the Son, the wise man said. I don't want to hear anything
new. I want to hear the old, old story
of Jesus Christ. The second thing he mentions,
not only to be a good minister, you must put the brethren in
remembrance of these things, but secondly, you must continue
to be nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine. These two things actually go
together. If we neglect the second, that
is, if we neglect to be nourished up in the words of faith, that
is, the Word of God and of good doctrine, then there's no way
that we will be able to put the brethren in remembrance of these
things. They go together. One is built
upon the other. 2 Timothy chapter 2 and verse
15, study to show thyself approved, a workman that needeth not to
be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. Remember the
apostles even, when there was a need among the widows of the
church in Jerusalem, they said, choose out good men that are
qualified to do this work. that we may give ourselves to
prayer and to the word of God. So those are two things that
are necessary to be a good minister of Jesus Christ. We must put
the brethren in remembrance of these things and we must be nourished
up in the words of faith and good doctrine. Now let's begin
in verse one looking at the passage. Now the Spirit, that is the Holy
Spirit, God the Holy Spirit, speaketh expressly that in latter
times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing
spirits and doctrines of devils. You notice he doesn't say the
Holy Spirit spoke. That's true, but that's not what
the Apostle Paul says here. He says, the Holy Spirit speaketh. That's present tense. The Holy
Spirit speaketh. Sometimes men read this and they
think, for some reason, Paul is saying that the Holy Spirit
spoke in some time in the past, and they look for verses of scripture
that support this truth, this doctrine, this teaching here. But the apostle is clearly saying
that the Spirit speaketh now, present tense. That is through
the apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ, God the Holy Spirit was
speaking and he was telling of what was already. Now here's
the point. What was already taking place
before the apostles had gone to be with the Lord while they
were still here in this world, These things were already taking
place in the church. If you keep your places here,
but look back to Acts chapter 20 and verses 29 and 30, William Hendrickson said that
When Paul wrote this letter of 1st Timothy, this was six years
after he had met with these elders of the church at Ephesus, and
we read what we read here in Acts chapter 20, verses 29 and
30. For I know this. How did he know
this? The Spirit, God the Holy Spirit,
speak, God the Holy Spirit revealed this unto the apostle Paul. For
I know this. that after my deporting shall
grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock."
There are always wolves. There are always those false
prophets and false teachers where the truth is preached. They're
always there trying to enter in and destroy the flock of God. There are always hirelings, the
scripture warns us against hirelings. The Lord Jesus Christ warned
us against hirelings. Those who preach the gospel,
preach the word of God, pastor the church of the Lord Jesus
Christ, but they do it for filthy lucre's sake. And then when they
see an enemy coming, the wolf coming, what do they do? Well,
they leave the flock. They leave the flock. They have
no love, no care for the people of God. for the sheep of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Paul said, I know, I know this,
that after my deporting shall grievous wolves enter in among
you, not sparing the flock. You know, that's bad. That's
bad. But this next verse is even worse,
if possible. Paul said, I know this, that
after my deporting shall grievous wolves enter, they'll come in
among you. That's bad. But this is worse. Also of your own selves, members
of the congregation, of your own selves shall men arise speaking
perverse things to draw away disciples after them. So the Apostle Paul in our text
tonight says the Spirit speaketh expressly, spoke through the
Apostle Paul. spoke through the Apostle Peter.
In his second letter, chapter two, he warned the believers. He said, as there were false
prophets also among the people, and by people there in the context,
he's referring to the nation of Israel in the Old Testament.
And you know, as you read through the historical books of the Old
Testament, you see A prophet of God, he was usually opposed. One prophet usually was opposed
by a multitude of false prophets. Remember Micaiah, that one prophet
that Ahab said, he always speaks bad things about me. Now he had
a multitude of prophets that told him exactly what he wanted
to hear. Of course, it was lies, but that's
what he wanted to hear. That's always true of a false
prophet. A false prophet tells men and
women what they want to hear, and that's the reason that this
so-called ministry today of prosperity, health and wealth, and things
of that nature is so well-received by hundreds, yea, thousands of
people. Why? Because you have false prophets
telling people what they want to hear, what they want to believe
to be true. Ahab wanted to believe what those
false prophets told him, but they were lying to him. Micaiah,
that one prophet. Peter said there were false prophets
Even as there were false prophets also among the people, the Old
Testament people, there shall be false teachers
among you who privately shall bring in damnable heresies. So the Apostle Paul says, the
Spirit speaking, Peter, the Apostle, he warned about these false teachers,
and John, what about the Apostle John? He exhorted believers in
his first letter, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits,
whether they are of God, for many false prophets are gone
out into the world. And he also confessed in that
same letter, even now, now, while he was still alive, even now,
are there many Antichrists. And in Paul's second letter to
the Thessalonians, he said, the mystery of iniquity already working. In our last study here in 1 Timothy,
we looked at the mystery of godliness. 1 Timothy chapter 3 and verse
16. The mystery of godliness. God
was manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels,
preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up
into glory. But at the same time, the apostle
was preaching the mystery of godliness The mystery of iniquity
was already spreading, already working. Now the Spirit speaking
through the apostles told of some, notice, who would depart
from the faith. Now the faith here is that body
of truth, that objective body of truth, the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ. It's not talking about your faith
or my faith that God the Holy Spirit gives to His people by
which we believe and trust and hang on to the Lord Jesus Christ. When God gives true faith, a
man will never, a woman will never depart from that faith,
from the faith of God's elect. But he's talking about that body
of truth, the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The same thing
that Jude had reference to when he said that we must earnestly
contend for the faith which was once. Once and forever. That's the way that may be understood.
