<p>3:9- see on Rev. 16:15.</p><p><i>But they shall proceed no further- </i>Does Paul refer to his certainty that the Lord's coming will be experienced by that generation, and declare their folly at the day of judgment? Or is he certain in faith that the Lord through Timothy is going to turn around the Ephesian church and expose these people? Or is he hopeful that they will in fact repent, realizing their folly and confessing it to others? He may have in view the idea that the false teaching is not going to proceed- Timothy is going to put it down, which according to Rev. 2 he succeeded in doing. Paul notes that evil men in the world will proceed in their evil- for :13 uses the same word: &quot;they shall grow worse and worse s.w. &quot;proceed&quot;&quot;.</p><p><i>For their folly shall be made evident to all men, as theirs also came to be</i>- Not least, their folly will be made evident to themselves at the very end. Parables like that of the rich <i>fool</i>, the <i>foolish</i> virgins... they will all be crystal clear to them. <i>Then </i>the Kingdom of Heaven will be likened to wise and foolish virgins (Mt. 25:1), after the judgment experience. The materialist &quot;at his end rejection at the judgment shall be a fool&quot; (Jer. 17:11). The utter <i>folly </i>of the rejected is a major theme (Prov. 14:8,18; Ps. 5:5; 49:13; Mt. 7:26; 25:8). Rejected Israel were made to drink the wine of astonishment (Ps. 60:3), and the rejected in like manner will gape: &quot;When saw we thee...?&quot;. They will be turned back from the Kingdom &quot;in dismay... clothed with shame and confusion&quot; (Ps. 35:5,26). Confusion will then give way to panic and then to a level of agitated dementia well beyond the paradigms of present psychiatry.<br />Often the Spirit points out that the sinner is only harming himself by his actions- and yet he earnestly pursues his course, in the name of self-interest and self-benefit (Num. 16:38; Prov. 19:8; 20:2; Hab. 2:20; Lk. 7:30). Sin is therefore associated by God with utter and derisible foolishness (e.g. Num. 12:11; 2 Tim. 3:9); but this isn't how man in his unwisdom perceives it at all. Indeed, to him self-denial is inexplicable folly and blindness to the essentials of human existence. &quot;This their way is their folly: yet their posterity approve their sayings. Selah (pause to meditate)&quot; (Ps. 49:13). The <i>folly</i> of sin is only <i>fully </i>evident to God. <br />3:10 As he prepared to die for his Lord, Paul's openness increased yet more.&nbsp; He tried to motivate Timothy to resist apostasy in the ecclesia by reminding Timothy of how well he knew Paul's example: &quot;But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, long-suffering, patience&quot; (2 Tim. 3:10). The sense of <i>purpose</i> and <i>determination</i> in Paul comes over so often (e.g. Acts 19:21). The constant energy of his mind comes over in the record (e.g. Acts 28:23), and also in his letters (note the urgency of &quot; today&quot; in Heb. 3:7,13,15; 4:7; 2 Cor. 6:2). It makes a good exercise to read through the record of Paul in Acts and highlight words like &quot;reasoned&quot;, &quot;persuaded&quot;, &ldquo;convinced&quot;, &quot;purposed&quot;, &quot;disputing&quot; (e.g. 18:4,5,11,19; 19:8,9,21). And he really is our example, not just a historical figure to be admired. &nbsp;</p>