant person you would be; think of how you would not cry out to God for His enablement and His help, and you would trust in yourself. And the moment that happens you\u2019re on a collision course with the God of the universe.\n\nA very different way of looking at suffering isn\u2019t it. What would the last days be characterized by? Boastful words and an arrogant attitude.\n\nOne more and we\u2019re finished, number 3, people would become revilers, again verse 2, \u201cFor men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers,\u201d now reviler here is not a very good translation. What the Greek says is a blasphemer. What is a blasphemer? A blasphemer is someone who uses speech in an abusive way, abusive language, irreverent speech towards God many times, and towards one\u2019s fellow man many times as well. And I put this under the category of pride because it is a characteristic of people whereby they try to build themselves up by tearing someone down. Constant put downs, constant critiques of other people. And at the end of the day what it is, it\u2019s an attitude of pride where they\u2019re trying to make themselves look good by way of comparison, through blasphemous or abusive speech.\n\nIf we, if you, if all of us were the type of people that are constantly nitpicking, tearing down, criticizing, critiquing, we have to ask ourselves, have we become people of pride? Am I so interested in self-promotion and exaltation that I will pursue that at the expense of somebody else.\n\nWhat are the last days like? Boastful words, an arrogant attitude and blasphemous or reviling speech. And if that weren\u2019t enough the other attributes that we\u2019ve covered today related to the last days would be misplaced love, lovers of self, lovers of money, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. Assuming anybody comes to church next week we\u2019ll be covering the remaining two-thirds of this list. Shall we pray.\n\nFather, we are humbled by this direct teaching You\u2019ve given us. Thank you for giving us reality and making us aware of these ugly aspects of humanity that we all fall prey to so frequently, and are coming upon us, particularly in our culture and our churches in greater and greater proportions. Help us to focus on these things and ask by your grace and Spirit that we will become not like these things as we walk before You this week. We\u2019ll be careful to give you all the praise and the glory, we ask these things in Jesus\u2019 name. And God\u2019s people said\u2026","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t