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Guest: If we get away from the pure Word of God, then we know we are going to drift off. We are going to float away. It'll be a slow drift, but it is a guaranteed drift. We're going to be enticed by seducing spirits. We're going to get into doctrines of demons.

Guest: Welcome to Apply Within, a verse-by-verse study of the Word of God with Pastor Bob Davis of North Country Chapel. We invite you to join with us as we by the power of God's Holy Spirit apply his word within our own hearts, as we study line upon line, precept upon precept, verse-by-verse, through the Bible.

Guest: As our study of 1 Timothy continues in chapter 4, Paul warns Timothy that some people will walk away from Christianity and start teaching false doctrines. Here's Pastor Bob.

Bob Davis: Now, the spirit, God's Holy Spirit, speaketh expressly that in the latter times, some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons, of devils.

That's what the King James says. Here's the word, if you want another word, if you're taking notes, God's Holy Spirit speaks explicitly. If you want another word, God's Holy Spirit speaks in plain, clear language, words that are easy to understand. No confusion, Paul says, as to what the spirit is telling us now.

In the latter times, for you and me, it started when Paul was there. So the idea is in the times ahead, some shall depart from the faith. It started in Paul's day.

He talked about that to the Ephesian Church when he was leaving. I know that when I leave that wolves will come in. Others will rise up from among you and destroy and take people away from the Lord.

One of the things that you should know, or that you and I, I shouldn't say you, only me too, but that we should know is that someone who wants to teach the Word of God, and if it's from if it's from the Lord himself, they're not going to want you to depend on them, nor to follow them, nor to worship them in any way.

They're just a man or woman, whoever happens to be teaching, and they're supposed to step out of the way and lead you right into the arms of Jesus. So, that's who you're dependent on.

And you can't be dependent on Timothy. You can't be dependent on me. You can't be dependent on him or her or them. It's all right. We encourage one another and we're there for one another, but you're looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher, my voice is changing. Looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of your faith, of my faith, of our faith.

You don't need me, you need Jesus. I got to talk to Pastor Bob. Well, you know, he's he's a loser. I know, but I got to talk. No, it's okay. I will talk to you, that's fine. But, you know what? You need Jesus. And that's what Paul's trying to tell us here.

In the latter times, some shall depart from the faith. And it was going on then, and it will get worse and worse until we, as you see in 2 Timothy, you'll see in the very last days when we get to 2 Timothy, that's coming up soon, we'll talk about that and what's going on around us.

But to depart from the faith, that scares Christians, because the fight or the argument among Christians is, can you lose your salvation? Some say, well, you can't lose it, but you can give it away. And that is an argument and it's been going for, well, since Paul wrote his letter, since Jesus said, I give to them eternal life.

Usually when the young people ask me, do you can you lose your salvation? I'll say, if you can, then it is not eternal life, is it? It is only life until you drop it, or bend it, or break it, or forget it, or trade it in for something more expensive.

He is not suggesting here what you think he may be suggesting. He's saying exactly what he means. To depart from the faith means to go away from, to separate yourself from, to abandon, to cause to be misled away from the faith.

To depart from the faith. What does he mean by the faith? I gave you a little definition before. I think I wrote down the same thing, but if you're taking notes, you can compare your notes. But it's but here's the faith: the body of truths that constitutes the basic doctrines of Christianity.

I'll say it again. The body of truths that constitute the basic doctrines of Christianity. Basic basic doctrines of the true church, in other words. The Gospel itself included. So, you can be a Methodist. You could be, I don't know, how to be a Presbyterian, but you could be one of those. You could be a First Church of Apostolic Power with wonders and signs following.

You can be an interdenominational, non-denominational. You can be whatever you are. But the point is, you're going to find that if they truly belong to the body of Christ, they're going to have some of the same basic doctrines.

You look at somebody's statement of faith and you'll see the basic, solid doctrines of the Christian faith. Now, whether you have communion once a week, once a month, once a year, once a lifetime, every every other Thursday, or whether you baptize by sprinkle, or by splash, or by immersing, or by I don't know, wine.

