Daniel Whyte III
2 Timothy 3:1-9
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,
7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
8 Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.
9 But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was.
Has the End of the World Come Upon Us? (Part 14)
We have been looking at some of the specific signs which the Bible says will become increasingly evident in the behavior and lifestyle of people during the end times. In this series, we have looked at the following, all of which are mentioned in this passage:
1. The increased selfishness of man.
2. The increased lawlessness of man.
3. The increased religiosity of man.
4. Increased blasphemy and rejection of God.
5. Increased ingratitude or unthankfulness among men.
6. An increase in unholy living.
7. A lack of natural affection among people.
8. Trucebreakers and people who do not keep their word.
9. False accusers, slanderers, and people who cause division between others
10. Traitors not only in the world, but in the church
11. Heady and highminded people
12. People who love pleasure more than they love God.
13. Those who have a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof.
Today, we turn our attention to verse six which reads: “For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts.” This verse begins with the connecting word “for,” indicating that we must look back at the previous verse in order to fully understand what verse six is saying. As you recall, on last week, we talked about those people in the church who appear to have righteous and holy lives, but who inwardly are filled with sin and self. Often and unfortunately, these people who just have a form of godliness gain leadership positions in the church or in a local congregation. They then use their influence to deceive and lead astray others in the body of Christ. These are the people who are doing the “creeping” spoken of in verse six.
Back in the second century AD, one of the early church fathers by the name of Irenaeus reported the actions of a heretic by the name of Marcus. This heretic practiced magic and tried to get Christians to get involved in the practice of magic. Irenaeus reported that Marcus devoted “himself especially to women, and those such as are well-bred, and elegantly attired, and of great wealth.” Marcus told these women that by his spells and incantations he could enable them to prophesy. In one particular instance, a woman protested that she has never done so and could not do so. Marcus told her, “Open thy mouth, speak whatsoever occurs to thee, and thou shalt prophesy.” The woman, thrilled to the heart, did so and was deluded into thinking that she could prophesy. Irenaeus said the woman ‘then made the effort to reward Marcus, not only by the gift of her possessions (in which way he had collected a very large fortune), but also by yielding up to him her person, desiring in every way to be united to him, that she may become altogether one with him.’
In our passage today, Paul warns Timothy to be extra careful of such false teachers. A closer look at verse six tells us why this warning is necessary. It is necessary because these false teachers will “creep” into the body of Christ. The Greek word translated “creep” is “enduno.” It has been translated: to craftily sneak, to work their way into, to go secretly, to worm into, or to insinuate. In other words, many of these false teachers who only have a form of godliness will not walk into the front door of the church. They will not stand up in the pulpit on Sunday morning and preach their false doctrine. Rather, they will slowly start to influence the church members outside of the church. They will invite or accept an invitation to dinner with one of the families in the church and begin to little-by-little influence this person or a small group of people to adopt their way of thinking.
The word “enduno” comes from the Greek word used to describe a sunset. You’ve seen the sun go down many times, but in reality, you can’t say that you’ve actually seen the sun move. From our perspective, the sun moves so slowly that it is hardly perceptible. That is how these heretics will infiltrate a church. It will happen slowly. And the church will be like the proverbial frog being boiled to death. It happens so slowly that it doesn’t know what is happening until it is dead. Peter talked about this in his epistle when he said, “There were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily (privately, not publicly) shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them…”
Now, once these false teachers sneak into the church, what do they do? Our passage tells us that they “take captive” — they conquer or captivate God’s people with their false teachings. In his fine work on the Pastoral Epistles, Dr. Philip H. Towner stated: “First, false teachers prey on people who are vulnerable. They tend to pick off the spiritual stragglers. In this case, they had found success in certain homes or certain kinds of homes where vulnerable people lived. And in this case they captivated certain women. It was probably a very strategic move on the part of the false teachers to target these women: their position within households (perhaps as matrons) likely made them women of some means, who could support the movement. But the problem was not that they were women; rather, it was the kind of people they were: weak-willed, loaded down with sins, swayed by all kinds of evil desires. This description explains the susceptibility of these victims and crosses the centuries to speak freshly to us. The time element suggests that the sins that loaded down (or overwhelmed) these women were accumulations from the past that continued to determine behavior in the present. Unconfessed sin forms a barrier in our relationship with God, and it renders the decision-making faculty (the conscience) ineffective. Such ‘baggage’ weakens the resolve not to sin and gives strength to the desires of our sinful nature.”
