Suggestions for leading a study:

• Familiarize yourself with the passage in context, including the book itself.  Who wrote it to whom, and why?
• Read through the study guide a couple times to get the “big idea” as well as the flow of the argument
• Have the group read through the passage in it’s entirety before beginning the study.  One of the goals is to try to get your members to learn how to study Scripture methodically, and this is an important step.
• Be prayed up
• Have fun!
  

Home Schooling

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. ²People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, ⁴treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God-- ⁵having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.
⁶They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, ⁷always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth. ⁸Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truth--men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected. ⁹But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone.

¹⁴But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, ¹⁵and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Discussion Questions

-Read verse 1.  What do you think is meant by the phrase “terrible times”?  Do you think Paul is talking about problems some people will be having, or about society in general?

-Read through the list of traits in verses 2-4.  Why would these things characterize “terrible times” for people?

-In the center of this list is the phrase “disobedient to parents.”  Do you think this belongs in the center of a list like this?  Why or why not?

-Read verse 5.  What do you think Paul means by describing people who are like this as people who “have a form of godliness, but deny it’s power?”          

-How does Paul tell us to relate to these people?  In regards to those who are disobedient to parents, does that mean we can abandon kids who talk back to mom and dad?

-Read Verses 6-9.  These describe what a family might look like with people like this pretending to be the spiritual leaders.  What do you think the results might be in regards to the children in a family like that?  

-Read verses 14-16, which describe Timothy’s spiritual nurture growing up (the ones he learned it from refer to his mother and grandmother).  In verse 15, what did learning the holy Scriptures at home accomplish for Timothy?  How does that compare to verse 7?

-What else do the Scriptures accomplish, according to verses 16 and 17?      

Leaders' Guide

This lesson contrasts bad spiritual nurture in the home which comes from bad motives and character versus what the results can and should be of good spiritual guidance from family life. 

-Read verse 1.  What do you think is meant by the phrase “terrible times”?  Do you think Paul is talking about problems some people will be having, or about society in general?

            Many people think about earthquakes and famines and things when they think of terrible times in the last days.  This passage describes instead the kinds of people that will characterize them.  Paul is speaking here of a general disintegration of society based on the disintegration of the character of people.  This is not about the hard times individuals might have because they are caught up in a war or an earthquake, it is about the hard times that will fall on society in general because of the way people are.  Incidentally, since this passage leads to specific advice to Timothy in regards to people like this, here is another passage that illustrates that the last days began with Christ’s first coming and will continue until his next.  This is not about some time in the future—it was already good advice in Timothy’s day.

-Read through the list of traits in verses 2-4.  Why would these things characterize “terrible times” for people?

            All of these are essentially descriptions of what can happen when you fail in the two greatest commandments: to love the Lord your God and love your neighbor as yourself.  As people get more self centered and less centered on God and how to consider others, things begin to break down.  These cause terrible times at every level, from the individual to the family structure and the larger society. 

-In the center of this list is the phrase “disobedient to parents.”  Do you think this belongs in the center of a list like this?  Why or why not?

A healthy, functional society depends on healthy, functional individuals who exist in healthy, functional family units.  The commandments to honor your father and mother is the first one with a promise (Eph. 5:2), because it leads to long and healthy lives.  It may seem like a trivial thing compared to some of the other things on the list, but in actuality it has the same results: the breakdown of the basic building block of society, which is the family.  Paul is reiterating here that this must be preserved and that the breakdown of it is part of what will contribute to the general disintegration of things prior to Christ’s second coming.

-Read verse 5.  What do you think Paul means by describing people who are like this as people who “have a form of godliness, but deny it’s power?”   

Paul’s big concern in his ministry in general was always people who pretended to be godly, especially through following through on rituals and forms, but did not actually have the power of God in their lives that comes from the Holy Spirit when you have a real relationship to God through Jesus Christ.  Power to live right according to Paul is always something that comes from the Holy Spirit and is accessed by faith through grace.  Going through the motions makes you vulnerable to the same kinds of character flaws as people who are completely irreligious.        

-How does Paul tell us to relate to these people?  In regards to those who are disobedient to parents, does that mean we can abandon kids who talk back to mom and dad?

He tells Timothy to have nothing to do with them.  This is a letter from a mentor (Paul) to a pastor (Timothy) who is attempting to lead his flock, so we need to be careful to put this sort of prohibition into context.  Paul is telling Timothy to not be taken in by these pretenders who might look godly, but don’t really live under God’s sovereignty in their lives, especially in regards to leading the church.  The following verses also point out the problem such people can be in the context of leadership in the family.  So the “disobedient to parents” thing is one of the things that helps you discern bad leadership, not an excuse to kick out the kids.  All children have this issue at times, or they would never need the discipline that Scripture commands parents to assert. 

-Read Verses 6-9.  These describe what a family might look like with people like this pretending to be the spiritual leaders.  What do you think the results might be in regards to the children in a family like that?  

Men who are pretending to be godly leaders but have no real access to God are described as people who take advantage of others in family contexts.  Their motives are purely selfish (“evil desires”, v. 6).  They affirm the importance of learning, but don’t teach the truth (v. 7).  The results of such a thing could be varied and would depend on the situation, the culture, etc.  The main point to draw out of this is the importance of learning truth in the home through the exercise of godly leadership. 

-Read verses 14-16, which describe Timothy’s spiritual nurture growing up (the ones he learned it from refer to his mother and grandmother).  In verse 15, what did learning the holy Scriptures at home accomplish for Timothy?  How does that compare to verse 7?

Paul describes and affirms Timothy’s good upbringing and draws a deliberate contrast to what was just described.  Timothy was taught the Scriptures from infancy by parents and grandparents, and that is the way godly leadership is really exercised to get good results from family life.  The result for Timothy was to “make him wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.”  This is the most important result from discipleship in the home: leading a child to Christ.  That is real wisdom verses the learning that is not able to acknowledge truth in verse 7.  It’s nice to learn all kinds of stuff, but nothing is more important than learning the gospel, and there is no better place for that than the home.

-What else do the Scriptures accomplish, according to verses 16 and 17?

Knowing the Word of God has it’s first and most important result in leading people to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.  But that certainly isn’t all.  We must also allow it to correct, rebuke, and train us in righteousness so we can accomplish all those things that God has for us in these last days.   

- This passage vividly illustrates two kinds of spiritual nurture that happens at home.  How can we accomplish the right kind in our own homes?

A wrap-up application question to get people to ask how they can start to make their homes the center for learning about God and his Word.  The importance of doing so has been underscored in this passage.  For us, do we pass off our children to churches or parochial schools instead of taking the primary responsibility in the homes for their spiritual nurture?  To make sure that parents are the godly leaders they need to be is the place we need to start.  And then create real strategies for making the home the place for spiritual growth.