Bible League: Living His Word The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.— 1 Timothy 4:1 NIV Our verse for today contains a warning that applies to the present—what the Apostle Paul refers to as the "later times." Hence, it is something that we need to be aware of, and ready for, just as much as the Christians of Paul's day. When the Bible uses terminology like "later times" and "last days," it does not always refer to the days immediately preceding the return of Jesus Christ. Quite often it refers to the days between Jesus Christ's ascension into heaven and His second coming. That seems to be the case in our verse for today. How so? It's because some have been abandoning the faith and following deceiving spirits and things taught by demons since the very beginning of the Christian era. No doubt, as the Gospel spreads across the globe, there will be an increase in this kind of activity; but it has been around at least since the days of Paul. Why do we need to be warned about this? It's because there will be teachings proclaimed that are deceptive in nature. Deceiving demons will work through what Paul calls, "hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron" to draw people away from the truth of the Gospel and biblical teaching (1 Timothy 4:2). They're hypocrites because they don't really believe the teachings they try to impose upon people. All they care about is drawing people away from the truth for their own selfish purposes. They're wolves in sheep's clothing that want to feed on the flock (Matthew 7:15). It's true; the hypocritical liars and their followers will abandon the faith, because they never really believed in the first place. The Apostle John tells us, "They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us" (1 John 2:19). Nevertheless, we who do believe still need to be warned about the false teachings we may encounter. We need to be warned so that we are motivated to prepare our minds. If we are steeped in God's Word, we will easily recognize their deception, and there will be no chance that we will fall for it. Then we will most assuredly persevere in the faith and be saved. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingMicah 4, 5 Micah 4 -- The Glory and Peace of the Latter Days NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Micah 5 -- Out of you, Bethlehem will come a King; Deliverence by His Hand NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Revelation 11 Revelation 11 -- Two Witnesses Prophesy; The Seventh Trumpet NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God's very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.“Once you had no identity as a people; now you are God's people. Once you received no mercy; now you have received God's mercy.” Insight People often base their self-concept on their accomplishments. But our relationship with Christ is far more important than our jobs, successes, wealth, or knowledge. We have been chosen by God as his very own, and we have been called to represent him to others. Challenge Remember that your value comes from being one of God's children, not from what you can achieve. You have worth because of what God does, not because of what you do. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Matthew 20:8 Call the laborers, and give them their hire.God is a good paymaster; he pays his servants while at work as well as when they have done it; and one of his payments is this: an easy conscience. If you have spoken faithfully of Jesus to one person, when you go to bed at night you feel happy in thinking, "I have this day discharged my conscience of that man's blood." There is a great comfort in doing something for Jesus. Oh, what a happiness to place jewels in his crown, and give him to see of the travail of his soul! There is also very great reward in watching the first buddings of conviction in a soul! To say of that girl in the class, "She is tender of heart, I do hope that there is the Lord's work within." To go home and pray over that boy, who said something in the afternoon which made you think he must know more of divine truth than you had feared! Oh, the joy of hope! But as for the joy of success! it is unspeakable. This joy, overwhelming as it is, is a hungry thing--you pine for more of it. To be a soul-winner is the happiest thing in the world. With every soul you bring to Christ, you get a new heaven upon earth. But who can conceive the bliss which awaits us above! Oh, how sweet is that sentence, "Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord!" Do you know what the joy of Christ is over a saved sinner? This is the very joy which we are to possess in heaven. Yes, when he mounts the throne, you shall mount with him. When the heavens ring with "Well done, well done," you shall partake in the reward; you have toiled with him, you have suffered with him, you shall now reign with him; you have sown with him, you shall reap with him; your face was covered with sweat like his, and your soul was grieved for the sins of men as his soul was, now shall your face be bright with heaven's splendour as is his countenance, and now shall your soul be filled with beatific joys even as his soul is. Daily Light on the Daily Path 2 Kings 7:2 The royal officer on whose hand the king was leaning answered the man of God and said, "Behold, if the LORD should make windows in heaven, could this thing be?" Then he said, "Behold, you will see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat of it."Mark 11:22 And Jesus answered saying to them, "Have faith in God. Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. Matthew 19:26 And looking at them Jesus said to them, "With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." Isaiah 50:2 "Why was there no man when I came? When I called, why was there none to answer? Is My hand so short that it cannot ransom? Or have I no power to deliver? Behold, I dry up the sea with My rebuke, I make the rivers a wilderness; Their fish stink for lack of water And die of thirst. Isaiah 55:8,9 "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," declares the LORD. • "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts. Malachi 3:10 "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this," says the LORD of hosts, "if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows. Isaiah 59:1 Behold, the LORD'S hand is not so short That it cannot save; Nor is His ear so dull That it cannot hear. 2 Chronicles 14:11 Then Asa called to the LORD his God and said, "LORD, there is no one besides You to help in the battle between the powerful and those who have no strength; so help us, O LORD our God, for we trust in You, and in Your name have come against this multitude. O LORD, You are our God; let not man prevail against You." 2 Corinthians 1:9 indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
    |