Once and forever. When the New Testament closed,
the Revelation was closed. And we don't look for dreams
and visions and people who supposedly died and went to heaven and saw
what they saw and come back in all of that trash. That's all
it is. No, we have the faith which was
once delivered unto the saints. And Paul here tells us, the Spirit
speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall depart
from the faith. The faith is not something that
is evolving. That's what men like to believe,
that every generation it evolves, you know, it changes a little.
God doesn't change. Sin doesn't change. Sinners do
not change. And thank God the gospel does
not change. The faith. Some shall depart
from the faith. Look at that word some. Aren't
you thankful for that word some? Some will depart from the faith.
Some will deny the faith. But not all. Not all. The Lord Jesus declared upon
this rock, I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not
prevail against it. The gates of hell, these seducing
spirits, these demons and devils, they will come against it, but
they will not overcome it. Some shall depart, but not all. This is what we read in Isaiah
27 and verse 3, and it may refer to the church of the Lord Jesus
Christ. I, the Lord, do keep it. I, the
Lord, do keep it. I will water it every moment,
lest any hurt it. I will keep it night and day. Some will depart from the faith,
deny the faith, but not all. I read something recently about
Frances Havergale. She's a lady believer who wrote
several of the hymns in our hymn book, some of which we sing,
Like a River Glorious. I believe she wrote that hymn
and others that we sing. But when she came to die, she
died at a young age. But on her deathbed, someone
gave her a scripture, and she last told of these three things
in that passage of scripture. Gathered, held, kept. Gathered, held, kept. God gathers us, and God holds
us, his people. And God keeps us. Some will depart,
but not all. John speaks of some, look in
1 John, 1 John chapter 2. 1 John chapter 2, verses 18 and 19. Little children,
it is the last time. And as you have heard that Antichrist
shall come, even now are there many Antichrists. whereby we
know that it is the last time. Now notice, they went out from
us, so they had been part of them. If they go out from us,
they had at one time to have been part of them. They went
out from us, but they were not of us. And here's how we know. For if they had been of us, they
would no doubt have continued with us. But they went out, that
they might be made manifest, that they were not all of us. But you, brethren, but you have
an unction from the Holy One, and you know all things." Notice
here, back in 1 Timothy, that first verse. Now the Spirit speaketh
expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from
the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils."
Doctrines of devils. Now all false doctrine is a doctrine
of a devil. All false doctrine. He's the
father of lies and all false doctrine is opposed to the truth.
True doctrine is the truth. All false doctrine has Satan,
devil, as its father. Now all the older commentators
that I study, they all saw that this was especially teaching
that soon was introduced the worship of angels. Because demons,
the doctrine of demons brings in the worship of demons. And it wasn't long in the church
before some began to teach that we should worship angels. Look
in Colossians, just a moment. Colossians chapter two. Paul's warning about this, Colossians
chapter 2. What I'm saying is the doctrine
of devils, especially the teaching of worshiping anyone other than
God Almighty and His Son, Jesus Christ, whether it be angels.
