2 Timothy 3:1, "But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days."

Interesting points:
1. With this verse Paul begins a new section concerning godlessness in the last days.

2. Paul describes a time-period known as "the last days" which according to the prophet Joel, began with the start of the church as Peter pointed out in Acts 2:17. Peter also spoke of the "last days" in 2 Peter 3:3, James referred to it in James 5:3, and the author of Hebrews mentions it in Hebrews 1:2. Therefore, the term "last days," as used in the New Testament, are not necessarily a reference to some distant future, but a time period that began with the birth of the church and continues through today.

3. These last days will be difficult, especially considering the many deceiving voices used by our enemy. Even today we hear of many deceitful teachers who unknowingly echo the false teachers of Timothy’s Ephesus who claimed that faithfulness to God would lead to material blessings! Paul’s warning that righteous living would be difficult is timeless and we find that the wickedness in Paul's time also occurs in today’s world. There really is nothing new under the sun when it comes to man’s fallen nature!

Application.
Brothers, as bad as things get, we can rejoice that we are surrounded by a whole cloud of witnesses – believers who have gone before us, enduring persecution, trials and fighting temptation and their own sinful nature – who remind us that God is faithful, true and provides us exactly what we need to endure, overcome and stand for Truth.

We cannot cover our eyes or ears to remain ignorant of the sin present in our world and similarly we know that our depraved nature delights in sin BUT we can rest assured that we serve a mighty God who sent us a helper in the Holy Spirit to transform us so that we can overcome and live victoriously.

May we never forget that we live in end times and draw inspiration from those believers who went before us!