Making disciples is no easy task. In verse 1 of our text, the apostle Paul warns young Timothy “that in the last days there will come times of difficulty”. Young Timothy is one of the pastors in the church at Ephesus; the church that the apostle Paul had planted many years earlier.

Paul had left Timothy in charge with the other leaders and members of the church and now he is writing this letter to young Timothy to instruct him on how to be a faithful leader of a church that is focused on making disciples until the very end (2 Tim. 1 – 2).

The calling and the command for all believers to be disciple makers, to be about the business of sharing the gospel with unbelievers, to be baptizing new believers, to be teaching those new believers to walk in obedience to God’s commands, and to be doing all of this just like a faithful soldier, a competitive athlete, and a hard-working farmer, this is no easy task at all. Making disciples is a difficult task because we are living in difficult days (Matt. 28:18 – 20; 2 Tim. 2:1 – 7, 3:1).

You may be wondering what all of this has to do with you. You might be thinking that this passage only applies to pastors in a church. Let me assure you that this passage has much to say to those of you who may be thinking about following Jesus because it speaks to the seriousness of our disciple-making, cross-carrying mission that you may one day become part of.

And it certainly has much to say to those of you who are members and leaders within the church because this passage is all about making disciples of Jesus amidst the chaos of ungodliness. So how do we do this? How do we make disciples amidst the chaos of ungodliness? Look at the text with me…

2 TIMOTHY 3:1 – 9…

1But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. 6For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, 7always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. 8Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith. 9But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men.

#1: WE MUST WATCH OUT FOR GODLESS PEOPLE (VSS. 2 – 5)

Amidst the chaos of ungodliness, we must watch out for godless people. This is why Paul tells Timothy in verses 2 – 5 that there will be people who are “lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.” The Apostle Paul doesn’t mince his words here when he describes what godless people look like; he wants to be certain that we know exactly who to be on the lookout for.

If young Timothy was having any problems being afraid to stand up to the false teachers who were attempting to influence the Ephesian church, Paul’s words here, would encourage him to see these people for who they really were; they were godless people who were creating chaos in the church family.

These godless people were self-centered. They loved to accumulate wealth instead of being generous. They boasted about themselves, their knowledge, and their abilities. They abused and used God’s people for their own selfish purposes. They disobeyed and dishonored their parents. They were ungrateful and greedy. True holiness was never their goal. They were cold-hearted, could never be pleased, and they spread their gossip and slander with their out-of-control tongues just like ships without rudders and anchors.

These godless people were brutally violent with their words, and they didn’t care for anything good but instead they were infatuated with being treacherous and reckless in their puffed-up self-serving lifestyles. They loved all the pleasures of this world, and they hated God. They may have appeared to be godly at times, but their thoughts, words, and behaviors proved that they rejected the power of the gospel to save and to transform. They were godless people!

And Paul’s instruction here is to watch out for these kinds of godless people amidst the chaos of ungodliness and “avoid such people” or have nothing to do with them. These are strong words. They are sobering words. They are words that should cause each of us to pause and ask the Spirit of God if we are in danger of being this kind of people. These words should cause us to repent from our sin, to ask for forgiveness if we are guilty, and to trust that Jesus loves to save the worst of sinners; he loves to redeem people from the shackles of the chaos of their own ungodliness.

Never is the power of the cross, the empty tomb, and the promise of heaven, on greater display then when God reaches down with his nail-scared hands and pulls some godless person out of the chaos of their own ungodliness and then transforms them into an instrument for his own glory; the Apostle Paul knows this truth intimately. Watch out for godless people amidst the chaos of ungodliness and don’t shrink back from proclaiming the power of the gospel to save and to transform, even the worst of us.

#2: WE MUST WATCH OUT FOR CREEPY PEOPLE (VSS. 6 – 7)

Amidst the chaos of ungodliness, we must watch out for creepy people. This is why the Apostle Paul warns young Timothy in verses 6 – 7 to keep his eyes peeled for people (especially men) “who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, 7always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.” The foundation of Paul’s warning here is that we need to be on the lookout for creepy people who take advantage of those who are less fortunate.

Paul is in no way making a statement about the ability of a woman to stick up for herself, but he is making a bold statement about the value and the dignity of women who were being taken advantage of by some slimeballs who were actually wolves in sheep’s clothing. We have a responsibility to protect one another from the advancement of wolves who love to prey on the weak and vulnerable.

These wolves constantly set their sights on weak and vulnerable people who are struggling with sin and can be easily led astray by unrestrained desires. These wolves are absolute creeps who pretend to be learners of the truth, but they don’t ever actually arrive at a true knowledge of the truth that sets men free from their destructive ways.

