“You can be certain that in the last days there will be some very hard times. People will love only themselves and money. They will be proud, stuck-up, rude, and disobedient to their parents. They will also be ungrateful, godless, heartless, and hateful. Their words will be cruel, and they will have no self-control or pity. These people will hate everything that is good. They will be sneaky, reckless, and puffed up with pride. Instead of loving God, they will love pleasure. Even though they will make a show of being religious, their religion won't be real. Don't have anything to do with such people. ” [2 Timothy 3:1-5]
“...in the last days ... people will be lovers of self...money...pleasure...”
The apostle now gives Timothy a description of conditions that will exist in the world prior to the Lord’s coming. The remarkable thing is that the very conditions that exist among the heathen in their savagery and uncivilized state will characterize profession believers in the last days. How solemn this is!
The last days referred to here are the days between the apostolic period and the appearing of Christ to set up His kingdom.
Here we see the word lovers repeated several times. “For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money…lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God…”
Outwardly these people seem religious. They make a profession of Christianity, but their actions speak louder than their words. By their ungodly behavior, they show that they are living a lie. There is no evidence of the power of God in their lives. While there might have been reformation, there never was regeneration.
Jesus answered: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" [Luke 10:27]
“You adulterers! Don't you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God.” [James 4:4]
The question is, “do you love God with all your heart?”
Holy Scriptures
"All Scripture is breathed out by God..."
“Since childhood, you have known the Holy Scriptures that are able to make you wise enough to have faith in Christ Jesus and be saved. Everything in the Scriptures is God's Word. All of it is useful for teaching and helping people and for correcting them and showing them how to live. The Scriptures train God's servants to do all kinds of good deeds. ” [2 Timothy 3:15-17]
