A COMING DECEIT

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. 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.

Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly.

1 Timothy 4:1-3, 7

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Christianity is going to decline over time. It will never die but it will not be anywhere near its pinnacle when Jesus returns. We know this because the scriptures foretell it.

For example, consider these words from the opening verses of 1 Timothy, chapter 4, as Paul writes to Timothy who is pastoring the church in Ephesus:

The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. 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.

Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. Vv. 1-3, 7

Note here that the Apostle isn’t making these statements on his own accord. He isn’t saying, “Be on guard because I believe a day is coming when false teachers will cause many to abandon the faith”. No, Paul lets Timothy know that the premonition was coming from the Holy Spirit which in essence meant it was coming from God Himself.

The Spirit made it clear that there would be attempts to draw people away from their Christian beliefs in “later times” and those efforts would find great success. These attempts would be grounded in standards for living that were in opposition to the scriptures and they would be manifested by “deceiving spirits”, “demons”, and “hypocritical liars” who had “consciences” that were “seared as with a hot iron”. The latter statement represents a conscience that has been destroyed and therefore unable to be convicted of wrongs.

What would these false teachers present to people as truth?

The scriptures tell us they will “forbid people to marry”, violating God’s call for men and women to come together in committed matrimony and become one flesh (Mark 10:5-8). They will also demand that people “abstain from certain foods” although God has put no such restrictions in place. Rather, He wants us, those who believe and know the truth, to receive what He has created “with thanksgiving”.

We also read where “godless myths” and “old wives’ tales” will become more the foundation for wisdom in living than the word of God. Such fables would only serve people to believe and follow the ways of the world and the flesh which we know will always be counter to the scriptures.

With this warning of coming deceit, the question always seems to be, “Has it started yet?”

Well, the answer to the question would lie in whether or not we see false teaching through deception and hypocrisy happening in our midst.

Do we see people trying to convince Christians to believe things that are counter to God’s word?

Are people prescribing more to what the world provides, worshiping created things instead of the Creator?

And finally:

Are we seeing people abandoning the faith in exchange for these offerings set forth by Satan to draw people away from Christ?

Research in 2019 showed that there was a 12 percent drop in the number of Christians in the United States alone within the past decade (ten years starting in 2009). This should be sobering for everyone who places their hope and trust in Jesus because we should be able to easily do the math. A 12 percent decline per decade carried forward will quickly find Christianity moving from the number one religion in America to a minority belief system on the brink of extermination.

Our chief concern should be found in those falling away from the faith giving birth to children who will not be raised with a Christian foundation. These children will grow up and have children who will not be raised with Christian values...and so on and so forth. Apostasy breeds further future apostasy and it’s not a pleasant vision to bring to mind for godlessness will result in pervasive wickedness and perhaps we are seeing the birth of this in our culture today where wrongs seem to go unchecked where righteousness gets tamped down.

So how do we turn this around?

Well, if an absence of godliness results in an abundance of wickedness, then we need to get back to God and return to living godly lives. The scriptures command us to train ourselves to be godly which means getting back to the source of all truth, the Bible, while reconnecting and recommitting ourselves to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Doing both will lead us back to an attitude of repentance and a willingness to turn from our sins and back to Jesus who saved us from them.

There is a coming deceit and indeed it may have already started. Now, more than ever, we need to stay anchored in the word of God and His Spirit for in both, deceit has no opportunity to lead us astray,

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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