2 Timothy 3:2...

“Proud, Arrogant, Abusive”

(2 Timothy 3:2, October 9, 2011)

1 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, ...

proud

In the gospel age there is so much for which we can be thankful. Nonetheless, we have been warned that there will be difficulties associated with people both inside and outside the churches, and even a spiritual struggle inside us.

People will be proud. Like wandering braggers who can never stay long in any one place, since people eventually find out that they cannot be taken seriously, there will be self-promoters that will seem to win a hearing for a time. Eventually they will seek a new group of listeners.

arrogant

People will be arrogant. There will be those who want to shine beyond themselves, trying to pretend that they have attained more than they have. Some will do this with supposed wealth and position; others with false spirituality.

Such people will find it hard to appreciate the light of Christ in others, since their glory shines so brightly in their own eyes that they just can't see anything else. But if someone stands in the way of their own brilliance, watch out. They will take notice of that offense.

abusive

People will be abusive. They will confuse the creature and the Creator, putting themselves in the Creator's spot, and expecting everyone else to acknowledge their greatness.

These will be features of the spiritual battle that will rage during the entire New Covenant era, sometimes coming to a head in one figure or another in one place or another, but eventually culminating in one who insists that he is the object of world-wide adoration, deceiving so many in the church that the movement following him grows to the apostasy that Paul speaks of in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-10.

Proud, arrogant, abusive, … Not just as twisted traits of personality, but as a reflection of the battle of the ages.

The antidote to this in the church is the reality of the cross of Christ, both as historical fact, and as mission strategy. We are looking for small opportunities for service. We want the light to shine on the One who is our only boast. See Galatians 6:14. God will make that powerful, defeating the remnants of a proud, arrogant, and abusive flesh in us that has already been dealt a mortal wound in the death of Christ for his beloved children.