Other commentators have noted that just as Eve was Satan’s first target, women today are often the target of Satan’s deceptions. Cults are not only often spawned by women, but women are the most numerous and devout adherents.
Now, none of this is said to disparage women altogether. Men can and have been led astray by false teachers. However, in the first-century culture to which Paul was writing, many women remained at home while their husbands were out working. False teachers apparently used this as an opportunity to influence the women of the church while their husbands were away. They likely felt that if they could get the woman to buy into their false teaching, then she would do the work of influencing her husband and thus the entire family. Marketers do the same thing today. They target little children in their advertising material, knowing that in many cases, if they can get the children to want something, the children will do the work of convincing the parents to buy it for them.
As Dr. Towner stated, many of these women were young believers and likely still struggled with some sin and/or guilt from their past lives. They were babes in the faith and easily influenced by someone who appeared to be knowledgeable about spiritual things. They were susceptible to the false doctrine of those who only had a form of godliness.
How about you, dear friend — men and women, alike? As you listen today, do you see the signs of someone trying to influence you with false doctrine in your life? You may not have a false teacher coming to visit your home. But maybe you’ve been reading their books, watching them on TV, or following them on the internet. They seem to be harmless, but little by little they are leading you away from the true counsel of God.
Men, women, and children, is there sin in your life that you are holding on to that could make you susceptible to false teaching? The devil wants you to believe that you can be a Christian and continue in that sin that you are holding on to. Have you fallen prey to this false teaching?
Husbands and fathers, you have a responsibility as the priest of your home to protect your family from false doctrine. Are you fulfilling that responsibility?
The command for those who are faced with false doctrine from people who only have a form of godliness remains the same: “from such turn away.”
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If you are with us today, and you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, allow me to share with you how you can trust Him for salvation so that you can be ready for His return.
First, please understand that you are a sinner, just as I am, and that you have broken God’s laws. The Bible says in Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Please understand that because of your sins, you deserve eternal punishment in hell. Romans 6:23 says “the wages of sin is death…This is both physical death and spiritual death in hell. That is the bad news.
But here is the good news. John 3:16 says “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
If you believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins, was buried, and rose from the dead, and you want to trust Him for your salvation today, please pray with me this simple prayer: Holy Father God, I realize that I am a sinner and that I have done some bad things in my life. I am sorry for my sins, and right now I choose to turn from my sins. For Jesus Christ sake, please forgive me of my sins. I now believe with all of my heart that Jesus Christ died for me, was buried, and rose again. I trust Jesus as my Savior and I choose to follow Him as Lord from this day forward. Lord Jesus, please come into my heart and save my soul and change my life today. Amen.
If you just trusted Jesus Christ as your Saviour, and you prayed that prayer and meant it from your heart, I declare to you that based upon the Word of God, you are now saved from Hell and you are on your way to Heaven. Welcome to the family of God! I want to congratulate you on doing the most important thing in life and that is receiving Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. For more information to help you grow in your newfound faith in Christ, go to Gospel Light Society.com and read “What To Do After You Enter Through the Door.” Jesus Christ said in John 10:9, “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.”
God loves you. We love you. And may God bless you.
Daniel Whyte III has spoken in meetings across the United States and in over twenty-five foreign countries. He is the author of over forty books. He is also the president of Gospel Light Society International, a worldwide evangelistic ministry that reaches thousands with the Gospel each week, as well as president of Torch Ministries International, a Christian literature ministry which publishes a monthly magazine called The Torch Leader. He is heard by thousands each week on his radio broadcasts/podcasts, which include: The Prayer Motivator Devotional, The Prayer Motivator Minute, as well as Gospel Light Minute X, the Gospel Light Minute, the Sunday Evening Evangelistic Message, the Prophet Daniel’s Report, the Second Coming Watch Update and the Soul-Winning Motivator, among others. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Theology from Bethany Divinity College, a Bachelor’s degree in Religion from Texas Wesleyan University, a Master’s degree in Religion, a Master of Divinity degree, and a Master of Theology degree from Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary. He has been married to the former Meriqua Althea Dixon, of Christiana, Jamaica for over twenty-seven years. God has blessed their union with seven children. Find out more at www.danielwhyte3.com. Follow Daniel Whyte III on Twitter @prophetdaniel3 or on Facebook.
