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The Water of the Word |
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1 Timothy 4
I'm not going to try to pinpoint when this time started but we can get a hint by the words of the apostle Paul. It was probably with a heavy heart that Paul spoke of these things. The Spirit revealed to him what would happen after he departed.
After the first apostles passed away and others took their place, apostasy started as early as the second century and maybe even before that. A false apostle will always attempt to draw disciples after himself. He may use the name of Jesus and preach a partial truth but his goal is to gain followers. A good pastor will lead people to follow Jesus and not seek personal control or gain from the followers of Jesus. He may be deeply concerned about them if he sees that they do not follow Christ, but it will not be because he just wants to gain followers to himself. He will want them to follow Jesus. There is something about the second generation of believers that opened the door to false teaching and apostasy. They are not usually the ones to stray but they just open the door just a little by having a form of godliness but denying the power of the gospel. They stop believing that the gospel can change lives by the power of the Holy Spirit and they stop depending upon the Holy Spirit. They may crack the door just a little and the third generation opens it a little wider. The fourth generation then, may be in danger of not knowing the Lord at all. There is however scriptures that refer to this happening in the latter days, departing from the faith. The Spirit speaks openly about this just before the reign of Christ we call the Millennium.
This speaks of the latter times when Israel is gathered from all nations to form their own nation again. It will be in the mind and plan of God. At first they will be limited. Not everyone that from the lineage of Israel will be gathered. This prophecy took place in 1948. Ezekiel 38:16 tells of many nations gathering together against Israel in those latter days also. They are now surrounded by enemies that hate them. Anti-Semitism is on the rise even in the United States. It's hard to understand why except that Jesus did warn this would happen.
Seducing spirits are deceiving spirits that lead us away from the truth of God's word. They are demons that draw people into evil such as surrendering chastity, forbidding to marry. Romans chapter 1 describes this happening when we refuse to retain God in our knowledge. Doctrines of devils means to depart from holy living, doctrines that will cause the soul to be lost. Every religion that denies the reality of God, Jesus, the Son of God, and the Holy Spirit and also denies the atonement that came by the death and the bodily resurrection of Jesus is a doctrine of the devil who desires us to be lost forever apart from God.
We see here two symptoms of apostasy. They speak lies. They start bending the truth by using the word or else they ignore the word and add their own doctrines. There are two ways this can be done. Either they add to the commandments and make the way of salvation so hard that no one possibly could be saved or make salvation dependent upon someone other than Jesus Christ. They cover up the true way and substitute a bunch of ordinances, observances and things that couldn't save anyone. Another way is to ignore the word to the point of allowing sin to return in the lives of believers without any repentance. Soon there is no difference between the sinner and one who professes to be a Christian. They all do the same things, act the same way, only one claims something the other does not claim to have. My dad use to call them, "Sinning Christians." A seared conscience is one that ignores the Holy Spirit's conviction so much that they no longer believe it's wrong. Its a dangerous position to be in.
What possible harm could forbidding someone to marry cause? Plenty. It causes fornication, sexual abuse and things done in secret that oppresses the innocent, even children. The decision to go into the work of God and not marry must be made by the individual to whom God calls. God calls many who are married and being married is not an abomination. Everyone has to make their own decision on those things. Forbidding to marry also is the latter day tendency toward doing things contrary to holiness and the teaching of God's word. Seducing spirits influence people to hinder and operate against wedlock by enticing them to meet the demands of the sex drive apart from the sanctity of marriage. This leads to disease, confusion, mental illness and harming innocent young people and children. Again read Romans chapter 1 to see what causes this. The teaching of evolution started the downward trend toward the state the world is in now.
