Somebody Loves You

Raul Ries: He says, "Having a form of godliness but denying its power or the gospel," from such people do what? Turn away from them. Don't hang out with them. Get away from them. He's giving counsel to who? To the church. He's giving counsel to believers. Be careful with these people that pretend to be Christians, but they're not.

Guest (Male): I am falling. I am falling in love. I am falling in love. I am falling in love with you.

Welcome to Somebody Loves You Radio, the Bible teaching ministry of Raul Ries in Diamond Bar, California. Well, it is good to have you with us today for an important lesson from our study of 2 Timothy. Exploring the Apostle Paul's warnings about spiritual hypocrites in the last days, Raul will urge you to stay alert to the deception of people who claim to be Jesus' disciples but whose lives deny the gospel.

Stay with us to learn more about the characteristics you'll see in those who've never truly surrendered to Jesus. Here's Raul Ries in the book of 2 Timothy.

Raul Ries: Here Paul the Apostle, now in chapter 3 beginning with verses 1 through 9, he speaks how in the last days one of the things that's going to happen is it's going to be a time where there's going to be hard times. Hard times, dangerous times. He begins by saying in chapter 3:1, "But know this," God's command, "that in the last days hard times will come." And here "the last days" in the Greek is in reference to the last days right before the Lord returns at His second coming, right before He returns.

What's interesting here is that here the word "hard times" in the Greek is literally "dangerous times," times of danger. Surely we are seeing that today through terrorism. I mean, the world is fearful of terrorism. But then at the same time, as we think of hard times or dangerous times, also the word is used here of "demonic times" where Satan and his demons will be actively working fully in the world, trying to deceive people, to move them away from Christ, to move them away from the truth of Jesus Christ.

And yet here when he uses the word also for "hard times," it was also used of dangerous wild animals that would actually prey on people, or like a raging sea in a great storm. That's the word in its context. Nothing is at peace, but the sea is raging. Surely we see that. More than ever before today, we see that.

The first characteristic he's going to give you now in verses 2 to 9, 19 characteristics of the last days. And the first characteristic, it's interesting that in the first nine verses, he's going to use the word "love" four times. Four times, let me show you. He says in verse 2, "For men will be lovers of themselves." Secondly, "lovers of money." Here's two more: "lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God."

You get the point? It's all about self-love, nothing to do with God. People will become self-centered. People will become selfish, not caring about your parents, not caring for your children, not caring for your wife or your husband, not caring for the stranger, but only, only occupied with yourself all the time. That's the sin.

And secondly is becoming a lover of money, and that's all you think about—making a lot of money. Nothing wrong with having money, but when money becomes your god, there's something wrong, because we need money. But check this out, this is amazing. The next thing, thirdly he says, "boasters." Same thing Paul said in Romans. "Boasters" in the Greek means an empty pretender, a boaster or a swaggerer, one that is always bragging about himself. That's another sign of the last days.

And then he says, "they're proud." Proud—that is one who shows himself to be above other people, always looking down on people and thinking you're better than them. Pride. For that is the sin that Satan fell from heaven. The sin of pride is a sin that will take so many people down today—not humbling yourself, not repenting, and looking at what Christ taught us.

But he says these are the characteristics of the people of the last days. This is the antichrist generation. And then he says, not only proud but "blasphemers." And that is in the Greek: speaking evil, slandering people, abusing people. People that not only think better of themselves, but they speak evil of other people and they're always slandering people. They slander people they don't even know. If you have that problem tonight, man, you got to get rid of it.

We have to be forgiven. We have to forgive people. It's really important as a child of God these things cannot operate in our lives. But then he said this also that he brings up even Paul. He says, not only boasters and proud and blasphemers, but six, he says, "disobedient to their parents." Surely we see that today. In the book of Proverbs, it says there's a generation that is going to do what? Dishonor their mother and their father. That is one of the breaking of the Ten Commandments. Honor your father and mother.

And yet some young people today are ruthless with their parents, no respect. They curse them. They hit them. They call them all kinds of evil names, and there is no fear of God. Hear what he says in six is that these kids, young people, do not have a reverence for God or reverence for their parents, and they disrespect their parents. No honor. So sad.

It's so sad that not only children are by nature this way, but when a parent teaches a child to despise his grandparents or his brother or his own sister or uncles and aunts. That's sad, so sad. But it happens in the body of Christ. But somehow these young people in this chapter here do not honor their parents, spitefully hate them, no respect for them.

But you know at the same time, if parents want respect from their children, you have to respect your children too. Sometimes children learn from their parents to be disrespectful. That's what we taught them. Abusers. And then we look at our children, and guess what? You're looking at the mirror. You're looking at yourself. You can't blame anybody but yourself for what they've learned, because you taught them well.

