A Leadership Manual...

In later times, Some will abandon the faith...

As we transition from chapter 3 to chapter 4, Paul moves from teaching what is sound doctrine to addressing heresy.

As the church of the Living God, we need to be aware that not every teaching is sound, is true, is biblical. A doctrine or teaching is not heresy because we don’t understand it or because we don’t agree with it. It is heresy because it doesn’t line up with the word of God. It may be a verse that has been taken out of context or it may be a teaching that has snuck in from a different religion or world view.

As we start this morning, let’s read our Scripture.

1 Timothy 4:1–5 NIV

1 The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. 2 Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. 3 They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. 4 For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5 because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.

We need to be on guard against the devil’s schemes.

Ephesians 6:10–12 NIV

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

In these last days, we need to realize that we have an enemy, we have an adversary that is waging war against us.

1 Peter 5:8–9 NIV

8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

I believe that Paul wrote to Timothy about these false teachers because he didn’t underestimate them. He realized how dangerous they were, so he wrote.

1 Timothy 4:1 NIV

1 The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.

The Spirit clearly says...

Paul doesn’t refer to a specific passage of Scripture, but as we read the Bible, we can see that what Paul said is true.

Matthew 24:5 NIV

5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many.

2 Peter 2:1 NIV

1 But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves.

When Jesus spoke of why He was sending the Holy Spirit, He made it very clear why He was sending Him.

John 16:13–14 NIV

13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.

What does the Spirit clearly say?

In later times, some will abandon the faith...

When Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost, he quoted the prophet Joel.

Acts 2:14–21 NIV

14 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. 15 These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! 16 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 17 “ ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. 18 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. 19 I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. 20 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. 21 And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’

When Paul refers to

Later times or Last times...

he was referring to the days of the early church until the return of Christ. Even in Paul’s days, they were seeing a departure from the faith.

2 Timothy 4:1–5 NIV

1 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. 3 For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.

Just as in Paul’s day, we are seeing a departure from the faith. There is a movement that is called deconstructionism where people are leaving the faith to the point that they don’t believe in God at all or they don’t know if they believe any longer, and there are many that have come to believe that Jesus is only one of many ways to God.

Some will abandon the faith and

Follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons...

Satan is a liar, and the father of all lies. His goal is to deceive believers and to lead them astray.

The serpent lied to Eve in the Garden of Eden, and he has been lying to people ever since. Often he mixes some truths in with a lie so that it can be believable.

Here is truth:

Genesis 1:26–27 NIV

26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” 27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

When the serpent came to Eve, he posed the question if God had really told them not to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Then he made a promise,

Genesis 3:4–5 NIV

4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

You will be like God...

Adam and Eve were already created in the image of God and the serpent twisted the promise to tempt Adam and Eve to disobey God.

Deceiving spirits often take truth that is in God’s word and twist it or change it. That’s bad enough, but then they lead others astray.

Satan uses people to lead others astray. Getting back to the deconstruction of faith, often those who have become disillusioned in their faith, don’t go quietly but often lead others to walk away as well.

Others that receive a new revelation shamelessly deceive others to follow them.

1 Timothy 4:2 NIV

2 Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.

A hypocrite

is someone who says one thing but does another. It was a term that represented a play actor that used a mask to disguise themselves.

They are liars.

A liar...

is someone who doesn’t tell the truth. They can be very convincing with their words. For us it can be easier to distinguish truth from error if we are looking for it. If someone comes and knocks on your door with a Watch Tower magazine, you might be more aware than if you are watching a message on Youtube.

We need to test what we hear and what we believe according to the Bible. God’s word is truth.

Those who teach doctrines of demons have

their consciences seared with a hot iron...

Ephesians 4:19 NIV

19 Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.

I’m not sure if you have any experience with branding. You can brand with a hot iron or you can freeze brand with liquid nitrogen or dry ice, both burn.

When I used to use a hot iron, I had an electric brander, many use fire to heat their irons up. With the electric brander, I used to shave the hair so that I was branding skin rather than hair. I’m only sharing my experience. What I would do was put the iron on for a couple of seconds to numb the spot that I was branding and then I would put it on until I knew the brand was done.

A conscience

that is seared or numb, has no feeling. It has been deadened. When the Holy Spirit is convicting us of sin and we refuse to listen, or we ignore the prompting of the Holy Spirit, it is like a hot iron that has numbed flesh. Over time, we become desensitized so that we no longer hear the Holy Spirit.

It reminds me of the Scripture in Genesis 6.

Genesis 6:3 NIV

3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.”

The NKJV says,

Genesis 6:3 (NKJV)

3 And the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever...”

The NLT puts it this way,

Genesis 6:3 (NLT)

3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not put up with humans for such a long time...”

The thoughts of the human hearts were evil continually.

Let’s be quick to repent when we sin, and let’s be watchful so that we will take every thought captive and make it obedient to Jesus Christ.

What were these people teaching?

1 Timothy 4:3 NIV

3 They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth.

They forbid people to marry...

This teaching was a precursor to

Gnosticism...

which taught that the spirit was good and the flesh was evil. This teaching taught that sex was evil as well as certain types of foods.

Let’s deal with the marriage issue.

In certain cases, Paul taught that it was good for people not to marry. If someone was called to ministry like Paul was, it would have been difficult to take the family along so a person would need to take care of their family, but in no way was Paul opposed to marriage. Not everyone is called to be single and it shouldn’t be something that we force on anyone. This would also mean that we shouldn’t look down on somebody because they are single.

What about food?

There are times that God calls us to fast. At these times, we abstain food with the purpose of drawing closer to God or hearing from the Lord.

When it comes to food, many people abstain from certain kinds of food. My dad was celiac, so he had to stay away from anything that had any trace of gluten. He did that to live. We shouldn’t judge people who don’t eat certain kinds of food.

These people were prohibiting people from eating certain kinds of food. As Christians we need to honour each other above ourselves. To show honour means that we need to care for the needs of others above ourselves.

If someone doesn’t eat certain kinds of food, we need to make sure that we don’t say, “It’s not my fault that they don’t eat that.” We need to honour others to make sure that there is food that they can eat.

If we don’t eat a certain type of food, we shouldn’t look down on others who do. That’s showing honour and respect. God has given each of us a measure of faith and everything we eat is to be eaten with thanksgiving. If your conscience is leading you to abstain from certain types of food, do that in faith.

Where the problem came was that these teachers were prohibiting others to eat food that the Holy Spirit hadn’t convicted them not to eat.

1 Timothy 4:4–5 NIV

4 For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5 because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.

When God created the earth, after each day He saw that it was good. After He had finished the 6th day of creation, He saw that it was very good.

If we aren’t careful, we can take these verses out of context and say that everything is good and should not be rejected. I’m not just speaking about food.

Ever since Satan was cast down to the earth, he has been trying to destroy and distort what God created to be good. It’s strange how he works. In some cases, he wants us to over indulge until we are sick, and at other times, he places stringent restrictions to make us think that we are pleasing God because of our Asceticism. Our goal needs to be to please God by living according to His word. Let’s enjoy God’s creation. I think sometimes we feel guilty for enjoying what God has made. If we enjoy God’s creation as God intended it, instead of feeling guilty we should enjoy it with thanksgiving.

This is what Paul said in verse 5.

1 Timothy 4:5 NIV

5 because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.

Whether you are enjoying nature or enjoying food that God has created, remember that God created it to be good. Let’s enjoy it but let’s not allow it to be raised higher than God.

Let’s pray!