We Are Living In The End Times – 2 Timothy 3

Last Days or End Times, How Close Are We?

While I will confess to being a bible study nerd, I’m hardly the voice of prophecy. It was however, in the middle of a Sunday sermon that 2nd Timothy, Chapter 3, verses 1-5 really got me thinking about what we are seeing today. We know we are living in the end times, but how close are we to them?

What the Chapter Says

Before we continue, let’s see what the Word of God says about the end times.

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. ² For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³ heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, ⁴ treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵ having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. 

2 Timothy 3 v1-5 – ESV

Breaking Down the End Times

With those verses in mind, let’s look at each facet of bad character we are expected to see in the end times, and see if we can draw a correlation to events happening today.

Lovers of Self

The ever popular “selfie” is all you really need to remind you that this trait is already rampant in society. This coincides with the desire to be famous, which ultimately is another symptom of self gratification. Everything is about what you can show on Instagram and other Social Media. Shooters resort to mass murder to “be known”, with no concern about what the result of their actions will be in the end times.

Is the selfie is a sign of the End Times?

Proud, Arrogant

One needs only to see the demonstrations by gay pride groups, abortion rights, black lives matter, etc. to see abundant pridefulness. Not to pick on those folks exclusively, just go to any political rally or event and you can see the same thing. Our own government and elected officials are the poster-child for arrogance.

Abusive

Of course, as we draw closer to the end times, traditional abuses still exist. Violence against children, women, racism, and antisemitism are still with us. Now, however, we have online bullying and social abusiveness targeted at every demographic you can think of. This has been accelerated further by anti-mask, anti-vaccine, and anti-gun groups…right along with their Pro counterparts. Everyone on both sides of those fences are abusing each other, verbally and physically.

Disobedient to Parents

The end times bring with them new levels of child disobedience than we could have ever imagined. Children wishing to be emancipated from their parents and children wishing to change genders against their parents wishes are just two examples of how this disobedience has reached new heights…or lows, as it were.

Ungrateful

While this trait could easily characterize children as well, my mind goes to those receiving government sponsored social assistance, or special charity funding. I think of people and organizations receiving unwarranted federal assistance and then complaining when they dry up, and charities abusing their donations. Go back to work people, there are millions of jobs available.

Unholy

Here again I have to pick on the pro-homosexual crowd and the pro-abortion crowd. Not so much those that practice these sins quietly, behind closed doors, perhaps even with a measure of shame or remorse. Rather those that openly boast of their sin in parades and demonstrations, with pride and no shame.

They proudly boast about their sins and conquests, and, using lust as their bait, they lure back into sin those who have just escaped from such wicked living.

2 Peter 2:18 ESV

Heartless, Unappeasable, Slanderous

The first thing I think about when I think of these sins of the end times is the online culture. Heartless comments and posts about everything under the sun. Unappeasable readers seemingly immune to actual logic. Slanderous publications with no regard for the truth or the law, bent on dividing the country, and our world. It’s no wonder America doesn’t seem to figure into the end times.

Without Self-Control

When the end times occur and we are at home with the Lord, we will all be free of the various addictions that strain our self-control. Drugs, alcohol, eating disorders, anxiety, and more all seem to indicate a great loss of self-control in our society, and our world in general.

We now have more drugs to counteract other drugs, that were needed because of a an initial lack of control. We have bypass surgeries for those that couldn’t control their eating, and gender transformations for those that couldn’t control their sexual desires.

…And The Rest

Frankly, the list is exhausting, and much like they did on Gilligan’s Island’s first season, a baby boomer favorite, we’ll sum up the remaining end times signs with, “and the rest“.

“..brutal, not loving good, ⁴ treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵ having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power.”

Many of these final end times traits can be lumped in with some of those we’ve already stated. As we look at “having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power” it’s not hard to imagine the green movement or simply being nice to people as trying to fill that shoe.

Conclusion

This is a far from exhaustive explanation, and as you have already probably learned, I’m not a theologian, an economist, or an expert sociologist. Nor am I perfect. I do however have my own thoughts, and my own boomer opinions…and these are it. Prophecy is being fullfilled today. How much worse will it become before Jesus returns for His church?

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