You guys can fight about that in your spare time. Whether you do infants, or old people, or anybody in between, and and there's the fight. We're talking about the basic doctrines. That's the faith. And so the spirit speaks explicitly, expressly, in the latter times, some shall depart from the faith.

And Paul has given, if if you've been studying with us, in chapters 1, 2, and 3, Paul's given to us some of the basic tenants of the faith right here in this book. And so some argue that Paul means you actually, they actually lose their salvation. They depart from the faith. They actually lose their salvation.

But John has already cleared that up for us when we studied through 1 John. 1 John, chapter 2, verses 18 and 19. So listen to the Word of God. Little children, it is the last time. And as you have heard that antichrist shall come, even now there are many antichrists. Whereby we know that it is the last time.

They went out from us, but they were not of us. 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. Meaning, they didn't walk away from their faith and lose their salvation. They were professing, but it wasn't legitimate. It wasn't real, John says.

And they left and that's how you found out in the long run who they were. When people come up to you and say, I belong to Jesus, what can you say? Cool. You know, you what can you say? No, you don't. You're ugly. You see, you can't you can't see a heart. We don't know.

If you tell me that you're born again, then I can say, praise God, I'm glad. Then we're brothers and we're sisters. If you start to live a life that shows that might not be true, we still can't say whether you're saved or not, can we? We can just say, you know, well, you may be, but it it's not showing.

But we still can't judge the heart. Who can? God, God, and God alone. And so that's what John is trying to tell us. They went out, that doesn't mean they lost their salvation. It means simply this, they never really were in with us truly to begin with. They weren't a part of the body. They were just hanging around.

There are a lot of people at church that don't belong to the Lord. I think the devil comes to church much more than you think. I believe Paul is warning Timothy that some will profess to belong to Jesus, but they will show their true colors as time presses on.

To give heed to means to fix your mind upon, or to listen to and follow. So he says the spirit speaketh expressly, in the latter times, some shall depart from the faith. They will turn in and walk on, giving heed, listening to, falling for, trusting after doctrines of demons.

The false teachers will take people after themselves. You've already learned that that in the last days people will have itching ears. They want their ears scratched. All that means in our language is, they only want to hear what they want to hear.

1 John 4:1. Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits whether they are of God because many false prophets have gone out into the world. It's your responsibility. You need to read your Bible. Not just once through, and not just when things are going your way. I'm happy today, I'll do it. God bless you.

No, every day, take some time, read in God's Word. Every day, take some time and seek the Lord. Sit still and talk with the Lord. Talk with him and don't give up when it's hard, or don't give up when when there's pressure, or don't faint. Meaning, stop completely. Don't do that.

God gives you the strength. You don't have to do it on your own. He's not asking any of us to, make it to the finish line and I'll meet you there. He's saying, I'm with you every step of the way. I'll carry you when it's necessary. Come on.

James, Jesus' half-brother, in the book of James, he warns us as well. Paul's warning us here in 1 Timothy 4. But James in chapter 3, of of of the book of James, chapter 3, verses 14 and 15.

He says this, if you have a bitter envying and strife in your hearts, don't be proud of that. Glory not and lie not against the truth. For this wisdom descends not from above, but is earthly, it's sensual, it's demonic. Did you hear that?

What Paul says, the false teachers and the false false teachers are driven by doctrines of demons. James says the same idea. This stuff this wisdom, you know, the bitterness, the ugliness, and all this stuff that that many have to try and deal with, that doesn't come from above. It's earthly, it's sensual, it's demonic, it's devilish.

We need to recognize that in our own hearts for what it is and get it out get it away, put it away. Don't do that. So many examples right now, it's hard to know where to start, if you're looking for examples.

For instance, the largest church in Southern California, the pastor, has teaches that Christians and Muslims worship the same God. We just call him by different names. Largest church in Southern California, in California. Listen, no we don't. No, we don't. We worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

They would say they worship the God of Abraham, Ishmael, and Esau, of the flesh, not of the promise. Totally different God, totally different God. I don't I'm not I can't give you the list. I mean, you know the list of the differences between Allah and God.

The wisdom that we worship the same God as Islam is not from above. It is earthly. It is sensual. That means, you know, it it it touches the heart, the emotions, the feelings. Well, you know, can't we all just get along? We'll be nice if you'll be nice. And you know, being nice gets nobody to heaven.

