But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 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 the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.
They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over gullible women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these teachers oppose the truth. They are men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected. But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone. (II Timothy 3:1-9)
They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over gullible women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these teachers oppose the truth. They are men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected. But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone. (II Timothy 3:1-9)
But mark this: there are the last days, and then there are the Last Days. We are in the last days. We have been since the day Adam and Eve sinned. In fact, their “love” for themselves is what brought about both their fall and the last days. Sometimes, it’s tempting to think that we’re OK. We’re not part of those days. Somehow, we’re going to skip along, enjoying the sunshine, and – whomp! – everyone is going to turn into a zombie, mindlessly savaging the world and everyone in it.
If you’ve read Daniel or Revelation, or seen any of the End Times movies, you’ll have heard about the mark of the beast. Who would be foolish enough to have something done to their right hand or forehead? Who wouldn’t want to not have to carry identification, money, credit cards, checkbooks, etc.? I suspect the marks will be available even before they become mandatory.
But all that isn’t really the direction I want to go this morning. In the last days, people like Jannes and Jambres will oppose the truth. Jannes and Jambres are supposedly the names of the magicians who faked the miracles God performed through Moses (never eliminating the plague, just adding to it.) Our modern Jannes and Jambres types don’t even have to worm their way into our house. We invite them in, on the television, the computer, and the radio.
What they say makes perfect sense. It makes us feel good about ourselves, massages our egos, improves our self-esteem. They teach us, in short, to love ourselves, to love money to the extent that we think others should provide it to us. I’m sure you can work your way through the rest of the list and see how much it describes us today.
And when Jannes and Jambres are done, for all their boasting, they won’t have solved the problems. In spite of that, our pharaohs will reward them and reject those who stand with Moses.
If you’ve read Daniel or Revelation, or seen any of the End Times movies, you’ll have heard about the mark of the beast. Who would be foolish enough to have something done to their right hand or forehead? Who wouldn’t want to not have to carry identification, money, credit cards, checkbooks, etc.? I suspect the marks will be available even before they become mandatory.
But all that isn’t really the direction I want to go this morning. In the last days, people like Jannes and Jambres will oppose the truth. Jannes and Jambres are supposedly the names of the magicians who faked the miracles God performed through Moses (never eliminating the plague, just adding to it.) Our modern Jannes and Jambres types don’t even have to worm their way into our house. We invite them in, on the television, the computer, and the radio.
What they say makes perfect sense. It makes us feel good about ourselves, massages our egos, improves our self-esteem. They teach us, in short, to love ourselves, to love money to the extent that we think others should provide it to us. I’m sure you can work your way through the rest of the list and see how much it describes us today.
And when Jannes and Jambres are done, for all their boasting, they won’t have solved the problems. In spite of that, our pharaohs will reward them and reject those who stand with Moses.
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