But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For 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, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these. 

    2 Timothy 3:1-5

The Bible is full of prophecy regarding the end times and the second coming of Christ. How blessed we are if we find ourselves in Christ now! But there will be difficult times on the way because of the depravity of man and the evil which is so prevalent in our culture. It’s important for us to understand the phrase, “last days.” This is a reference to all of the days from the time in which Jesus left this earth in the first century through the present. In other words, we are living in the last days now. How long will Jesus tarry? We don’t know but what we should be attending to is living our lives for Christ and the gospel as we see the day approaching…either His return or our passing in which we will be going to Him. 

But it’s ramping up…the depravity of man openly displayed for all to see. Just compare our world today to that of even a half century ago and we can see a stark difference in the direction in which we are moving. What used to be shameful, now openly celebrated. And along with the embracing of evil is the rejection of godliness, righteousness, and everything that is truly “good.” 

“But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.” Today’s passage opens with a warning that these days are coming and, arguably, they are already here. Why are they labeled “difficult?” Because these times will be difficult for the righteous man and woman. These will be days in which evil will flourish (only as much as God allows) and in which mankind will display the deadness, corruptible nature, and perverseness of his heart. Many will follow this pattern of behavior and will find themselves being overtaken by the deception of the enemy. Like lemmings, they will become pawns in the spiritual battle going on around them and, for many, they won’t even realize it. Of course, all of this evil and deception comes from the enemy and is a direct byproduct of rejecting the gospel and the salvation offered to us through faith in Jesus Christ. World religions, philosophies, along with secularism, will mislead, deceive, and devour many. 

Just look at how the list begins in our passage. “For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant…” We don’t have to go any further than this to see this being played out in our world today. “Lovers of self…” this is at the heart of a depraved mind and heart. “Life is all about me, me, me, chasing my dreams, doing what makes me happy.” Many will pursue affirmation from the world. Young people are even being raised, today, to ignore church, Christ, the gospel, and instead, follow their own heart and pursue a course of life that they see fit rather than seeking the will of God. 

“Lovers of money…” goes hand in hand with being a lover of self. People choosing life paths simply based on how much money that they can make, fully invested in the temporal and that which will be here today and gone tomorrow. And of course our culture embraces such philosophies entirely opposite of the truth of God’s Word. We see people abandoning useful, meaningful careers in order to pursue the quick fame and fortune that can be found online. Some offering viewers content designed to entertain, tantalize, and even seduce…all in the name of how much money can be made. 

“Boastful…” should come as no surprise with all of the self pursuit and desire for money…being boastful about what we accomplish in this life, even when it involves a selling of ourselves in order to acquire it. “Arrogant…” is the twin to boastful. When we think that we have arrived, primarily because we have a lot of money or have achieved some level of success in an area of this life, arrogance plays to our fallen nature and becomes quite commonplace among the “successful.” But we should heed the words of Jesus:

Then He (Jesus) said to them, “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.”

      Luke 12:15

As prominent as the reality of people being lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful and arrogant can be, our lives don’t consist of our belongings…even for the unbeliever. This is the great deception of the enemy. “Live for you, do what you want, look how awesome you are, you do you.”  These are all lies from the enemy and deceives the masses. 

“Disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving…” thus comes the next several descriptions. The breakdown of the family is at the core of the societal problems that we have. And make no mistake about it…mankind can try all of the programs that he likes or throw as much money at a problem that he desires but the problem of the human heart can only be solved by a complete and total transformation that comes from being born again, receiving salvation, forgiveness, and power from the presence of God in our lives! People structuring their lives around growing up, getting married, getting a job, making money, having kids, raising them to grow up, get married, get a job, make money, have kids, and on and on and on…this is the modern pattern of life and it can be lived without even the slightest consideration of the spiritual status of our hearts or those of our kids. Do we want our children and grandchildren to be worldly successful or spiritually successful? We should be raising our kids to love the Lord and to seek Him first, then all of those other details of life will fall into place (Psalm 34:10b, Matthew 6:33). 

In addition to the breakdown of the family comes the three “un” words…”ungrateful, unholy, unloving.” All three of these are a direct result of not having Christ in our lives. To be lost is to be spiritually dead and to be spiritually dead is to be ungrateful because, in that spiritual state, one cannot recognize the blessings God has given them. “Unholy” comes as a result of placing ourselves on the throne of our lives rather than Christ, and “unloving” flows from a life void of the Holy Spirit. 

Also, the last days will produce people that are “gossips, haters of good, and lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.” Is this observable in our culture today? Of course it is! We would really have to be “sticking our heads in the sand” to miss all of this taking place right now. 

So what’s the solution? Repentance! Acknowledging God for who He is and realizing that we have broken all of God’s laws (James 2:10). Understand that, because of our depravity and rebellion, none of us deserve anything in this life or in eternity. But we gladly run to the cross and call on the name of the Lord (Jesus) and ask God to save us on the basis of what Christ has already accomplished on the cross (John 3:16-18, 2 Corinthians 5:17-21, Romans 10:13). And as we receive salvation from God through faith in Jesus, we experience a complete transformation of our hearts and minds, now enjoying forgiveness and freedom because of the Spirit of God living inside of our hearts. Abundant and eternal life is ours when we surrender out lives to Christ! This is what’s missing in the lives of all of those lost, troubled, and confused children in our society. This is what’s missing in the lives of all of the unsatisfied adults, who have made this world their pursuit. Hope, life, and purpose! These are all obtained in Jesus Christ! 

One last note: this will not come from dead religions. The people that Paul has been describing are, “holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.” In the last days, there will be many who will claim the name of Jesus, may wear outward adornments of faith, and even attend a church but their lifestyle, words, attitudes, pursuits, and motives will be far from what a born again believer in Jesus Christ actually is. Paul reminds us “avoid such men as these.” 

For this reason also, God highly exalted Him (Jesus), and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2:9-11