But as the child of God, you can reverse it when you submit and surrender your life to Christ and you give your heart to Jesus, and your children begin to see a change in your heart and life. Yeah, for a while they won't believe it, but over a period of time they will see it. And eventually, we pray that they'll be converted and see that God has touched your life. And that's why Paul brings these things out here. "Disobedient to their parents," and then check this out: "unthankful." They never say thank you.

Unthankful—here the seventh characteristic. Never thanking anyone for anything. How sad. How sad when a parent helps their child and never thanks the parent. Or somebody helps you and you never thank them. You just say, "I wasn't taught that. I was never taught to say thank you." You can learn. Always be thankful for what people do for you, as people are thankful for what you do for them. But the characteristic will be unthankfulness. They will not be happy, and they will not be thankful for anything they have.

He's talking about unthankfulness, and then look what he says in verse 2 again: "unholy." And here the word unholy means no respect for anything that is holy before God. No respect for the Bible, no respect for the church, no respect for the things of God, and no respect for people that are separated to God. Unholy. They're unrighteous, filthy, dirty in this world. They think nothing but evil.

And then verse 3 says "unloving," number nine characteristic. Unloving again. This is in reference to family love. It's without natural affection. Notice that. Unloving to their families. And then this is a big one: "unforgiving." They can't forgive. Unforgiven. You cannot trust them. They do not forgive people. They hold resentment all their lives. Think of how many people you and I know like that in our own families that hold a grudge, and they're Christians.

If they don't forgive you, that's none of your business. That's God's business. But what matters is that you have done your best to do things right before God and before man so that you can stand in God's righteousness, and nobody can blame you for anything.

Guest (Male): You're listening to Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries. If you're in the Diamond Bar area this Saturday, March 14th, be sure and join Pastor Raul and other solid teachers at Calvary Chapel Golden Springs for a family conference titled "Family, God's Way." Through powerful Bible teaching and worship, couples and families will be encouraged to build their homes on the foundation of God's word.

Now whether you've been married for decades, newlyweds, or raising children of any age, this conference offers timeless biblical truths and real-life application to help your family thrive. If you'd like to get more information, just go to somebodylovesyou.com and click on the "Family Conference" graphic. Let's continue now with more of Raul Ries in our lesson, "Prophetical Times Coming."

Raul Ries: And then again he uses the word "slanderers," 11 here. Slanderers, without power. They slander people. They take someone that is innocent and they slander his character. Has that ever happened to you? Who's going to believe you when your character's stained by somebody? And you can prove it in court, but it never goes away. It's like a black eye; it's like a stain.

And there are people that live to stain people's characters just to destroy their character, to mark them. Here he says one of the great characteristics of the last days will be not only the slanderers, those that want to mark a person and stain them so that people lose respect for them. And then he says what? Number 12, "without self-control," which means they do everything and anything. They have no control. They love the world. They love the flesh. They love sinning.

Interesting. No self-control, without power, no power of the Holy Spirit to control them, no submission, but they're like wild animals. They do whatever they want to do like the wild ass. They do whatever they want to do. They're not accountable to anybody. They don't fear anybody. And they say, "I'm captain of my own ship. I do what I want." Those are the characteristics of the last days.

And then he says, not only without self-control, but "brutal." And this is an interesting word. This is the word "savage." It's the word "fierce." It's the word of a savage beast preying upon its prey when he's hungry, like the lion just tears it into pieces. He says that's the way they're going to be in the last days, without mercy. They're going to rip you, brutal. When they come after you, they don't care about you.

And then they say "despisers of that which is good." Notice that. Despisers of that which is good. Literally "friends of evil" in the Greek. Friends of evil. Not fond of that which is good. But they like pornography. They like drunkenness. They like the flesh. You see? No conviction, no guilt. They can go to a comedy room and hear dirty filthy comedy, and they laugh and they enjoy it. No conviction. Or they can watch a flick with nudity, cursing. No conviction at all.

These are the characteristics that he says here. Despisers of that which is good. They don't care what the Bible says. They don't care what God says. They don't care what their conscience says. They just do it. And then in verse 4 he says "traitors." Check this out, this is important. In the last days, you have to be careful who you trust. There're going to be traitors like Judas. Traitors. You can't trust them. You can't say things in front of them. They'll use them against you.

Interesting. A betrayer in our midst. It could be your son, it could be your daughter, it could be someone in your family, or it could be a friend. Betrayer. In the last days, they're going to become worse. And then "headstrong," it means stubborn, or they have their own mind. You can't change their mind. You meet people like that? I've met people like that. I mean, it's so sad.

But I mean, the Holy Spirit is probably the only one that can break such a person that is so headstrong about something very stubborn, set in their ways. They don't want to change. And yet we have to change. We have to change our philosophy of living. We have to do what God's word says. Otherwise, we become not only headstrong, but we become strong, stubborn people.

And then he says "haughty." He used the word again. This is an interesting word. Haughty is not like pride, but he says to raise a smoke, reckless, rash, acting without careful thought. They just blow up without thinking about it. They're not rational when they're haughty. You see? And there are people like that. It's amazing how they just lose it and they get into a rage. And then after they do what they do, they're sorry, but it's too late. You did the damage already. You see?