Here in Colossians 2 and verse 18, the apostle said, let no
man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshiping
of angels. intruding into those things which
he had not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind." You
know, in the book of Revelation, John had an angel appear to him
two times, I believe it is. And on both occasions, John started
to worship that angel. And, you know, why would he do
that? Well, if an angel appeared right
here, I doubt that any of us wouldn't fall down. But you know,
both times that angel said, not so, not so. Worship God and God only. These doctrines of devils teaching
to worship angels and then it wasn't long before teaching to
worship departed saints. And then it wasn't long before
relics concerning various saints became articles that people worshipped,
thinking that in that way somehow they would get closer, nearer
to God. But you know this, I don't need
to say it, but I'm going to, any teaching that puts anything
or anyone between man and God other than the Lord Jesus Christ
is a doctrine of demons. Anything. I don't care what it
is that puts anyone or anything between God Almighty and man
other than Jesus Christ. He's the one mediator. If he
speaks to us, he's going to speak to us in his son. And if we speak
to him, we're going to speak to him through his son. All right,
let's go on to verse two. Speaking lies and hypocrisy,
having their conscience seared with a hot iron. When Satan tempted
Eve, you can see his hypocrisy as though he was suggesting something
to Eve that would be very advantageous to her. That she would benefit by eating
that fruit. And yet, we know that all the
time, Satan, his real intent was for her to rebel against
God to rebel against God, her creator, and to worship Him,
that is, Satan. These false teachers, they put
on a mask of piety. I mean, they come in, they've
got a big Bible, and they've got everything that makes them
look religious. Maybe put on some robes. I'm
sure you saw on the news the other day that Bishop of Buffalo,
I believe it is, is being investigated, the whole diocese for sexual
abuse and all of that. And there he is with that staff
and that hat turned up, you know, that they say it comes from Dagon,
that hat that they wear, and the robes and Looking so pious
and so religious all the time, you know that's just a mask covering
up their hypocrisy and their evil that they have done. Cover up their arrogance. Men
come in and they speak very learnedly. They use big words. Someone pointed this out, I think
I mentioned it one time, you read the Bible, you read the
King James, and most of the words are one or two syllable words.
And yet men want to put on an appearance of being a little
bit superior, a little bit holier, a little bit more pious than
other people. And they do it to deceive. And notice it says their conscience,
their conscience, seared with a hot iron." Their conscience,
you know, a man's conscience is good. It serves a man well,
or it can serve a man well. Now, don't fall for that old
saying, let your conscience be your guide, because that's not
so. The Word of God is our guide.
But the conscience does warn and does convict. When we know
something is wrong and we do it, the conscience does speak
to us. But here's the thing about the conscience, it can be trained. It can be trained where it doesn't
speak out anymore. And what it warned against and
spoke out against at first, after a period of time, it no longer
warns, it no longer serves. And especially concerning these
false prophets. You see that in Balaam. I don't
want to take the time, but you can look at Balaam. When those
men came and offered him money to go and curse Israel, you know,
at first he was very strong against going. He wasn't going no matter
what, but little by little. And then when he got there even,
at first he would only speak the word that God put in his
mouth. But eventually, he didn't wait for God to give him a word.
He just spoke from his own heart. And that's the way these men
were, as though their conscience has been cauterized, seared with
a hot iron, and it no longer rebukes them, no longer speaks
out to them. Alright, in verses 3 through
5, Forbidding to marry, commanding to abstain from meats which God
hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe
and know the truth. For every creature of God is
good, and nothing to be refused if it be received with thanksgiving,
for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. There are
two things that they forbid. Number one, they forbid to marry. They would teach that there is
something special, something holy about a celibate lifestyle. Nevermind, I keep thinking about
this. They teach there's something
special about not being married, being a virgin. And I'm talking
about adults here. There's something special about
that, a little bit more holy than other people are. Never
mind, now listen, never mind that God said concerning Adam,
even when he was holy before he fell, it's not good that man
should be alone. And never mind that God himself
is the one that instituted marriage. He's the one that brought Eve
to Adam. And look with me in 1 Corinthians
7. The apostle Paul deals with these
things. 1 Corinthians chapter 7, verses
1 and 2, he said, Now concerning the things whereof you wrote
unto me, it is good for a man not to touch a woman. Nevertheless,
to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let
every woman have her own husband. And our Lord said that some are
born eunuchs, some are made eunuchs, but not every man, and I would
say the majority of men, cannot be like the Apostle Paul was.
And God has given marriage for that reason. That's not the only
reason, but that's one reason. Now here these men come along
and forbid people getting married. Look down in 1 Corinthians 7,
verses 8 and 9. I say therefore to the unmarried
and widows, it is good for them if they abide even as I. If they
cannot contain, let them marry. For it is better to marry than
to burn." To have that desire, that lust, that burning desire
for the opposite sex. It's better to marry than to
burn. So that's the first thing they
do. They forbid their priest to marry. And what has only been
written about over the years, many of us have read the stories
and the history of these things, but now we see it's being brought
to the light, isn't it? Now, more and more, that abnormal
situation of a man not having a wife has brought about much
of what has gone on, the abuse of women and children. It's unnatural. And this is what
Paul said. This is what they do, they teach.
They forbid to marry. And second, they forbid to eat
meats. That men must abstain from meat.