Just being nice is a nice thing, but any garden variety pervert can do it. You must be born again. God's Word says. Jesus says in in the Nicodemite chapter, John chapter 3 to Nicodemus. God Jesus says, you must be born again. I'm an old man. That doesn't matter. You must be born again. This is a this is a spiritual situation.

But notice this. These teachers, verse 2, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot iron. Forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from foods which God 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. Before you eat it, pray. And everything he says is to be received with thanksgiving. You say, we don't eat pork. I do. With thanksgiving. I'm not asking you to.

These teachers, Paul says, driven by demonic influence, speak lies. They speak out lies in hypocrisy. All that means is, they are actually pretending to be spiritual. They'll pretend to be only concerned for you and your spiritual growth and your marriage, and your whatever they're trying to promote in a book this week.

And the reason they can do this, the Bible says, is because their consciences have been seared, cauterized, they're burned. They don't have them anymore. They're dead. So they can get up and say all kinds of foul, filthy things and people laugh and say, well, he's just trying to reach another generation. Right.

I don't think so. Their consciences are dead. They've been seared like with a hot iron. They have no consciences anymore. And I I think you you get on the Christian television and you listen to some of the things they say and you are shocked that they're saying those things live out in front of people, never mind from the pulpit, but just in front of people, men and women across the.

The language that they use and the things that they discuss publicly, even right from the pulpit, should be making them ashamed. Instead, people are laughing, they're not ashamed, they're boasting about it. I like that guy. Man, he just says what he's thinking. I'm not even sure if he's thinking, but he says it.

Hasn't Paul already told Timothy that it should be just the opposite with us? Remember earlier on 1 Timothy chapter 1 verse 5? How about this for a conscience? The end of the commandment is love out of a pure heart and of a good conscience and of faith unfeigned. We shouldn't have consciences that don't function, that have been burned out.

But we should have a good conscience. In other words, all that means to me and you is, if we've sinned and the Holy Spirit brings it to us, we would confess it so that we could walk around with a good conscience. If your conscience is dead, it doesn't matter, right?

Having a good, clear conscience, not one that is dead, burned, ruined to the point where you don't even realize that these things are sensual, earthly, demonic.

If we get away, and Paul has already said this, but I'm reiterating now, if we get away from the pure Word of God, then we know we are going to drift off. We are going to float away. It'll maybe a slow drift, but it is a guaranteed drift.

Being enticed by what did he call them? Seducing spirits. Come on. Oh, come on, everybody's This is what people want to hear. This is what people are looking for. You want your church to grow, you know, there's church growth seminars every other week around this United States. And they we get letters all the time.

Come out, we can double your congregation in six weeks. And and here's how you do it. You give the people what they want. You give the people what they want to hear. Isn't that's what Paul warns us about in the Word of God? Preach the Word, he says to Timothy. Preach the Word.

If we get away from the pure Word of God, we're going to drift. We're going to be enticed by seducing spirits. We're going to get into doctrines of demons. And these false teachers always try to lure, that's seducing. Lure people away, but notice it, they lure people not to Jesus, they lure people to themselves.

They they want people to to be following after them instead of following after Jesus. They try to make people religious, he says, when we read verses what? 3, 4, 3, 4, and 5. They try to make people religious, telling them, well, you can't marry because of this, this, this, or you can't eat certain foods.

Trying to get them into some sort of rule, some sort of, I don't know, control. Maybe give people thinking that women can never wear slacks and and men can never, you know, have to have facial hair of some kind or they're not real men. And these aren't real And you get them into your rules, get them into a lifestyle. Now you've got them into a religion, into a box.

Now they don't love the Lord. They're just trying to dress right, just trying to look right, just trying to act right. Even in Paul's and Timothy's day, there were people trying to get them to join particular groups. That's what Paul is warning Timothy about.

I call them the ists and the isms. We got them still today. There's all kinds of ists and isms. The cults of their day are just like the cults of our day. Solomon said it so well, there's nothing new under the sun. They're always wanting to get you come over here. And if you come if you come to this little cult, you can't you can't ever have a blood transfusion, no matter how much you're dying.

