Paul affirms that perilous times will come. Times that are so difficult, so troubling, so harsh, so dangerous that our faith will be sorely tried. But God’s word doesn’t leave us in the dark as to how to respond to such times. We will be surprised, though, and perhaps disappointed if we are looking for some new and grand revelation that has never been revealed. Our response to perilous times, according to the apostle, is to continue in those things we have already learned. Our zeal probably needs to increase, and we will always stand in need of examining ourselves; but we don’t respond to difficult times with new ideas, new worship practices, new attempts to be more appealing to the culture. Continue to remain steadfast in God’s word. Plain and simple.