Today’s Thoughts – 29 October 2020
By T. S. Candee on October 29, 2020 in First Timothy Thoughts
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; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron
Apostasy plagues our Bible-believing churches. It comes from without, it comes from within, it can be seen publicly, and it can be hidden from the eyes of the congregation. Yet, the “willful turning away from the truth of the Christian faith” occurs in our churches every day. I’ve seen it first hand – even in my own family.
How does this happen? A person yields themselves to “seducing spirits” and “doctrines of devils.” In other words, they were not filled with the Holy Spirit but instead filled themselves with something else of this world (Ephesians 5:8)1.
Then comes the hypocrisy – saying one thing and doing another. This is so prevalent in our society today. The leaders of our country many times say something one year and the next year will say or do something completely opposite to “get the vote.” They become hypocrites when doing so. But, let us not be so hard on them when we too are guilty of being hypocrites in our relations with our fellow believers.
Hypocrisy only leads to a seared conscience. At this point, a person is no longer led by the Spirit but is instead walking in the flesh (Galatians 5:16) and allowing those “seducing spirits and doctrines of devils” to lead their lives and decisions.
Instead, we must give ourselves to Bible study and prayer. Meditate on the Word of God (Psalm 1:2) and allow His Word to fill us so that we have no more room for the doctrines and beliefs of this world to creep in. This will keep us from apostasy, seducing spirits, doctrines of devils, hypocrisy, and a seared conscience.
Notes:
1 I am not suggesting that this person is not saved. Being filled with the Holy Spirit refers to daily walking in the Spirit so that we don’t fulfill the lust of the flesh (Galatians 5:16) and not that we need to get saved over and over again. We only need to be saved once and we don’t need to do anything to stay saved. Yet, apostasy can still occur in a Christian’s life if they don’t walk in the Spirit.
