GODLINESS IN UNGODLY TIMES
The Book of Second Timothy #4
Keith O’Connor
Woodland Church
Wednesday, February 11, 2026
Summary of Second Timothy 2:
- Guard the message, don’t quarrel over words (vv. 14–18)
- Be a worker approved by God, not by people (v. 15)
- Remember: God’s foundation stands firm (vv. 19–21)
- Minister with humility, patience, and gentleness (vv. 22–26)
(2 Timothy 3:1-9, NLT) “You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that! They are the kind who work their way into people’s homes and win the confidence of vulnerable women who are burdened with the guilt of sin and controlled by various desires. (Such women are forever following new teachings, but they are never able to understand the truth.) These teachers oppose the truth just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses. They have depraved minds and a counterfeit faith. But they won’t get away with this for long. Someday everyone will recognize what fools they are, just as with Jannes and Jambres.”
1. Last Days Description
(2 Timothy 3:1, NLT) “You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times”
a. This Message is a Warning
b. Difficult/Perilous Times:
(Matthew 8:28, ESV) “And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way”
c. Difficult/Perilous Times = Fierce
d. Characteristics Paul will describe are not bad Times, but bad People
“We should note what the hardness or danger of this time is in Paul’s view to be, not war, not famine or diseases, nor any of the other calamities or ills that befall the body, but the wicked and depraved ways of men” -John Calvin
2. The Characteristics of a Godless Culture
(2 Timothy 3:2-4, NLT) “For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God”
- Love only Themselves
- Unforgiving
- Love their Money
- Slander Others
- Boastful
- No Self-Control
- Proud
- Cruel
- Scoffing at God
- Hate what is Good
- Disobedient to their Parents
- Betray their Friends
- Ungrateful
- Reckless
- Consider Nothing Sacred
- Puffed up with Pride
- Unloving
- Love Pleasure rather/instead of God
a. What the passage describes:
- Self over God:
- lovers of self, money, and pleasure rather than lovers of God.
- Pride over humility:
- boastful, arrogant, scoffing at God.
- Breakdown of honor and gratitude:
- disobedient to parents, ungrateful, nothing considered sacred.
- Unloving, Destructive relationships:
- unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, cruel, betraying friends, reckless, hating what is good.
3. False Teachers
(2 Timothy 3:5, NLT) “They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!”
a. They are Religious on the Outside but Empty on the Inside
(Matthew 23:25-26, NLT) “Careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and self-indulgence! You blind Pharisee! First wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become clean, too”
b. Stay Away!
(2 Timothy 3:5, NLT) “Stay away from people like that!”
(Romans 16:17, NLT) “And now I make one more appeal, my dear brothers and sisters. Watch out for people who cause divisions and upset people’s faith by teaching things contrary to what you have been taught. Stay away from them”
4. Paul Describes the “Creeps”
(2 Timothy 3:6-7, NLT) “They are the kind who work their way into people’s homes and win the confidence of vulnerable women who are burdened with the guilt of sin and controlled by various desires. Such women are forever following new teachings, but they are never able to understand the truth”
a. “creep” into households (NKJV)
(Jude 4, NLT) “I say this because some ungodly people have wormed their way into your churches, saying that God’s marvelous grace allows us to live immoral lives. The condemnation of such people was recorded long ago, for they have denied our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ”
(2 Timothy 3:6, NLT) “They are the kind who work their way into people’s homes”
(2 Timothy 3:6, NLT) “…burdened with the guilt of sin and controlled by various desires”
5. Counterfeits always target the Truth
(2 Timothy 3:8-9, NLT) “These teachers oppose the truth just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses. They have depraved minds and a counterfeit faith. But they won’t get away with this for long. Someday everyone will recognize what fools they are, just as with Jannes and Jambres”
a. Don’t Panic
b. Counterfeit Faith
- Know their Character
- They are shady (v. 2-5)
- Know their Methods
- They prey on the vulnerable (v. 6-7)
- Know their End
- They will be exposed (v. 8-9)
c. Stay the course because God has the victory