In the course of his prophetic words in 2 Timothy 3, Paul moves swiftly to list the chief features of behaviour that will come to the fore in a perilous season, naming nineteen prominent sins which will take over society. These evil tendencies will be justified and applauded in the world, but the people of God must view them with great concern, recognising them as the very opposite of Christian character. This series of three articles is written by Dr Peter Masters, and is taken from https://metropolitantabernacle.org/articles/features-of-apostate-behaviour/.
‘Boasters, proud…’
After covetousness, Paul’s prophetic words move to two further cases of self-love, namely boasters and proud people. Boasters are those who brag verbally of their imagined accomplishments, whereas the proud are those who are haughty and unteachable. The latter have settled opinions, and are too puffed up to listen to anything which may challenge their ideas or lifestyles.
In Paul’s remarkable prophecy, boasting is highlighted as a conspicuous feature of perilous times, and the more so as each successive evil age appears. We see, for example, the culture of television, with its non-stop boasting, hour after hour. Even Christian people, exposed to only short bursts of this, can become accustomed to it, and after a while boasting does not seem so bad after all. Self-vaunting appears in extreme forms in seasons of apostasy because society ceases to revere God, and to acknowledge or admire virtuous behaviour. This lack of approval leaves a great void which cannot be allowed. The human heart must justify itself. It must assure itself that by spurning good and spiritual things, it has set itself free to enjoy vastly better things. It must find an alternative focus for its applause and approval. Boasting is a triumph of satanic policy, for it serves to obscure God, and grace, and all divine values from human eyes.
In many congregations boasting has polluted the worship of Almighty God. Instead of the Lord being the sole object of worship, through the deep and powerful sentiments provided in the Word, people stand on platforms to show off their instrumental and vocal skills for the pleasure and applause of the people.
The creature is exalted, and that is what Scripture means by boasting. In some circles even the announcements are full of boasting, as ‘wonderfully gifted’ people are extolled one after another. A supposedly reformed charismatic mega-church recently issued a video of their pastor praising their worship leader as being the greatest rapper in the world. That same pastor authored a book on humility!
Has boasting become legitimate in our church? Does the talk of the members draw attention to their accomplishments, purchases, family successes, and so on? When the Saviour came, his speech was dedicated to the building up of others, not to his prowess in earthly matters, and that is the right path for his people.
Alongside boasting goes pride, which is self-satisfaction, self-confidence, and self-reliance. Pride has made up its mind. Although commended in the world it is vile in the sight of God, and must never be accepted as a legitimate character trait among believers.
These are perilous days, when pride and confidence are applauded in the world as the essential ingredients in career success, athletic achievement, and every other field of activity. People are increasingly proud in their manner and opinions, and Christians can grow so used to it that they no longer notice when it invades the church.
Dogmatic opinions dominate blogs and social networking sites, where young people are encouraged to assert themselves as though they were veterans of experience and sagacity. They feel absolutely no need for a period of learning and reflection. Pride brought about the fall of Satan and was a prime element in the disobedience of the Garden of Eden. It continues to ruin individual believers and churches, and must be fought so much the harder in an age where it reigns as a chief characteristic of society.
‘Blasphemers’
Blasphemers are mentioned by Paul as the fourth and final subdivision of self-love, unusually prominent in perilous times. The end-product of self-love, with its covetousness, boasting and pride, is reached when people become slanderers of God.
Can blasphemy – slander of God – penetrate the churches? In a subtle form, it certainly can, because Christians may absorb the self-seeking, covetous, boastful, proud standards of the age, and so reach a point where they no longer seem to feel that God sees or cares. There is no longer any caution in their step, and no bells of conscience ring. They hear the preaching of the Word (and even preach it themselves) while remaining unmoved and unchallenged, even when their master-sins are most vividly depicted.