Someone who claims to care for you while luring you into sinful behavior is an imposter and a fraud; a creepy wolf whose only desire is to feed his out of control desires on what you have to offer him and he needs to get caught in a wolf trap so that the sheep may be protected and so that the wolf might have the opportunity to get saved from his own impending doom and transformed into an instrument of righteousness.

The picture I have in my mind is the picture of shepherds and sheep (church leaders and church members) on high alert, with wolves prowling around in their midst. The church of God has a privilege and a responsibility for making disciples in a healthy and safe atmosphere where the weak and vulnerable can be protected and nurtured on the milk and the meat of the gospel.

I think every one of us needs to hear these verses and needs to ask the Spirit of the living God to reveal which kind of person we are – a creepy wolf, a weak and vulnerable person, or a church member and leader who needs to be on the lookout – and then we need to ask God to either transform the wolf or remove the wolf, to strengthen and protect the weak and vulnerable, and to give courage and wisdom to the member and leader of God’s flock of sheep. We must be on the lookout for creepy wolves prowling around amidst the chaos of ungodliness.

#3: WE MUST WATCH OUT FOR OPPOSITION (VS. 8)

Amidst the chaos of ungodliness, we must watch out for opposition. There will always be opposition to the advancement of the gospel. You and I will always feel the pressure and the threat of those who oppose the work of making disciples of Jesus Christ because our mission to make disciples within a yard of hell, will always result in opposition from our enemy.

Paul knows this all too well. He has faced one challenge after another from people with names and faces who opposed his mission to proclaim the gospel to the ends of the earth. He also knows that this kind of opposition is nothing new to God’s people who are seeking to advance God’s kingdom reign and rule to the ends of the earth.

This is why Paul reminds Timothy in verse 8 that “Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith. Biblical history reveals that Satan has always used created beings to oppose the kingdom of God. In this case, Paul is talking about the opposition that Moses faced with Pharaoh’s two leading witches in Egypt (Ex. 7 – 9).

From the beginning in the Garden of Eden, to Moses’ showdown with Pharaoh and his witches in Egypt, to the creepy, wolf-like, false teachers in Timothy’s day, to the various people who would seek to advance their own self-serving agendas in our day, the kingdom of heaven has always suffered violence and violent, vigilant men have always been about the business of advancing the power of the cross, the victory of the empty tomb and the promise of eternity with full force (Gen. 3; Ex. 7-9; 2 Tim. 2:16-18).

Moses and the people of Israel experienced freedom from slavery and opposition as they trusted and submitted to God. But the men who opposed Moses in Egypt and by default found themselves opposing God, well they faced death and eternal destruction when the waters of the Red Sea crashed down upon them (Exo. 14). This leads me to our final point in the text.

#4: WE CAN REST ASSURED THAT GOD WILL PREVAIL (VS. 9)

Amidst the chaos of ungodliness, we can rest assured that God will prevail. Paul assures Timothy of this when he reminds him of how those two men who opposed Moses and how the men who now oppose him “will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men.”

It is absolute foolishness to oppose the advancement of the gospel because God will always prevail and those who oppose him, and his people, will wind up just like those two men who opposed Moses – they will wind up in utter destruction in the bottom of the sea of the chaos of their own ungodliness.

This is both a warning and an encouragement to all who hear this. It is a warning to anyone who is on the wrong side of the cross of Jesus and it is also an encouragement to those who are on the right side of the cross of Jesus because God will always prevail. God will always be victorious amidst the chaos of ungodliness.

CONCLUSION…

In conclusion, the only thing we need to ask ourselves is this: which side of the cross am I on? Am I on the side of the cross that offers me salvation and transformation or am I on the side of the cross that promises me death, destruction, and separation from God for all of eternity?

If you are on the wrong side of the cross of Christ, then you can find salvation at the foot of that bloody cross today. You only need to recognize your sin and your rebellion against God and come to him asking for forgiveness and confessing your faith in Christ’s work at the cross on your behalf.

If you are on the saving side of that cross, then you can rest assured that whatever opposition you are facing in this life, God will prevail. God has been victorious in the bloody cross of Jesus, he has been victorious in the empty tomb of Jesus, and he will reign forever victorious in the return of Jesus. God has and he will prevail over the presence, the power, and the penalty of our sin. He has and he will prevail over Satan, Sin, and Death.

Of this, you and I can rest assured; Jesus has been and will forever be victorious amidst the chaos of ungodliness. He will help us to not only be disciples of the cross of Christ, but he will also help us to make disciples of the cross of Christ within a yard of hell amidst the chaos of ungodliness. – Amen!

1 Unless otherwise specified, all Bible references in this paper are to the English Standard Version Bible, The New Classic Reference Edition (ESV) (Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, 2001).