1 Timothy 4:1-2 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)
“1Now the Spirit expressly states that in later times some will abandon the faith to follow deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons, 2influenced by the hypocrisy of liars, whose consciences are seared with a hot iron.”
The Holy Spirit
Who is this Spirit? He is the Holy Spirit of God, the third
person of our triune God – Father, Son Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit. And when
Jesus lived on the earth he promised his followers that after his departure
that he would send the Holy Spirit to indwell them, to be God living within
them, reminding them of all things taught by Jesus, counseling, guiding,
directing, exhorting, and encouraging them in their walks of faith in obedience
to the Lord. All who are of biblical faith in Christ have the Spirit of God
living within them.
Later Times
And what are the “later times”? From what I understand, the
later times began with the birth of Jesus Christ, and so we are now living in
those later times. And personally I believe we are nearing the end of those
later times. So many things prophesied in the Scriptures regarding these last
days are increasing in severity and are being revealed before our eyes. And one
of the most notable, I believe, is this abandoning the faith in Christ to
follow after deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons, influenced by hypocritical
liars.
Times Past and Present
Just as a point of reference, and I know I have mentioned
this multiple times, but I was born on the last day of 1949, so I am 76 years
old. And when I was growing up, in the gathering of the church I was brought
into as an infant, they taught death to sin and obedience to God as part of what
it means to be a Christian. They taught holy living, moral purity, uprightness,
godliness, honesty, and faithfulness as necessary components of the Christian
life and practice. And sin was to be done away with in our lives.
And that remained true most of the time I lived on the
earth, at least in the church gatherings I attended. And I may have been late
in realizing this, but all of a sudden things began to shift right around 1999,
that I could see. And there became a strong focus on entertaining the crowd,
and doing what they could do to “draw in large crowds of people from the world.”
And so they began slowly and carefully dismantling the gospel taught us in the
Scriptures to make it less offensive and more appealing to the ungodly of the
world.
Sin Made Acceptable
Sin was now becoming acceptable, and the gospel was being
reduced to a mere profession of faith in Christ with no repentance (turning
from sin) and no obedience to God required, even if sometimes recommended, and
other times dismissed entirely. And we were being encouraged to “stay in your
own lane” and to not present people with the truth of the gospel, for it might
offend them, and thus they would not want to attend these gatherings of “the
church” which were/are a creation of human flesh, and not of God.
And all sinners were being invited into the gatherings of
the church, and their sins were not being cast out, but embraced. And please
understand what I am saying here. The church is not these buildings and
institutions of human origin being marketed to the world. The church is the
body of Christ, the people of God, and our gatherings are to be for mutual
encouragement and strengthening in our walks of obedience to the Lord. They are
not to entertain the world and to coddle people in their sins and to encourage
sin.
Love is Speaking Truth
And this is not to say that if a non-believer should come
into one of our fellowships that we should cast them out. No! We should love
them. But in no way should we embrace their sin, which is what so many people
are doing today under the guise of being loving and kind. No! It is not loving
nor is it kind to embrace people in their sin. Our job is to share with them
the truth of the gospel and how Jesus died to deliver us out of our slavery to
sin so that we will, by faith in him, walk in obedience to his commands.
And our job is to go out into the world and to preach the
gospel to the people of all nations, teaching them to OBEY God’s commands, not
to coddle them in their sins, and definitely not to approve of their sins. So
many people are afraid to confront anyone in their sins for fear of losing them
as possible bodies to fill up their chairs or pews in their buildings and to
grow their numbers in their gatherings. Love all people? YES! But love is not
lying to them. Love is not accepting their sin. Love teaches them the truth.
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts
26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans
8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 1
Corinthians 10:1-22; 2 Corinthians 5:10,15,21; Galatians
5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14;
Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24;
1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:1-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation
3:1-22]
In Harmony
Based off Romans 12:9-21; 1 Peter
3:8-17
An Original Work / September 2, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
Love each other
truly. Cling to what is good.
Hate all that is
evil. Never lack in zeal.
Serve the Lord with
fervor. Joyful in hope be;
Patient in
affliction; Praying faithfully.
Honor one another. Live
in harmony.
Share with all God’s
people who are found in need.
Do not be conceited.
Sympathetic be.
Love, and show
compassion in humility.
Keep your tongue
from evil. Peaceful you must be.
Honor one another. Live
in harmony.
God sees who are
righteous; listens to their prayers.
But He’s against
evil – is His to avenge.
Do not fear what
they fear. Suffer patiently.
In your hearts, make
Christ Lord. Serve Him faithfully.
Honor one another. Live
in harmony.
Influenced by
Hypocritical Liars
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