And you can't ever celebrate birthdays, you can't salute the flag. And if you're over here, you have to tithe 20% if if we give you a certain kind of job. And you know, there's always this you can get in and we love you, but you can't ever get back out.

Paul reminds him, reminds us, not just Timothy, but us. God created all of these things and that's how we're supposed to look at everything. And notice something and I like this, you may not, it's up to you. You go for it. You read your Bible.

The Word of God does not condemn any foods. The Word of God doesn't condemn food here in the New Testament. Notice that? In fact, the Word of God commends the food. I'll read it to you again, you think I'm making this up. They don't want some people to marry, they're commanding in verse 3, to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.

Every creature of God is good, especially a little barbecue sauce. I added that, I'm sorry. Every creature of God is good and nothing to be refused if it's received with thanksgiving. For it is sanctified by the Word of God and prayer. You get over into Africa and they put something in front of you. You don't say, what is this? You say, let's pray.

Everything that the Lord has given us, Christian, everything that the Lord has given us is to be considered as good since the Lord has given it to us. It's to be received, not to be abused. But it's to be received, not to be abused. What do I mean by that?

Because I think Christians can take anything to to the nth degree, to the wrong in the wrong direction, if we're not careful. For instance, let's say sex, which everybody wants to teach about all around this country. It's it's a big topic.

Let's take that for example. Sex within marriage and within marriage only. Period. Okay, we don't now we can talk about something else. Pretty pretty simple message, wasn't it?

But sex within marriage and within marriage only is good. And God said it was good, it was his idea. But it can be abused by committing adultery or any other form of sexual sin. Get it? So everything is made for us to enjoy, but it's made for us to to receive from the Lord, but not to abuse.

Do you understand the the concept here? That's what he's saying. Every creature of God, verse 4, is good and nothing to be refused if it be received with thanksgiving. We see here that a Christian will recognize that God has given us all these things and we will give thanks to the Lord for it.

We offer prayers. I think according to God's Word, one of the reasons that we thank God for the food that we eat, for the things that he's provided. Sometimes you've been looking for a job and looking and it's been so hard and then God gives you that job.

And you just stop and you say, thank you, Lord, for the job that you've given to me. You should be thanking him often, especially when the job still pays minimum wage five years later, and you're you're used to it and you think you're worth more. Keep thanking God. Why? So we don't ever begin to take it for granted.

Thank him always so that we don't ever think, oh, yeah, I deserve this. Oh, yeah, I got. No, God has given this to me. God has given this to you. God has provided this for us. And we should be thankful. And to to thank him for it helps us not to take it for granted.

He warns us in the latter times. You're going to see these wolves. You're going to see them rise up from within. And they're going to wander off and they're going to take people with them. They're going to give heed to seducing spirits and to doctrines of demons.

And I I think that you need to take a good hard look, no judging, good hard look at the church in America today. It is in deep trouble. We need God's Holy Spirit to revive hearts across this land. Because so many churches will do a verse or two or take a bunch of out of context to make their point on whatever they're trying to prove.

But people aren't being fed. They can't be sitting around judging, because we don't know hearts. What we can do though is remain in the Word of God, encourage one another, support one another, take care of each other, and be there.

Guest: Thank you for listening to Apply Within with Pastor Bob Davis. Apply Within is a radio outreach ministry of North Country Chapel. Our Sunday morning Bible studies are at 9:00 and 11:00 AM. We also have a Friday evening Bible study at 7:00 PM and a Monday evening Bible study at 7:00 PM.

Guest: You can download today's message in its entirety at North CountryChapel.com/studies. That's North CountryChapel.com/studies. If you would like a copy of today's message, write to us and ask for the message with today's date. The address is Apply Within, 2281 West Caltise, Post Falls, Idaho 83854.

Guest: Or call us at 1-800-572-8851. That number again, 1-800-572-8851. Our mobile app is available for iPhone and Android. Download it to listen to full-length studies, watch the live stream of our services, or to find out more about church events.

Guest: If you have been blessed by the teaching or have prayer requests that you would like to share with us, write, email, or call us as well. Please join with us every Monday through Friday as we study together verse-by-verse on Apply Within, sponsored by North Country Chapel. God bless you.