They do this even though Paul says that meat is sanctified
by the word of God. In the beginning, God sanctified. He sanctified meat when he looked
at everything he had made and he said, good, it's good, it's
sanctified by God's word. And they come along and say,
no, you shouldn't eat this or you shouldn't eat this during
a certain time of the year, you abstain from these things. Now some may be thought to continue
to observe the dietary laws of the old covenant, I'm not sure,
but if they did so, they were wrong. If they believed there
was any merit, any merit whatsoever in not eating pork or any of
the other things that the Israelites under that law of Sinai could
not eat. Remember what Paul told the Galatians
who fell into that trap. He said, you observe days and
months and times and years. I'm afraid of you. I'm afraid
of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labor and vain. You
see, it's always works versus grace, grace versus works. And then we should not forget
to give thanks. for the meat that God provides
for us, recognizing that man shall not live by bread alone,
that you could have a table full of the best food and eat it,
and unless God blesses and your body goes through the process
of taking that food and assimilating that food, it could do you no
good. Now look at some of the things
of verse six. I've already mentioned this,
but Paul said, if I'll put the brethren in remembrance of these
things, look at some of the things that he's already mentioned in
this letter that Timothy should put the brethren in remembrance
of. In chapter one, first Timothy
chapter one and verse five, Put the brethren in remembrance of
this. Now the end of the commandment
is love. Put the brethren in remembrance
of that. The goal of the law was love. Thou shalt love the
Lord thy God with all thy heart, all thy soul, all thy mind. Verse
15 of chapter one. Put the brethren in remembrance
of this. And how we need to be reminded
of this, don't we? when, for whatever reason, we
get down and discouraged and feel like our sins maybe are
just too great for us to be saved? No, no, no! This is a faithful
saying and worthy of all acceptation. For this very reason, Christ
came into this world, to save sinners. And Paul said, I'm the
chief. He's already saved the chief,
so no matter how great our sins may be, there's mercy with Him. Put the brethren in remembrance
that prayer is to be made for all men, all sorts of men in
chapter 2. The qualifications of pastors
and deacons we looked at in chapter 3. And the mystery of godliness. Put the brethren in remembrance
of these things. God, the eternal God, was manifest
in the flesh. That we worship Jesus Christ,
who is God. I cannot help but think if you
look at this verse here in 1 Timothy 4 again, He says, put the brethren
in remembrance of these things and be nourished up in the words
of faith and of good doctrine. But notice he said, refuse profane
and old wives' fables. Old wives' fables. Old wives' fables can never nourish
a person. But what he learned, now listen,
what he learned from two wives, What he learned from two wives,
you say, who is that? His mother, his grandmother,
they were both wives. That is the word that's able
to nourish and build you up. You know, in Acts chapter 20
and verse 32, when he said his goodbye to the elders of Ephesus,
he commended them, listen, to the word of his grace, which
is able to build you up. Now let me close with this last
part of verse 7 and verse 8 and 9. Exercise thyself rather unto
godliness. For bodily exercise profiteth
little, but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise
of the life that now is and of that which is to come. This is
a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation. We know in
reading through the letters that the Apostle Paul was inspired
to write, that he was familiar with the Olympic Games, and he
used several contests in those games to be an analogy of the
Christian life. He talks about the race. They
had races in those games. He talks about wrestling. They
had the wrestling matches. But here, he takes bodily exercise,
as you would go to the gymnasium and work out and build up your
body, I assume. And he contrasts that exercise
with godliness, with godly living. And notice he points out two
things to show the great contrast between physical exercise and
godliness. The first thing is bodily exercise
profits in some ways. Bodily exercise, it profits in
some ways. Many of you, I know, you go to
the gym or you work out at home. You've got something that you
exercise on, and that's good. It helps, no doubt. As we get
older, it helps us keep our balance, I believe. It is profitable in
some things, but godliness is profitable in all things. You see the difference there?
In all things, profitable unto all things is godliness. But
godliness, for bodily exercise profiteth little, little, yes,
but godliness is profitable unto all things. And then another
exercise, another contrast is bodily exercise may be profitable
as long as this life lasts, but godliness in the life to come,
which is eternal." Notice how he says that in verse 8, having
promise of the life that now is, this is godliness, the life
that now is and of that which is to come. This is another one
of Paul's faithful sayings. There are four of them. four
of these faithful saints in the first and second Timothy, I believe
in Titus, you find all four of them. And they're good to build one upon
the other. If you look at them first with
that one, this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation
that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. And then
the second one, I think I remember reading Spurgeon said one time,
they're like four corners of the house, four corners of our
house, these four faithful saints. Well, I pray the Lord bless His
word to all of us here this evening.