So he says they're haughty. And then he says they're "lovers of pleasure." They love pleasure. Notice that. And what else? They "love pleasure rather than lovers of God." They have no love for God at all. No love for God at all. They love the world, they love the flesh, they love all these characteristics that are here. They don't change at all.

But it caught my eye as I was reading in the next verse, 5, where he says—and listen, by the way—he says this: those people are in your church. In the church of Christ, he said, huh? Look at verse 5. "Having a form of godliness," which means what? They look like Christians. A form of godliness. Paul the Apostle here is giving us an insight. He says these people that I just mentioned are considered to be religious, religious people.

But never truly being born again and having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, because they have no change. No change. They come to church, but outside of the church, they get drunk, they cuss, they commit fornication, they commit adultery, they watch porn, they do everything else, and then they come to church and they think that by coming to church they're being religious. No value. No value at all. They don't have anything godlikeness.

Look what he says. "Having a form of godliness, but denying its power." You see? They deny the power. They're not afraid of it. They're not afraid that God could strike them, that God could judge them. They're not afraid that there is a hell and that God one day will judge and they'll be cast into the lake of fire. They don't really believe that.

And here the word "power" is in reference to the gospel in Romans chapter 1 verse 16. Remember what Paul says? "For the gospel is the power unto God unto salvation." You see? So here he says, "Having a form of godliness but denying its power or the gospel," from such people do what? Turn away from them. Don't hang out with them. Get away from them. He's giving counsel to who? To the church. He's giving counsel to believers. Be careful with these people that pretend to be Christians, but they're not.

They have no godliness in their life. They have no power of the gospel. The gospel has never changed them. Those that are changed by the gospel have power because of the Holy Spirit. And then he said in verse 6, notice now the corrupt conduct. He says, "For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women, loaded down with sins, led away by various desires." Literally what he's saying here is that their target is unregenerated women for sexual pleasure. Interesting. They prey on women in the church and outside of the church. Men that prey on women.

And these women that they prey on are same as they are. They're ungodly women, not godly women. But they're women of the world. Because watch this, they sit in church: "Always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." Which means what? They're in church. They're here all the time. But they don't learn. They don't learn the truth of God. They're never changed. Very important chapter for the last days, because this is probably the condition of the church—not everybody here, but this is the condition of the church today, spiritually speaking.

Ever learning but never coming to the truth of God. There's no change of heart, there's no change of attitude. They continue to sin. And then what does Paul say? Notice verse 8: "Now these are like Jannes and Jambres who resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth." Interesting. Who are these two men? In Exodus chapter 7, they're the magicians of Pharaoh when Moses went to Egypt. Remember? And God stopped them on his tracks. They could not do the miracles that Moses was doing when it came to creation. God stopped them.

He says these are just like the magicians in Pharaoh's court. He says these are men who resist the truth, men of corrupt or depraved or perverted minds. You see? Their minds are perverted. They're not godly. Disapproved or without metal. That is disapproved, it means worthless. Worthless metal. Of no value, you can't use it for anything. It cannot be used. Notice concerning what? Concerning the faith. They have no faith in God. It's all in themselves.

And verse 9, "But they will progress no further." Why? "For their folly or their senselessness will be manifested to all as theirs also was." The same way that Moses exposed the two magicians, these people will be exposed sooner or later. People will know who they are. God will expose them, because they're a danger and a menace to society and to the church. People that don't have a real change of heart and attitude become apostates in the last days. The devil will use them unless they're converted, unless they are changed.

Guest (Male): Well, we hope today's lesson has been helpful in illuminating the notable traits of those who pose as Jesus' disciples but live in opposition to his gospel. You're listening to Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries. Today's lesson was titled "Prophetical Times Coming." To get an unedited version, just call us at 800-634-9165, and for a donation of $5 or more, we'll send a copy to you.

We'd also like to offer you this entire 11-part study of 2 Timothy. It's available on both CD and USB. Further equipping you to remain steadfast in your faith, this resource will inspire you to cultivate true communion with God as you fill your heart and mind with the timeless truths of his word. You'll also explore the eternal blessings that come from absolute humble surrender to the Lord. To purchase Raul's 11-message 2 Timothy series, visit somebodylovesyou.com or call 800-634-9165.

We'll send you the CD set for $24 or the thumb drive for just $15. The number again is 800-634-9165. This resource is also available when you write to us at Somebody Loves You Radio, Post Office Box 4440, Diamond Bar, California 91765. We're always blessed by your partnership as we share uplifting hope and guidance from the word of God. Every contribution you make is tax-deductible. Next time we'll continue our series in 2 Timothy by seeing that when doubt creeps into our faith, whether through trials, temptations, or religious deception, God's truth can help us persevere. I am falling in love with you. This program is sponsored by Somebody Loves You Radio in Diamond Bar, California.