II Timothy 3:8  Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.
9  But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was.

God wants man to know His peace and His joy.

Luke 2:10  And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
11  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
12  And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
13  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
14  Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

There is only one way to know God’s peace and have His joy. Jesus Christ came into this world to save sinners. Man needs a Saviour. The greatest need of every person is to be saved. Many people have perverted ways in which they look for joy and peace, but they do not achieve that. I doubt if that 15 year old young man in Michigan is enjoying his time behind bars now. His parents are likely not enjoying their time with charges hanging over their heads.
II Timothy is not written as a lullaby. It is written under the inspiration of the Creator God Who desires to have all men saved. God deals with reality. While many people like to live in their little imaginary world, God knows that life is far too serious for such foolishness. Timothy needed to understand the nature of the war he was in and we today need to understand the nature of the war we are in.

Galatians 6:9  And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

God knows we need to be reminded of the consequences of rejecting Him. He also knows that His children need to be encouraged that even though there are serious challenges in this life, we can know His peace and joy in spite of this.
In our text we see that Paul was again directed to mention names. These names were not mentioned in a good light. Wicked people can have their names remembered from generation to generation as well. It is suggested that Jannes and Jambres were two of Pharaoh’s magicians who withstood Moses as he confronted Pharaoh with God’s demand to let Israel go. It was not a wise thing for those two men to fight against God’s man. Instead of being a help to Pharaoh, they encouraged him in his rejection of the true God. They could copy some of the signs that God directed Moses to bring upon Egypt. They could not copy them all. They perished in the end. Paul was directed to remind Timothy that those who creep into the houses of silly women are no different than those two men. Evil is evil in every generation. Man has not advanced at all over the centuries. As Paul wrote at the beginning of this chapter, perilous times are upon us.
We see again that God gives all men the opportunity to be saved. He does not force people to remain lost. They resist the truth. They are given the opportunity to know the truth but they fight against it.
These men are men of corrupt minds. The Greek word there means “depraved”. To be depraved is to be morally corrupt. These wicked men were morally corrupt.
We see in Canada that the major issue facing our country is moral corruption. The highest level of our country is morally corrupt. Lying is not a problem for our P.M. Our chief medical officers are also morally corrupt. Our police forces and judges are also morally corrupt. Our biggest problem is not the inflation that is affecting us. It is certainly not the supposed climate change that our P.M. wants us to be focussed on. The biggest problem our country is facing is its absolute rejection of God’s truth.
Paul stated that these men were reprobate concerning the faith. The Greek word translated as “reprobate” means “not standing the test, not approved.” Those who reject God’s truth can never be approved of by God. They must repent and be saved to be approved. In our country we need men who are willing to stand up and declare: “thus saith the Lord”. We do not need to hide behind lawyers who do not know the Lord. We need to stand like Paul did and answer for ourselves. We need to function in the fear of the Lord to help our officials to see that they are corrupt. They are reprobate. It does not matter that they have the approval of some people. They are rejected of God and that should be of great concern to them. Those who are saved are called to remind them of the seriousness of this. If a person rejects the faith, what hope is there? The Bible makes it clear that there is no hope.
In verse 9 we are given some good news. Even though there are men who gain places of power who are reprobate, they are limited in their wicked ideas and actions. They cannot do just anything they please. They are hindered by God. They reject God, but that does not mean that God cannot stop them from doing all they want to do.
God said they would go no further. Jannes and Jambres died. They had their opportunity to witness the power of God. They knew that Moses was empowered by God to do what he did. They even admitted that to Pharaoh. Yet they persisted in their wickedness. It is one thing to be able to see God’s hand at work. It is another to actually submit to that almighty hand and know the peace and protection of that hand. Jannes and Jambres never came to know that. Those who would be creeping into houses in the last days would also only go so far. A few people who were once deceived by false teachers get saved. More could, but most reject the truth. Evil will have much freer reign during the Tribulation time. However, even then, the anti-christ will be limited in his execution of his evil plot.
God exposed the folly of Jannes and Jambres. He also warns of those who creep into the houses of silly women. We can know their tactics. We can know their subtilty. False teachers are being exposed. Those who want to know the truth can know it. We can see the folly of the false teachers. We do not need to be led astray by them. The choice is ours. God exposes the false teachers. He shows those who would listen to Him just how ridiculous they are. It is not difficult to see the lies they are spreading. A faithful consistent study of God’s Word exposes them for who they truly are.
Again we come back to II Timothy 2:15. If a person is saved and faithfully studies God’s Word, he will be approved of God and he will have understanding of the times and the seasons in which we are living. It is not difficult to know the truth. Those who reject the truth can see the truth right before them, but they reject it. They have a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof.
Today is the Lord’s day. It is the day that God has set aside for man to stop his daily duties and go to a good church to learn the truth. This is not the Christian Sabbath. It is the Lord’s day. It is the first day of the week. Jesus met with His disciples on several occasions on the first day of the week. He rose from the dead on the first day of the week. Paul taught that the saints needed to gather on the first day of the week. The collection for the saints was to be done on the first day of the week. The antidote for being led astray is to know the truth and be subject to the truth. The true local church is the ground and pillar of the truth.
We continue to pray for the salvation of many. We pray as well that true believers would humble themselves and be obedient to God’s Word. That is the way of blessing.
Pastor Bartel