It is okay to watch what we eat for health reasons but do not teach it in a way that makes it seem like it is necessary for the salvation that Jesus paid the price for. We can teach the Old Testament dietary laws for history and to understand why God commanded the laws but we must never make laws concerning meats part of the salvation message. Leave it in its context and do not add to the simplicity of the gospel by making the way of salvation harder than God Himself makes it. Now in 2025 and even earlier there is a tendency to avoid meat that God gave us and substitute synthetic meat. I would avoid anything that may do more harm to the body than good. Check all new dietary things out first. We are not saved from sin by becoming a Mormon, joining the Catholic Church, being circumcised, partaking of the sacraments, being baptized in water, keeping the feast days, worshipping on a Saturday instead of a Sunday, going door to door witnessing, doing good deeds, confessing to a priest, not marrying, not eating meat etc. We are saved by repenting of sin and believing in Jesus Christ to take away that sin and give us the living water which is the Holy Spirit. We then can be baptized in the Holy Spirit either at the point of being born again or later as we grow in the knowledge of the word. And yes, we will probably speak in other tongues as the Spirit gives utterance. I'm not going to shy away from that part of the Holy Spirit's gifts just because it seems so many others are doing so. Something from God can never be bad for me. We need the Holy Spirit. When the gifts of the spirit seemed to cease after the death of the apostles, many assumed that they were only for the apostle's time. That was wrong thinking. They most probably ceased because of apostasy, not because God stopped giving them. That is why false teaching started and entered the church easily because they didn't rely on the Holy Spirit to teach them. They started forbidding the things of the spirit and they had no power. After a few centuries the persecuted church married the state and started persecuting the dissenters. They had by that time stopped receiving the Holy Spirit as individuals. Without the Holy Spirit there is no love being shed abroad in their hearts. People may become converts to Christianity but they are not being born again by the spirit of God. There is something that takes place in the inner man (woman) when Jesus comes in our lives? This is accomplished by the Holy Spirit. When we substitute our own programs, rituals, ceremonies and even our own commandments, we are robbing many people of the Holy Spirit who is the one that makes a true convert. I know some sincere believers believe that after the written word came, we didn't need the gifts of the spirit. Well if that was the case they didn't have the written word in the lives of individuals until after the Protestant Reformation, so the gifts would have been needed before that because that which is perfect surely was never seen before that time and even then, they were far from perfect. It's obvious that the meaning of the perfect thing to come could be none other than Jesus Himself. Then and only then would the gifts of the spirit not be needed. Until everyone is saved and the church is perfected, the gifts of the spirit are needed.
Nothing should be substituted for the word of God. I read many books. I like to read, but when it's time to worship and when I attend worship services, I don't want to study or hear anything but the word of God. I don't want to sing anything but that which glorifies Jesus Christ.
One sign of living godly is that one is persecuted or criticized in some way.
When the church stopped being persecuted and was accepted by the state as a state religion, they no longer had what the early church had. To gain converts one only had to be baptized into the church. As a result you had wet sinners instead of born again Christians for the gospel cannot be forced that way. Only God can make a true convert. Water baptism cannot change one thing in the inner soul of man. We are changed by God's Spirit, not by any ritual or action taken by a priest, prophet or pastor. We can be messengers, we can lay hands on the sick and they recover etc., but it is God that does the healing and the saving. Water baptism though is very important and it is an act of obedience. To refuse to be baptized in water is a sign that one has not truly been born again by the Spirit of God. The first trait of a person who has been saved from sin is that he or she wants to obey God in all things that they know to do. Water baptism symbolizes putting to death sin or the old man and rising in the newness of life cleansed from sin. It is beautiful. One should be baptized in water the moment they have been saved but that alone will not save. Jesus saves.
Those young in the Lord are not going to act like mature older believers. Give them a chance to grow in the Lord. Be an example, in love, in purity and in sound doctrine. Be patient and remember that when a baby starts to walk, he falls down many times before he can walk without falling.
I love good music and exciting worship services but the main emphasis should always be on the word itself. This will enable us to have the mind of the Lord and discern with the heart of God. Without the word, we might become more vulnerable and believe false teaching. Some can get into sensuous feelings that are only a substitute for the real or on other hand we can think we have discernment but really be into fault finding and gossip. All need to study the word themselves. I heard Carter Conlon preaching on discernment and he mentioned having discernment but with the heart of God. I really picked up on that because there is a difference between just nit picking on someone or something, or having a real heart felt discernment of something being wrong. If we discover some real danger in the church, it should grieve us and lead us to prayer. We will not rejoice in the fact that someone is in error and we can't wait to tell someone about it to show off how super spiritual we are that we were let in on their dark secret.
I know some have abused the laying on of hands but we must not neglect that part of the ministry. Many times the baptism in the Holy Ghost and other gifts of the spirit are given by the laying on of hands. I didn't receive the Holy Ghost that way myself, but it is done that way many times. I was in a car on my way home from church and no one was even praying for me to my knowledge when I was baptized in the Holy Spirit. Once we receive any gift from the Holy Spirit, we are to exercise it. And contrary to what some teach, it is still okay to speak in tongues. That is a gift from God. We are so afraid of the misuse of these things that we are going too far away from them. Look what happened when the gifts of the spirit ceased in the early church. Do we really want that again?
How we receive the word of God and keep it, will influence and save others who hear us. That is one of the many take heeds in the bible. We are an example and can drive people away from the truth or get people into the kingdom of God by prayer, setting an example and walking in the word and in the Spirit. It is in our power to choose which way we live. There is a world out there that needs Jesus Christ. Before we can lead them to Jesus we must know Jesus ourselves and have more than just a religion. There are a lot of religions but only one way will save the soul from eternal death and make us "Born again" by the spirit of God. That one way is not just a religion, it is Jesus. DC |
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